For the first time since arriving in Peru, we turned up at our hostel at a sociable hour. Marlon´s house, located near the centre of Puno, is a really comfortable and quietly social hostel, with only two minor niggles. The first was our room, which was on the fourth floor, and required us to traipse up what seemed like endless flights of stairs. This would not normally be a huge problem, but we were at a rather high altitude ( 3827 meters ), and every time I reached my room I felt like I was going to pass out with exhaustion. The second “niggle” has been a constant battle: freezing…

Having arrived in Arequipa at 2:00am, we got off to a rather slow start and did not manage to leave the hostel until midday. Despite our brief stay in this particular city, it was clear that the Wild Rovers Hostel was a very friendly place, although as per usual I was forced to have a cold shower despite the promise of piping hot water. We made our way to the main square and Emma needed to withdraw some cash. Unfortunately, after several attempts at using the ATM, Emma received a text from her bank claiming she was the victim of fraud and her card would be cancelled imminently unless she…

We arrived in Nazca at Midnight and jumped in a taxi to the Nazca Lodge, which was to be our hostel for the night. We were greeted by a lovely lady who helped us call the flight agency for the Nazca lines . The hostel seemed empty but had a nice, homey feel to it. After a refreshing sleep we made our way to the airport, I began to feel a little nervous when I saw the size of the planes which were to fly us over the Nazca lines. They were only big enough to carry around ten people and did not exactly look sturdy. The flight company with…

After a rather pathetic but refreshing couple of hours sleep in the Casa Bella, we emerged from our beds at around 10:30am and decided to take full advantage of our all-inclusive breakfast. We only really had time for an afternoon of sight-seeing and decided to book a tour around some of the most famous sites in Lima. The tour ended at the Lima Lorca museum, an enormous private collection of material culture of the ancient civilisations of Peru. The collection includes the infamous erotic pottery of the Moche (or Mochica), which made me especially excited as I recently did a presentation on Moche erotic pots for one of my modules…

At the unsightly hour of four in the morning, Ileft the rolling hills of Dorset, having bid farewell to the dogs and done a final panic check for forgotten items. As we sped along the motorway to Heathrow Airport in the newly serviced landrover, listening to Newton Faulkner, I contemplated the long journey ahead, starting with breakfast. We arrived at the Terminal three short stay car park and spent the next fifteen minutes wandering through badly signed corridors in the hope it would eventually lead to our check-in gate. Up until now, everything was running smoothly but that as all about to change. The flight centre, with whom we had…

In less than two days, prospective travel writer and archaeology enthusiast, moi, shall be aboard a Boeing 777. Destination: Peru! It is my second trip to this part of the world and this time I hope to spend more time writing and less time getting lost. Having said that, getting lost is part of the fun, particularly as I will be travelling with a close friend and organiser extraordinaire (commonly known as Emma). In July and August 2010, I spent four fantastic weeks in a town called Nepeña on the Western Coast of Peru, not far from the (rather fishy) city of Chimbote. I was to spend my days taking part…