Wow to be honest this trip is just mind-blowing - what an experience we're having.  This morning we didn't have one of the deadly early starts, though I was still awake around 5.30 but used the time to download photos and knock out a blog post.  We went down to breakfast at 7.30.  It's such a top hotel and the breakfast was brilliant.  The fruit here tastes like nowhere else - papaya which is so wonderfully sweet, prickly pear which is delicious, juicy sweet pineapple.

We had to be on the coach by 8.30 and off we set off on another day of adventuring.  Our first stop was in Chinchero about 40 minutes from our hotel but quite a climb taking us back up to 12,500 feet.  We visited a weaving factory and shop and had a demonstration of the process.  It was without doubt one of the best demonstrations I've ever seen. The young woman who gave the presentation spoke great English and had a good sense of humour interjecting her talk with funny little asides.  Her three year old daughter who you see in the photos was already a real little organiser and saleswoman and her whole demo was conducted with her 5 month son on her back.  She took us through the process of how the wool is washed - with water and a special soap made from roots, then we watched some of the ladies spinning the wool.  Next step is the ladies making figures of eight with the wool then it is ready to dye.  She talked about how the various colours were achieved and then showed us a cactus leaf with the cochineal bug on it.  She picked off the bug and rubbed it on her hand and it made her hand crimson red.  Then she added various other elements in turn and each one changed the colour from dark red through to orange - it was fascinating.  Then four ladies sat with a bowl of boiling water, added a different dye to each one and we watched in awe as they dipped the skeins of wool into the mix and pulled them out with glorious colours.  Next step was watching them weaving their designs - the colours used depend on the mood of the weaver on any particular day - bright colours if they're feeling happy and more muted colours if they're feeling a bit down.  All their patterns are fully reversible.  I didn't buy anything as we're trying to minimise the contents of our place -not increase - but gosh they were beautiful and particularly the ones made from baby alpaca - they were so soft.

We headed off again in four slightly larger buses than yesterday and turned on to a somewhat bumpy dirt road to head for our next port of call.  Well then the fun started.  Its the rainy season here and so there were a lot of pot holes and puddles.  Our driver managed to get through one quite boggy and slippery one but then saw in his mirror that the second bus had got stuck.  We watched as they tried to get it out, finally getting all the passengers off and with a bit of pushing was on its way.  The third bus got through ok.  (The fourth bus had opted to take a different longer route).  A couple of miles further on it was our turn - we got stuck in a boggy bit - skidded around a bit then the wheels started spinning.  A lot of back and forwards to no avail.  By this time we had the other drivers and guides helping -picking up stones, cactus roots etc to throw on the road to try and get traction.  Then they got all of us passengers to move to the back of the bus and hallelujah we were out.  Meanwhile the second and third buses didn't want to risk it so they turned around and went another longer route too.  But it was all great fun and just added to our adventure and even better we didn't hear a single person complain.

We finally arrived at our next stop the Moray Archaeological area.  This is fascinating - it's a series of terraces which were built 500 years ago and was an Incan agricultural research centre.  They experimented planting different plants on different levels, the same plants on different levels etc and since each level was like a different micro climate they were able to discover what worked best at which level and could also cultivate seeds to have the strength to work well at a different level.  Apparently there was a difference in 57 degrees F between the soil temperature at the top and that of the bottom.  It looks for all the world like a large amphitheatre at first glance but closer inspection shows that it wasn't designed to let big numbers of people move around.You can see the steps between the terrace are single person width only.  There were little markets here and both Craig and I bought a hat.  I'd forgotten to bring my hat and left it in my bag in Lima.  I got quite a natty little number as you can see from the Ollantaytambo pics.

Lunch time now and they took us to a farm style restaurant where we had pachamanka which translated means earth pot - a maori hangi to us.  There were all the usual meats plus a couple of different ones - alpaca and -wait for it - guinea pig.  They're considered a national delicacy and Peruvians normally only eat them on special occasion.  I tasted a tiny bit but found it difficult to get the picture of a fluffy creature out my head.  But they're big business and you can see women in the market square selling bundles of grass to feed them.  We also had delicious fava beans, plantain and tamales as well as stuffed chilli peppers.  This was washed down with a local beer known as chicha.  There were also some amazing little desserts - the profiteroles and the passionfruit mousse were scrumptious.

But just before we ate we were entertained by a performance from four horseman on Peruvian paso horses.  They have an incredible natural four beat lateral gait and were great to watch.

So after lunch we had about a forty minute drive to Ollantaytambo our next stop - so we mostly had a little siesta.  We were to climb up to the Temple of the Sun which is at the top of a series of steps and terraces - 264 steps to be precise.  It's altitude is about 9,500 feet so about 2,000 feet higher than Machu Picchu.  I didn't know how we'd go as we were both still coughing and spluttering a lot but had shown no signs of altitude sickness but then we hadn't tried any serious climbing. However we just plodded up a step at a time with three breaks on the way up while Miguel pointed out and explained a few things to us and eventually after about half an hour we were in the Temple of the Sun - or what had been the temple.  Mind boggling to think about how they got those massive stones up there and how each stone and each building isn't square - instead shaped like a trapezoid to provide stability.  So having achieved this without too much huffing and puffing we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves as we made our way back down again.  Quite a few of the group opted not to do it, some went up the first part then turned back and quite a few were struggling to make the last section.  So I think our daily walking really helped our fitness levels.

We got back to the hotel around 5pm and we had a briefing and dinner at 6.30pm.  So Craig went and got us a glass of wine from the bar - well earned I'd say and he caught up on the news and I got all my photos downloaded.  It's now almost 9pm but I knew this was going to be a long post and I wanted to empty it out of my head before tomorrow.  We've an early start - wake up call at 5am but I'm so excited to be on the brink of seeing the breathtaking spectacle of Machu Picchu and ticking off one of my major bucket list items.  See you all tomorrow!