are. The Incas supposedly believed that the higher up they got, the closer they were to their Gods, and this was certainly the land to get higher up!! All around there were they most incredibly shaped mountains covered in lush rainforest - a truly awe-inspiring setting!!

If you look at the photo “the classic shot”, you will see that there are two peaks beyond Machu Picchu which can be climbed. They limit the number of people who can go through the gate leading to them per day, so if you want to climb them you need to get there early. The big one, Wayna Picchu, was described as being a tough climb, and not for anyone with a fear of heights. This counted it out for me I’m afraid, I never used to suffer from vertigo, but since my first taste of it at Angkor Wat, it is something which I give the utmost respect to!! So as a result we opted for the smaller hill next to it. This was a far easier

prospect, but still gave a fantastic overall view of the ruins from the opposite direction as virtually all the photos you see. We sat there admiring the view with the place to ourselves for a while and then headed back down, to find a huge queue of people waiting to get through the gate - again great timing!!

We wandered back through the other side of the ruins, having a close encounter with the resident llamas on the way, and it was at this point that we noticed all the workers milling all over the ruins with little scrapers and buckets. They were actually scraping the moss from in between the stones. We realised that this was something that we hadn’t been able to put our fingers on about the place until now - it was almost too sterile. It was so manicured, that it didn’t really look real. If you have a look at some of photos you’ll see what I mean. Every stone is spotless, ever blade