Timeline 22nd Nov to
8th Dec 2005

As was the case previously with Quito, we had been forewarned about the safety of Lima. And, if we had to believe what we had been told -- that Quito was scary -- then Lima was going to be a full-on horror story.

But once again the reputation of "A bad atmosphere" and "A dangerous place" was untrue. It would appear most people haven't been out in Glasgow on a Saturday night. In fact Lima's international airport was the quietest, calmest, safest and most modern point of arrival since Singapore.

Even the city surpassed my expectations. Sprawling out to encompass a population of over 8 million, Lima is in many ways a typically South American city. Over half the inhabitants live in poverty in shanty towns on the city outskirts with no access to water, sewage or electricity, and as such, crime is a major problem.

However, in 'Lima Centro' we discovered an attractive, modern city sitting comfortably with fantastic, elegant, colonial architecture on every street, that was pleasant and safe to walk around (pic above).

You are advised by the Foreign Office as well as the guidebooks, to avoid "large scale gatherings", "political demonstrations" and "crowded areas" in the interests of personal safety. In Lima this, we discovered, is impossible. During the three days there, we were inadvertently caught up in no fewer than nine demonstrations. It seemed people were protesting and marching on every block, every day. No one took the slightest interest in us.

Next stop was Nazca, a small town six hours south on the Pacific coast and famous for the 'Nazca Lines'. These are a series of figures and geometric shapes scored into the desert floor, each drawn in one single continuous line -- below is a figure of an apparent "alien", at Nazca. They total over 70 figures and around 10,000 lines including images such as a spider monkey, humming bird, whale and even an alien.

Theories differ on what purpose the lines played in the Pre-Inca culture. Some believe them to be some sort of agrarian calendar, others that they were made after contact with extra terrestrials -- another is that they are symbolic of a Shaman's journey to another world.

They are best viewed from above and a small airfield with several light aircraft offer flights from dawn to dusk. But even from this height it is hard to make out most of the figures. One tip I would give -- don't waste time trying to focus a digital camera, just aim and shoot rapidly.

Rising further inland we arrived at Cusco. Peru was birthplace of the Inca civilization and Cusco was its capital. Referred to as "Home of the Gods", it was known in Quechua (the indigenous language) as Qosqo meaning "Navel of the World" because it was once the very heart of the Inca Empire.

From here the four roads left to each corner of the Empire that stretched as far as Ecuador in the west, Columbia in the north, Argentina in the east and Chile in the south. In its time it was the largest empire in the world and all despite ever having wheel or horse technology.

Today it is an attractive colonial city and it is interesting to note how many grand buildings, churches and mansions of the Spanish era are built on the intricate rock foundations of previous Inca temples that were demolished.

This razing of the city followed the conquest in 1533 when the Spanish managed, quite literally, to walk in and take over. Arriving during a civil war, the Conquistadors expressed an interest to meet with the Inca ruler, Atahualpa. Granted this wish, they were then taken to the heart of the citadel, passing through all security whereby they promptly murdered him and took control from within.

This incident was to be a significant prelude to Spanish rule in South America and in Peru it was significantly brutal and oppressive. Treasure was plundered at a rate the European Central Bank could only dream of, while the people were subjugated to a life of slavery and cruelty and were often worked to death.

Outwith Cusco lies the Sacred Valley, a scattering of historic Inca towns set in a beautiful landscape and it was from the largest of these, Ollantaytambo, that we began the famous 'Inca Trail' culminating at the even more famous Machu Picchu.

Contrary to popular belief Machu Picchu wasn't the last city of the Inca's to fall to Spanish invasion after a heroic fight to the death. In fact it was abandoned some 100 years previously when the population suffered an only slightly less dramatic syphilis epidemic.

There were two choices available to us. Either trek the route of the famous Inca Trail or get the train from Cusco to the nearby town of Agua Calientes. However, with option 2, the earliest you could get to Machu Picchu was around 10am. Option 1 it was.

For some reason we were under the impression that the four day Inca Trail would be an easy going stroll through the hills, walking maybe five hours a day at most. But we were wrong. The Inca trail is actually a tough, strenuous, hike up and down hills so high they are classified as mountains. Each day's walking lasts for a minimum of seven hours. Special recognition should go to the porters who skip about almost mockingly. They carry huge weights of equipment but never complain.

Day 2 is particularly arduous, starting with a straight, unbroken ascent that takes over five hours. For some people this is apparently fun, but for us, exhausted from travelling around the world for 11 months, it was just too much to enjoy fully.

Despite being there during the rainy season the weather was fairly dry, only raining towards the end of one day and that following evening. Instead the weather was extremely changeable in the mountains with fleeting glimpses of the sun between huge cloud systems that arrived and disappeared with incredible speed.

On the final day we were woken at the incredulous time of 03:50 and made our way to the final peak, known as 'The Sun Gate'. It was a glorious day, clear and sunny. At 6am we looked down to the lower peak and could see Machu Picchu. Another brisk 40 minutes took us down to the citadel itself but, curiously, we were passing tourists on the way up the hill. We were bemused at this, as there were only five people from another group in front of us. Where had they come from?

Then we arrived at the entrance, just seven of us in total, almost deserted. Ideal for photographs. Finally, I was facing Machu Picchu (right pic), looking just as magnificent as it did in the postcards. As the reward for the 45 kilometres (28 miles) in just three and a bit days I walked to the edge of the surrounding ridge for a complete panoramic picture and what the…!? There were people down below! Around 30 of them, obscuring my shot! How was this possible? If I had any energy left I'm sure I would've screamed. Instead I staggered like a drunk unable to comprehend what was happening.

The rest of our group caught up and I asked our guide, give or take a few expletives, how we could possibly be beaten to the prize. "Yeah, they're from the town" he replied casually, obviously having had this reaction before.

He explained there was a third option, a sensible middle ground between four days of forced marching and a tardy 10am appearance; get the first bus from the town at 5am. Simple, easy, and significantly less expensive yet no one seemed to know about it. I couldn't help feeling more than a little cheated.

Thankfully with it being off season the crowds were not too large. It was an incredible place and worthy of the trek.

With just one day of recovery, we left the following night for Arequipa in the south. This is Peru's second largest city and known as 'The White City' because much of it is built from sillar, the smooth, white, chalk-like stone. Although there is not much in the way of attractions, it is a pleasant place to walk around and spend a couple of days and there are dramatic views out to the nearby volcano, El Misti.

It was from Arequipa we embarked on the next stage of our journey, onwards to North America. Unfortunately this would manifest itself in the form of a mammoth 66-hour journey.

Despite a non-stop 16 days there remained so much of Peru I still wished to see, a truly diverse country with many distinct environments and even more friendly people.