Arrived in Cusco at 8 the following morning. Immediately struck by the mountains and also the lack of air. Taxi to our hotel was quick and the hotel is delightful - lovely people, old buildings built around a quiet courtyard with a small fountain. After unpacking we headed off into the amazing city of Cusco. Spent the morning looking around and photographing everything in sight. Toured a 16th century church with tons of ornate gold leaf covered statuary and paintings. Witnessed a large demonstration in the main square against the plan to sell Machu Picchu to a foreign company.

After lunch overlooking the square, we decided to do a horse trek in the afternoon and were duly taxied up to the ranch above Cusco. The horses clearly had a bit of donkey in their ancestry but did the job. By now Nick was struggling a bit with the altitude and having to move very slowly. The route took just under 4 hours and took in some ruins and amazing scenery, including some traditional villages with agriculture out of the middle ages - hand cropping of corn, wals built with mud bricks cut by hand, no obvious mechanical aids.

Finished the day with a meal in a small restaurant run by a very enthusiastic Aussie called Rick. Girls very tired by end of meal and virtually collapsing in their plates!