I got up to be ready for 7.25, only to realise I read the paper wrong and I didn't need to be ready until 8.25. I had a nice breakfast with the sun on my face in the Plaza de Armas.

On the bus, I got to talking to Cesar, a Peruvian living in Vancouver with his girlfriend Alex. Next to me was Anne, an Australian woman from Brisbane visiting her daughter who is travelling around South America.

We got off at Pisac, where we had half an hour to look at the market stalls. The Inca site is a bit further up, up some steep steps, with lots of terraces used for agriculture. The views over the valley were amazing. Our guide, Martinez, who talked like he was presenting 'The Price is Right' but was otherwise quite amiable and knowledgeable, told us about the 'solar watch', basically a big rock on which the positions of the sun indicated the 365 days and 12 months of the year, with 21 June as their new year.

In the early Inca period, the Incas did build with rocks and mortar, and it was only later they started shaping the rocks to fit so prefectly they had no need for mortar. This was also the time when they started making the trapezoidal, to make sure they were strong enough to resist earthquakes. Surrounding the site are nearly 5000 burial sites, but -surprise, surprise- they were pillaged by the Spaniards.

We had lunch, which was pretty good considering the restaurant was catering for all the buses coming from Pisac (we were first though!) and then drove for an hour through green fields and mountains to Ollantaytambo. In the town was a big party because of the 6 of January: Three Kings day.

The village has been virtually the same since Inca times, most of the houses are built on Inca foundations. The town has narrow streets and is organised in a block structure. The religious and astronomical centre is on the mountain and is spectacular: steep terraces lead up to giant monolithic stones carved to perfection and weighting, well, I can't remember exactly but it was a lot. They have been dragged over two mountains before they got where they are now.

In the mountain opposite, you can see the 'face' of the God ApusomethingViracochasomething (he didn't have a very easy name to remember) and to the side of the mountain, there was the face of the mountain God himself, which, incidentally, gets hit by the sun exactly on 21 June... It's really ingenious, those Incas were clever clogs.

We then drove to Chincero, another town built on Inca foundations. Especially the church is impressive, with a painted ceiling and walls. The people there wear the traditional costume, which is slightly different from Cusco in style, and the men have those hats shaped like fruit bowls on their head. Apparently they cultivate over 500 types of potato around Chinchero, and over 40 types of corn.

It was a very good day, lots of sunshine and nice people. In the evening I broke my promise that I would not eat at the same place twice and went back to Jack's. It was the magazines that did it, plus I wasn't feeling too well. I had a shower (lukewarm) and went to bed.