Mark

Cusco is South America’s oldest continuously inhabited city and a delightful place to visit ø¢â‚¬” once you can handle the altitude. Located 3,350 metres above sea level in south-eastern Peru, it was the capital of the Inca Empire from the 12th century to the Spanish conquest of South America in 1532. Lying in a bowl-shaped valley, it has the dubious honour of having the highest levels of UV light of any city on Earth.

September 18-23, 2005: Shetland was in floor-to-ceiling cloud when we arrived on Saturday evening and it has remained mostly cloudy ever since, with intermittent drizzle. Fortunately we have been able to take advantage of occasional sunny breaks, although the wind strength has ranged from steady to strong and gusty. This isn’t abnormal weather for September up here and locals tell us the whole summer has been a bit disappointing weather-wise. However, as with Orkney, you never know what changes will occur so it’s best to carry on as normal.

To complete our trip we had to return to Adelaide in the OKA, which had driven in from Birdsville at around 8 pm on the previous evening. As we had a considerable distance to cover, Brendan wanted an early start so we were up at first light to pack our trekking swags and leave them at the campsite for the next group of trekkers, who would arrive later in the day.

Inca tradition has it that Manco Capac, the first of the Incas, rose from the waters of Lake Titicaca at Puno, under the orders of the Sun God, to start the Inca Empire, which would be centered in the neighboring region and city of Cuzco. As a consequence, an effective route of communication between the two cities was set up by the Incas more than 500 years ago. Our trip from Puno to Cusco retraced this route, which is part of a longer trail, popularly known as the ‘Royal Inca Trail’, that runs from Santiago in Chile to Guaca in Ecuador.

Puno is located on the north-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca and provides a base for visiting the floating island communities of Uros and the Taquile community, which can only be reached by boat. Both communities live traditional – though very different – lifestyles, the Uros communities relying on hunting water birds and fishing, while the Taquile community farms the land.

September 11-12, 2005: Orkney at last, after a full day of travel from Oxfordshire. The least said about that, the better! In contrast, it’s easy to run short of words when trying to describe Orkney. For starters, the lighting is so variable. It can change from full sun to overcast in minutes and days that start with drizzling rain can evolve into either mist or intermittent sun and cloud.

Day ten began cool and windy and the sky was cloudless at dawn. For the first time on our trek, we would head south today. Leaving the campsite at around 9.30, we retraced our path back to Eyre Creek and, after crossing the creek bed, walked for about 20 minutes along a narrow vehicular track between coolabah trees. Before long, the northern end of a red sand dune appeared east of the road so we left the road to follow the dune.

We left La Paz in a mini-van early the next morning, spiralling upwards towards the valley’s rim. Bolivia is a poor country and the roads are, frankly, terrible. Road rules appear to be ‘first in best dressed’ and traffic often diverges to avoid huge potholes or areas of impossibly corrugated track. Sealed surfaces are a rarity.

Having only walked for 3.5 kilometres on the first day of the actual trek, we expected to do a lot more on the fifth day. The day itself promised better conditions and the camels were rapidly getting back to a working routine. It was still cold at breakfast time and most trekkers lingered by the campfire for as long as possible.

If you’re looking for local colour, Bolivia is a good place to begin. You fly in to the highest commercial airport in the world – more than 4.1 kilometres above sea level – climbing up from the coast across steeply undulating ridges, with the ever-present peaks of the high Andes in the background.