Waking up on a bright sunny morning in Cusco is a joy. We were staying at the Amaru Hostel in the San Blas area of town, the old town and it was an elegant old style hostel on two floors. It was let down by the constant coming and going of tourists, some of whom insisted on yelling into their mobil at anti-social hours (one at 4.30am) and making a lot of noise.


The staff here were a mixed bunch . One called Lizzie was ultra helpful and efficient, but most were surly and incompetent. Not so good for a hostel charging two or three times what I normally pay in Peru. However after the hassle of booking the rooms (four months it took), I just decided to put up with it. My brother in law and Sam were to experience worse, as the sleeping bags dropped off for their Inca Trail trek were mislaid by the hotel staff and they left without them. Cold nights awaited them on their walk to Machu Picchu.


This hostel certainly did not take the shine off Cusco, which is a delight even if the altitude was playing its usual tricks. Unfortunately Dad was now experiencing problems such as sleepless nights and vivid dreams, but we were hoping this would cease the longer he stayed at the altitude. The next morning I went off to Bonanza Tours and met Lordes, Boriz and Beth again. It was great to see everyone again and a few days later I met up with Ryse .


That afternoon Larry & Janet arrived from Australia and now we were all together for my 50th trip to Manu National Park. Whilst Will and Sam were trekking the rest of us were planning to see Sacred Valley and then to meet up at Machu Picchu.


Initially all seemed well, except for the Altitude Sickness that Dad and Annie were feeling. But then we realised that Annie was experiencing worse problems and in the end she was whisked away by a doctor in an ambulance to a local clinic with Bryony. After a few hours the doctor concluded that she had a parasite and put her on a course of anti biotics and a drip. She was also confined to the clinic whilst the rest of us headed off to Sacred Valley. This was terribly sad news for after being robbed after just landing in Peru she was now in a hospital bed.


Larry, Janet, myself and Dad headed off to Sacred Valley and visited the substantial Inca ruins and market in the town of Pisac, the village and temple ruins of Ollantaytambo, plus the agricultural laboratory of Moray and the Inca salt field of Salinas . Whilst I had visited these in 2006 it was still interesting to be here again and as Dad was still feeling the effects of the altitude I could keep him company as Larry & Janet explored.


It was a tiring, but interesting day and the views of Sacred Valley were exceptional. Back in Cusco, Annie was feeling better, so we were able to visit Machu Picchu all together as planned. We arranged to meet Sam & Will at 11.00am outside the main entrance. Lordes had booked us on a the Peru Train from Ollantaytambo, so we had a return journey and luckily the slow train outbound with the glass roof through the valley to Aquas Calientes. Once at AC it was a 20 min bus ride up to the ruins, and as I remembered its all very expensive. In excess of 100GBP, but like in 2006 the ruins were so impressive. This time we had a guide - who was interesting and the total visit took some two hours. dad also did exceptionally well negotiating the steep walkways and the altitude . At the end I climbed back to the view point I had enjoyed those six years ago to take some photos. The weather was not great when we arrived, but whilst i was there the sun poked out of clouds and lit up the ruins with shafts of light in a sort magical way. I was lucky.


It was an exhausting day and the 4 hour trip back to Cusco was long. Sam & Will were tired after their trek. Unfortunately Sam had decided to leave us to return to England so we said goodbye and then it was time for the main event, eight days in Manu, the National Park and the Reserve Zone.


Dad was also ready to leave the altitude by now, proclaiming that he had experienced little sleep in Cusco. Ryse gave us a chat about the trip and prepared us with rubber boots and duffle bags. He also introduced us to the rest of the crew on our team for the eight day adventure. Cesar who was the husband of Lordes was to be the cook, Freddie the driver, Chino was the assistant and Leo (Moizes Uncle) was the boat man. Moizes was the young guide in 2006 who accompanied me on a 7 day trip to Manu and then stayed with me at Bonanza Lodge for two more weeks. It was great to meet up with him again, but now he is a senior guide, so he was not able to come with us on this trip.


The night before we went back to a Vegan restaurant we had been frequenting in San Blas. It was called Green Point. This had been a revelation as the food flavours were excellent and the food innovative and tasty. As we would return in time for my actually birthday I decided to invite Ryse, Beth, Lordes and Cesar to join me and Dad there for my 50th meal as everyone else would have departed by then.


Then next morning at 5.00am Ryse arrived and we were off - finally to Manu.