Our flight from Amsterdam was amazing. The first excitement was to look down from 34,000 feet and see London, unmistakeable because of the Millennium Dome, and the meandering Thames. We seemed to be chasing the sun as we flew south-west over the Atlantic Ocean for many hours, finally crossing the coast of South America into Guyana, following the track of a river (sorry to say I can't name it at the moment). On board there was lots of entertainment, films, music, games, flight tracking and tv series. We were very well fed, too. I had a good thriller with me, so I set about reading that from first to last page.

The sun disappeared finally over the western horizon in a red glow, then we flew in an arc over the Pacific to line up for Lima Airport, and we had arrived!

I had managed to put my watch on to Peru time, so although my body said it was after midnight, it was only 7pm in local time. Our bags emerged and we were met by our courier, who took charge of us, got us into a minibus and checked into our hotel, after a hair-raising drive along the coastal highway, to Miraflores, a nice quarter of Lima. Our hotel was central, and very comfortable. We checked in, got to the room, and headed for bed.

We had an eventful morning on our first full day in Peru (more of that later), ending up with a nice walk back to the hotel in time for lunch. Our first organised excursion was with a local guide, Miguel, in a minibus, who showed us some of the great sights of the city, including Inca remains, the President's Palace, the Panamerican Highway which runs from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego down the west coast. We saw 'black buzzards', really vultures, in great crowds. We saw the tomb of Pizarro, who turned the Inca kingdom into a Spanish conquest, and learned a great deal about why South America lagged a bit behind the Old World, since nobody knew it was there!

Our guide was really interesting talking about the difference between colonising and conquering. The Spaniards apparently never brought their families to live here, only plundering the country for its riches and sending them back home. He maintained that people who came to Peru to live became integrated into society, so did not form ghettos or subcultures. Pointing out the large slice of the population who came from China, he told us that there is no Chinatown in Lima. Everybody is or becomes Peruvian. Interesting.

After a long tour we headed back to the hotel, learning on the way that there is indeed a statue of Paddington Bear in Lima. Gifted to the city two years ago by the Lord Mayor of London. This we must go and see.

Very early start on Tuesday 21st November, to breakfast at 6 and be whisked off to the airport again to fly to Cusco.

Again a courier from Llama Travel (pronounced Yama) came with us, sorted out our boarding passes and sent us on our way. The flight took about an hour, and took us up 3,400 metres, or 11,000 feet. About two and a half Ben Nevises.

I had been obsessing about this for weeks, thinking I would crumble at the first gasp of thin air. But it's fine, I'm fine. Again Yama Travel got us to the hotel with minimum fuss, where cups of coca tea are freely on offer. We had some, it was nice. Apparently the locals chew coca leaves all the time as it lessens the effects of altitude sickness. Our first day in Cusco, the legendary capital of the Incas, is being spent resting and acclimatising. A minibus tour awaits us tomorrow.