Having spent 3 days in Puno, we were ready for our next taste of Peru. This was in the form of Cusco, the centre of the Inca civilisation and where we would be doing our trek to Michau Picchu, we couldn`t wait. To make a change from travelling on buses all the time we decided to travel on the train. Most of the countries in South America do not have a passenger rail network (even Argentina) and Peru was no exception, but the Puno - Cusco line was still open and as the scenery was supposed to be beautiful we decided to go for it. Again, all the travel literature about Puno train station was bad, telling you to beware of pickpockets and theives, but we were picked up by taxi and driven straight to the station where the agency guy, with whom we booked the ticket, did everything for us and before we new it we were on the train. The train ride was brilliant, the views were as good as we were told and it was nice to relax and get up and walk about in the aisles when we wanted, much better than a bus or coach. Every so often we would stop at a small town and the sides of the trains would be mobbed by local food/handicraft sellers trying to sell their wares through the windows of the train. We arrived in Cusco at night and was picked up by our hotel, not neccesarily because it was dangerous (but most of Peru`s bus and train stations are supposed to be dodgy at night) but they were scared someone else would take you to their hotel, even though you would tell them you had a reservation elsewhere, a pretty common practice apparently. Cusco was great, we spent a lot of time here and got to see a lot of the city and its surrounding area, whilst waiting for our trek. First things first though, we had to find an English pub that was showing Englands first game in the World Cup, the correct prioritys are so important when you are travelling around. The game was crap, but we won and that was the main thing. Even though we watched it in an English Pub, with quite a few people in there, the atmosphere matched the game. The next few days were taken up with seeing some of the sights of Cusco, Temple of the Sun, the Main Cathederal, assorted museums,, which were great, especially the Temple of the Sun. Its interesting that Cusco has had 3 major earthquakes since the 1500`s and the only surviving buildings are the Inca ones. Apparently, they built them in such a way that they knew they would survive earthquakes, which is pretty smart seeing as they were buily over 500 years ago. Our guide here was pretty funny, he was really knowledgable about the different temples but would laugh out loud at the different art exhibitions, especially the modern art ones, which were pretty weird I have to say myself. I got the impression he wasn`t a Melvyn Bragg type. We also went on a day trip to the Sacred Valley, again to see Inca ruins and the scenery was pretty spectacular as well. The trip to the ruins were a bit disappointing though, not anything to do with the ruins themselves (which again were pretty impressive) but more to do with the amount of people there, it was like rush hour in London. The main reason we were here though, as I said, was to do the trek to Michau Picchu, one of the great monuments to the Inca civilisation. The trek was a total of 4 days but we would only be walking for about 3 of them. So there we were, 16 eager individuals waiting in the main square at 6 in the morning, ready to tackle the Lares Valley trek, an assortment of English, Dutch, Americans, Americans and Americans, oh I think I forgot to say, there were some Americans there as well. We were picked up and driven down the road to some hostal where we had to wait for about 1 hour so some Yank, yes more Americans, could have a heavy dose of Oxygen before his breakfast. This may seem strange but apparently he had severe altitude sickness and one of the cures is large doses of oxygen. So after about an hour of waiting he came trotting out, with a croissant hanging from his mouth full of the months of spring. Well, this oxygen must be as good as the `magic sponge` football physio`s carry around as i had the impression he was dying. So, we were off again. The first days trek was OK but did get a bit tiring towards the end, we were about 3700 mts up and as I've said before the high altitude is tough as there is little oxygen and it f***s you up big style. The views were great and we saw lots of local people going about their daily lives. I have to mention, that the various treks to Michau Picchu are 5 star camping, they have porters who carry all the tents, cooking facilities, mattresses, and they run ahead of you (yes, actually run with about 20 kilos each), put up your tent and have a big slap meal waiting for you. So when we arrived at our first campsite, a small village up the valley in the mountains, everything was ready for us, this was great as we were knackered. The next morning we were woke up by the porters, who actually brought tea to you tent, no kidding, this was getting embarrasingly comfortable, then, after a hearty breakfast we were ready for another day. First though, we were given a tour of the village by the guide who told us about typical village life and their surviving customs. There were about a dozen children, all dressed in beautiful coloured local dress who were buzzing around smiling, especially if you gave them some sweets, something everyone stocked up on before the trip as its customary to do this, whether right or wrong they enjoyed it and it was great to see there happy smiley faces.This particular trek was more to do with seeing and meeting the local indiginous people, who still dressed the way they have for hundreds of years and are pretty isolated from the main towns and cities. As opposed to the more famous Inca Trek, where you see lots of Inca ruins, with the rest of the 500 people that will be doing tours that day. The second day was the hardest, as we had to get over a 4400 mt pass, which we all found hard. The scenery was stunning today, see the photo`s, and the guide allowed for plenty of rests so everybody could catch up with the lead group. The last few hundred mts up the pass though were a nightmare as you couldn`t breath so you walked about 10 mts at a time, had a rest, and then did another 10 mts, so the last bit seemed to last forever. But we all made it and it was congratulations all round and a big photo session. The rest of the next few days would be downhill (hoorah!!) but the altitude got to a few and some were either sick, needed oxygen or were groggy for the rest of the day. Our second campsite was at another village, again at 3700 mts, so another cold night. Before dinner though it was customary at this village to play the locals at football. I first of all declined as I had a bit of a headache but as soon as I saw the football being kicked around and heard boot against leather the testosterone kicked in and I was off`I`m such a w***er sometimes. Our team consisted of myself, another brit, a yank (I think he didn`t realise it was a round ball until it was too late) and the three guides (thank god). The game started OK, until I got the ball and there I was running up the field majestically (well, I thought I looked majestic but Donna said I looked like a spastic version of Peter Crouch) finally passing the ball (to my own player I must add) and then thought,s***! I can`t breathe, I`m going to die (yes Theresa, poetic licence is a beautiful thing) but after about 5 mins I was OK and spent the rest of the game in defence, with the Brit and the Yanks who had similar experiences to myself when they started running. The guides though were leaping around like fresh young springboks being chased across the wilderness by Lenny the Lion on speed, tossers!! Needless to say we lost, but only by 4 goals to 2. A valuable lesson learnt though, don`t play football above 3000 mts, unless you have an oxygen mask to hand. After the football it was dinnertime and then bed. The third day was the a nice stroll through the valley admiring the beautiful views until we hit a small village for lunch where we said our fairwells to the porters, cooks and 2 of the guides. These guys work so hard, as I said before when we started the days trek from the campsites these guys would pack everything away (tents,cooking gear, mattreses,etc), overtake you on the trek, running, and then sett up the gear at the next sites and have everything ready by the time you get there, really amazing, especially when you think some of the group actually hired porters to carry their stuff along as well, meaning some of the group weren`t carrying a great deal and still struggled compared to the porters, but I suppose they are used to it. Did I hire a porter? no way jose, in true Brit spirit I carried most our stuff plus both of our sleeping bags, even Donna carried her own personal belongings. Admittedly,I was always in the middle of the pack but I'm old and frail,so I have an excuse. After lunch it was off to Ollantaytambo, which Donna and I had seen before when we had done the Sacred Valley tour, but it was still nice to see from a different angle, walking in from the valley. From here we caught the train up to Agua Caliente for a well deserved sleep in a Hostal for the night. Again the 2 hr train ride was fantastic, brilliant views all the time as it wound its way through the valley down to Aguas Calliente. After a good nights sleep, it was an early rise to catch the 6am bus up to Machau Picchu. On the bus we couldn`t help thinking we could have done with about 2 weeks more sleep but when we actually saw Macchau Picchu so early in the morning, it was well worth the early rise. It was one of those breath taking moments, seeing this ancient city high up in mountains surrounded by beautiful lush green forested peaks all around, I would actually go as far as saying it was very mystical (even if I do sound a bit of a knob!). The morning mist was still evident and the city was empty, no-one was down there yet, being so early and the first ones there we took advantage and took loads of photo`s. I can`t really say much else as words can`t really describe it. I have heard people say its good but nothing too special but Donna and I both agreed it was really special for us. We had a tour for about 2 hours and then Donna and I sat on the walls for about another 2 hours soaking in the view and atmosphere. Back in Cusco we still thought about Machu Picchu and what a fantastic experience the trek was with its beautiful views and getting to see and meet the local indiginous people who live so far up the valley in their tranquil isolation. We also loved Cusco itself, even though some people would say it was touristy it still had a great feel about it with a mixture of its colonial building and Inca ruins. Have to admit though we did seek out an English bar that did proper english breakfasts with real imported HP baked beans and PG Tips tea. Sad really but we have been away a long time and missed some home comforts, so hopefully we are excused. At least I wasn`t wearing my string vest and knotty hankie on my head. Also, the creme de la creme was we found a proper Indian curry house, well Lee and Delia did and as we had been discussing, one night, what we missed the most about home, it was nice to find one of the top 3. The couple were from India and the husband had worked in Lima for about 7 years before moving to Cusco to set up a resturant there. They were a great couple and we had a great night. So Cusco was over and it was time to move northwards but first we had to go westwards towards Arequipa.