We left behind La Paz and stopped for a few days to visit the birthplace of the Inca civilisation on lsla del Sol, Lake Titicaca. We skirted the vast cobalt blue lake (3800m) in brilliant sunshine, passing through tiny communities harvesting cereals by hand while donkeys, llamas and pigs foraged behind.

We had a trip to Sillustini, across a windswept plateau, to the ancient burial site of the Colla people (1300-1400AD). The funeral towers reached to a height of 12 metres and were made from coursed blocks up to 12 tons. There were niches that allowed the priests to feed the bodies and let in light at the solstices.

We moved west across the high Andes to the elegant white city of Arequipa, surrounded by snow capped volcanoes. Nearby on the Ampato volcano at 6380m was discovered a beautiful sacrificed 14 year old Inca girl known as Juanita the ice maiden.  Found in 1995 she is now displayed with all her artifacts and burial robes. It is thought that she walked in an entourage from Cuzco 700km away. The Incas believed they were sending her as a messenger to the gods, probably hoping to prevent an eruption.

What hardships she must have endured climbing up the volcano being put into a drugged sleep before a fatal blow to the head.

From nearby Cabanaconde we trekked for 2 days down the Colca canyon, which is the deepest canyon in the world. The spectacular steep walk passed from a high agricultural plateau to a tropical micro climate after dropping 3191m to the canyon floor. We had some magical moments watching condors fly from the top of the canyon.

A nine hour bus ride over the mountains dropped us down to the flat coastal Nazca desert where we took an early morning flight over the facinating Nazca lines (200 to 600ad). This culture developed 2300years ago. Why they created the enormous geogliphs which cover an area of 135 square miles still remains a mystery. We tend towards a vast temple rather than a visit from an astronaut.

Our next stop was the National Park of Islas Ballestas at Paracas. These islands are a short foggy hop from the shore and a wild life haven for sea lions, Peruvian pelicans, Inca terns, brown boobies, Humboldt penguins and the guano producing one eyed shag. The guano was harvested and became Peru's main export during the mid 19^th century.

We turned south to Huacachina, a desert oasis near Ica, which is dominated by perfect giant sand dunes. We practised sand boarding and hired a dune buggy to skim over the dunes for sunset.

A 20 hour bus ride up the Andes brought us to Cuzco, a beautiful colonial city built on the foundations of the Inca capital. You can still see the immaculate stone block walls many metres high in the city centre supporting the ornate buildings. The Inca building techniques are astounding, huge stone blocks weighing up to 100 tons were immaculately carved to fit like a jigsaw puzzle. At one site these stones were transported over vast distances, across a river, which they diverted. Steep agricultural terraces were another major feat of engineering with terraces predominating the sacred valley nearby. In just over 100 years the Incas conquered an area the size of Europe, stretching from Ecuador to Santiago in Chile. For people without a written language they had an amazing system of administrative centres, communication and command using runners across the empire.

A highlight of our stay was the 4 day Inca trail, where porters scurried in front of us with our tents and fed us at regular intervals. We walked through magnificent scenery and over steep passes surrounded by glaciated mountains, Inca ruins, down through a beautiful cloud forest steeped in orchids to reach the sun gate of Machu Picchu at sunrise on the winter solstice. Here we watched the breathtaking site of sunbeams stretching across the mountain valley striking the famous picture postcard site.

Walking around this almost intact Inca city, it was impossible not to be impressed by the synthesis of architecture and nature.

An 8 day trip by bus, boat and river raft brought us to the Amazon basin and the pristine rainforest of Manu National Park. We walked beneath towering Kapok trees and had several river safaris spotting over a 100 species of birds and 8 species of monkey. At one stage, on an oxbow lake, we did not know where to focus our binoculars as a family of giant otters, a giant cayman and 2 scarlet macaws vied for our attention. Our night walks were equally fascinating being so close to spiders,  snakes, frogs, stick insects and the extraordinary kissing bug, which, if touched, reputedly kills you 30 years later from a heart attack. We gave them all a wide birth.

After a short stop over in Lima we moved on to Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca which has more than 50 peaks over 5700m. Unfortunately Colin was ill for 2 days but Diana went to see the world’s tallest flowering plant, up to 10m high, the Puya Raimondii. It takes 100 years to flower. Then had a hike up a glacier to 5340 metres for stunning views across the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash mountains.

Our undoubted highlight was a visit to Lambayeque and the Royal tombs of Sipan (100 to 500ad) museum. Lord Sipan was a Moche King whose tomb was discovered in 1987 inside an adobe pyramid. The museum is laid out as though you are an archaeologist uncovering layer by layer Lord Sipans tomb. It begins with the skeleton of a footless guardian-soldier. Inside were all the Lords gold and silver ornaments, jewels, garments, weapons and 8 members of his entourage.

Over 200 vessels of food and drink, two sacrificed lamas and a dog were all carefully laid out for his trip to eternity. Moche rulers did not inherit and were buried with all their wealth. Further down were12 other unlooted tombs, rich pickings for grave robbers who amazingly missed them.

We left Peru on a 17 hour bus journey to Guayaquil in Ecuador looking forward to our trip to the Galapagos Islands.