Hello everyone, hope you're all well and enjoying Pancake Day! So I'm nearly at the end of my time in Bolivia but I'm only just getting round to writing about Peru!

Peru was great; it is an incredible country with so much to see and such diverse landscapes.

Me and Ben arrived in Peru from Argentina and prepared ourselves for a 45 day tour across South America. We were a little apprehensive about who we would be joining on our tour, but after our welcome meeting in Lima (Miraflores) we were relieved to have met a lovely bunch of people from lots of different countries and all different age groups. Our tour guide for the Peru section of our trip (21 days) was called Pablo and he had been working for G Adventures (our tour company) for 7 months, he is from Northern Peru but lives in Lima.

On our first day in Lima me and Ben did a bus tour of the city and got to see the main squares (Plaza Mayor and San Martin Square), the Cathedral and San Francisco Church with amazing Catacombs. It was fun to briefly explore the city and learn a bit about Lima and Peru's history before our tour started. That evening we had our welcome meeting and then all went out for dinner together. There were 16 of us for the first part of the tour, 5 Australians, 1 German, 1 Swede, 2 Scots, 1 Kiwi, 5 English and 1 Canadian. On the tour I was to share a room with lovely Dee from Dundee and Ben was to share with John from Canada.

On the first day of our tour we checked out of our hotel in Lima and took the short ride to the bus station before our 4 hour public bus to Paracas. The bus was surprisingly luxurious and the journey was fairly uneventful (I spent most of the time looking at the amazing scenery out of the window!). That night we had a little walk around the seaside town before getting to know each other a bit better over dinner and then Pisco Sours (Pisco is a traditional Peruvian spirit made from grapes) at a newly opened bar - the Pisco Sours were pretty strong and an acquired taste!

The next morning we all went on a really fun boat ride to the Islas Ballestas in the Paracas National Reservation, a group of islands just off the coast of Paracas. We saw loads of great wildlife - hundreds of sea lions, a tiny day-old sea lion, Humbolt penguins, pelicans, cormorants, Peruvian boobies (?!!), Terns and lots of other sea birds. It was really fun and great to see this interesting chain of islands.

After the boat ride we went to a Pisco winery in Ica and learnt about the process of making Pisco, we then had a tasting session of lots of yucky Pisco mixes. We continued on to Huacachina, which is an oasis in the middle of the desert, we had lunch and then a group of us went sandboarding! The buggy ride out to the sand dunes was one of the best rides I've ever been on! It was like a rollercoaster on sand! We got driven at great speeds off the edge of sand dunes and then stopped at the top of the dunes and threw ourselves down them on tiny wooden boards! The dunes looked too steep to be going down head-first holding on to a wooden board, but once you'd done it once the adrenaline kicked in and you wanted to keep going! It was really fun and I'd definitely do it again! After another excellent ride back to the oasis we all jumped in to the pool at the place we had lunch and then continued on to Nasca for the night.

We stopped just before Nasca to climb a metal tower to look at 2 of the Nasca Lines - these are Nasca's famously mysterious lines and drawings - so large that they are only truly visible from the air. They were etched in to the hard sands of the desert more than 1,000 years ago by the Nasca (pre-Inca) culture (between 300 BC and AD 700). There are thousands of geometric lines and 70 massive animals and plant figures.

The next morning we went to visit Chauchillia Cemetery - where there were loads of remains of mummies and pottery from their graves - it was quite creepy to see human skeletons with human hair all wrapped up in cloth, sitting upright in graves! We then went on to a traditional pottery to be taught about traditional techniques and painting of ceramics - very pretty.

In the afternoon some of us took a 30 minute flight over the Nasca Lines in a tiny 4 seater Cesna plane! It was really fun and we got shown 11 of the most famous figures (as well as lots of other shapes and lines)- it was really cool to see them from above and to get a sense of how HUGE they are.

That night we took a 10 hour night bus to Arequipa - which was actually pretty comfy (way better than the National Express!) and I managed to sleep quite a bit, inbetween looking out the window at the dramatically changing scenery.

In Arequipa we went for a walk around the town, before going for lunch and feasting on the traditional Peruvian specialty of guinea pig (Cuy)! It was pretty tasty but very fiddly and there were way too many bones for my liking! It was too much effort for too little meat - but it was good to try it once!! It was presented on our plates looking very much like a flattened guinea pig - which was quite funny!

In the afternoon we had a tour around the Santa Catalina Convent - this is an amazing and big complex, which is known as 'a city within a city'. It was interesting to learn about the convent, it is still a working convent with 15 nuns (the youngest was 25 years old!).

The Colca Canyon was our next stop, after a 6 hour private bus journey over a large mountain range - we stopped at the highest point (4000 and something metres) and drank coca tea to help with altitude sickness (pretty tasty stuff). On the way we saw lots of wild llamas, alpacas and vicunas. We stayed in the village of Chivay (3,600m) and did a little walk to get used to trekking at altitude before doing the Inca Trail. We also went to some newly opened hot springs and bathed in hot pools!

We got up early the next day to drive up the Colca Valley to the canyon (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon) to see condors. We waited around for quite a while and then were lucky enough to spot about 5 condors - they are huge and very elegant as they swoop through the air. The long journey (5 hours up the canyon) and waiting around was all worth it! We drove back to Arequipa (4 hours) and took a 7.30am flight to Cusco the next day.

We spent the day exploring Cusco and eating yummy French toast at Jack's Cafe (which soon became our favourite cafe in the city!) before having a meeting in the evening about the Inca Trail. We were told about how we were going to walk 40km in 3 days (you usually do the trek in 4 days but the 3rd campsite was closed due to landslides - so we were only going to camp for 2 nights and fit all the walking in to 3 days). We were also told that our porters would be carrying 6kg of our personal belongings - including a sleeping bag and matt that weighed 3kg together. We were issued with our duffle bags to fill with clothes and provisions for the next few days, while we got nervous/excited about what we were about to undertake! It is probably the biggest challenge I have ever undertaken, I was nervous but I have always wanted to do the Inca Trail so I couldn't wait to get started.

The following day we took a bus to the Sacred Valley to visit the village of Caccaccollo, which is part of the Planetarra Project - run by G Adventures - which supports local people and their handicrafts. We learnt about weaving and natural dyes and knitting with llama wool. We then went on to look at the Inca ruins of Pisac and Ollantaytambo ruins, we met up with our Inca Trail tour guide - Percy - who told us a lot about Inca history.

After an early night it was finally time to start the long-awaited Inca Trail. We got driven in a bus along a very bumpy track to Km 82 - the start of the Inca Trail. The next three days were a huge challenge - we walked 12km on day one, 16km on day two and 12 km on day three. Day one was fairly easy walking and the weather was on our side - it rained a little bit as we made our way to our first campsite but apart from that it was sunny! The porters were incredible - they carried about 20k each and ran past us to set up a tent with tables and chairs in for our lunch and cook an amazing 3 course lunch! (Veg soup, meat, rice and potato and then some sort of pudding - jelly, apple pie etc). Unfortunately after lunch on the first day a couple from our group had to go back as Emma was unwell - we were sad that they wouldn't be joining us for the rest of the trek.

When we arrived in camp the porters gave us tea and biscuits and popcorn - it was amazing after a long day of walking! We then had a 3 course dinner! I couldn't believe the quality of the food - it was so yummy! I was sharing a tent with Dee and we had really thick snuggly sleeping bags and roll mats, we slept really well.

Day two was the hardest day of walking - 16km and about 10 hours of walking. The day started with a really steep climb, up lots of steps for 4 hours - I helped keep up the rear of the group - we had lots of water, snack and photo stops! It was a great excuse to stop to take photos! The highest point of the day was 'Dead Woman Pass' at 4,215m - incredible 360 degree views. The altitude didn't affect me too badly but I did get headaches and was quite short of breath. We stopped off at various Inca ruins across the three days and Percy told us all about them - he was very knowledgeable.

Day three was quite easy going; we walked 12km and arrived at the Sun Gate - looking down on the incredible view of Machu Picchu - about 3pm. The weather was fantastic and we had a clear view of Machu Picchu - it is what dreams are made of and I was so happy to finally see it! We had worked so hard to get to this point and it felt like such an incredible reward - I felt so proud of what we had achieved. We walked for another 45 minutes to Machu Picchu and took some photos before we made our way down on a coach to the town of Aguas Calientes where we spent the night in a hotel and enjoyed the luxury of a hot shower and a real bed! It was amazing!

We got up early the next day to have a 2 hour tour of Machu Picchu with our tour guide Percy. It was great to walk around this amazing place and learn about its history and how it was discovered. We spent another few hours wandering around and enjoying the views as the clouds cleared - we took hundreds of photographs! That afternoon we made our way back to Cusco on a scenic train and then bus.

We spent 4 nights in Cusco, recovering, catching up on laundry, sleeping, eating lots of yummy food and exploring the city and local markets. It was great to spend a few days in the same place and not have to pack our bags every day! I really liked Cusco, it is a great city with lots to see and do. I went to visit Qoricancha - originally the Incas' Temple of the Sun - which was mostly destroyed by the Spanish to build a convent on top of it - but there were still some remains of the legendary Inca engineering. I also went to see La Catedral - the Renaissance cathedral built in 1669. We visited the Inca Museum which had lots of artifacts from Inca times and examples of weaving and paintings. We had a wander around the local market and I invested in a pair of traditional sandals made from rubber car tyres!

Puno was our next stop - after a 7 hour public bus from Cusco. Puno is situated on the shores of Lake Titicaca (South America's largest lake and the world's highest (3,827m) navigable body of water). The next day we were heading out to explore the islands of the lake and staying with a local family for the night - so we visited the market to buy fruit and vegetables for our host families - it was incredible how much food we could get for our money.

We took a boat the next day to explore the Uros Floating Islands - islands made from reeds - we learnt about how they were made and the everyday lives of the families who live on them. 18 people - 4 families - lived on the island we visited. We then took the boat for another 2 hours to Taquile Island - where we learnt about knitting and local traditions before enjoying lunch with a great view over Lake Titicaca. We made our way back to a headland where we were staying for the night. We met our local families - me and Dee were staying together and then we played a very competitive game of football against some local boys before they got us all dressed up in traditional outfits and teaching us dances! It was really fun and I couldn't stop laughing - we were exhausted because of the altitude and the locals were swinging us round and skipping us up and down the playground! We then made our way to our home for the night and waited to be called for dinner! It was really great to see how the local people live and to be able to share such a great experience with them. We were given a delicious meal of soup and rice, potato and egg. The next day we got up early for breakfast and then helped with the daily chores - this included moving some sheep, pigs and bulls - now usually I try to avoid bulls but I was handed a rope attached to the horns of a massive bull and told to pull on the rope until the bull moved! My bull was pretty well behaved and walked nicely behind me without much trouble, whereas Dee's bull wasn't having any of it and dragged her off - she was running behind it and trying to stop it from eating the crops! After attaching the bulls to their new areas of grass (with rope and a steel peg) we were taken to the fields to weed between the crops. We weren't given any tools so it was pretty tricky to pull out all the weeds, but we got stuck in and worked until the 5 year old boy from our family indicated that we could stop! He made us wash the mud off all the weeds (I think they were going to feed them to the animals) before we were allowed to stop for lunch! We were exhausted from our morning in the fields - it was a great experience though and a real eye opener. The family couldn't speak any English and we'd been given a sheet with Spanish and Aymara phrases on - so that we could try to communicate with them a bit - it was a challenge but really fun! We headed back to Puno for the afternoon and enjoyed watching the local parades for carnival and joining in with the dances in the street that night.

The next day we took the 6 hour bus to La Paz in Bolivia and our time in Peru was over. We went for a very emotional goodbye meal with our wonderful guide - Pablo - and we also said goodbye to 7 of the 16 group members. It was sad to say goodbye to them, it felt like we'd been travelling together for ages, we'd shared such a great experience and made memories to last a lifetime.

There is probably a lot more I could say about Peru, I could go on writing for hours - but I should probably stop! All I can say in conclusion is that I love Peru and I was amazing by the diversity of the country and the ever-changing landscapes - I can't believe the same country changes from seaside to desert to bare mountains to luscious green mountains to rocky bare areas - it's bizarre and fascinating. The food is delicious, the people are warm and friendly, the range of climates is crazy, the handicrafts are amazing and its history is fascinating. I feel privileged to have had such a wonderful guide to show me his country - a country he is so proud of and honoured to share with us - Pablo made our experience fantastic, he went above and beyond the call of duty and was so knowledgeable about everything to do with his country - he was so willing to share it with us.

So...next stop Bolivia! I will try to write about Bolivia asap...but it might be a while until I'm in the same place for a few days...

Anyway...until next time, take care, lots of love xxxx