It is damp and humid in Sao Paulo where we have to go through security, but our luggage is checked-through to Lima. Our second flight is again with LATAM; flight JJ 8066 being on a Boeing 767-300 that is scheduled to depart at 8am. Although we are again flying Business Class, it is only when we reach Gate 310 that we realise that we have not thought to seek out the VIP lounge. However, as it is quite comfortable in the gate area, we decide to remain there.

We are seated in the front row of Business Class: seats 1D&H. The aircraft backs-off at 8:01am and takes-off at 8:28am. We settle into the very comfortable surroundings for the anticipated +5-hour flight of some 2,200-miles. We are soon served another breakfast! This time its scrambled egg with mushrooms; there is also some fruit cake and Jeanette has a croissant. We manage to snooze a little, but otherwise read, before we land at 10:47am. There is a 2-hour time difference between Brazil and Peru, so the flight time was 4 hours, 19 minutes. Our luggage soon arrives and we are met by a guide and a driver. We also meet the two ladies that have been on our flights and are part of our group. Gill and Pam are sisters that originally came from Sutton Coldfield, although they now live in Devon and Reading respectively. They spent much of their time in the Sao Paulo terminal attempting unsuccessfully to recover Gill's tablet which she had left on the plane.

We discover from our guide that our group will number only seven - the other three having arrived early this morning after flying the Heathrow-Madrid-Lima route originally specified for us. It transpires that these three travelled Economy so our changed route was probably a more economic option, from SAGA's point of view. Our other companions include Sheri, a judge who lives in Shropshire, who should have been accompanied by her 85-year old mother, but who had dropped out at the last minute for health reasons; this late decision means that we are the eldest of the group. The remaining two members of the group are Ed and Chris, a married couple from London who used to work for Lloyds Bank.

Our lady driver takes us by a busy urban route, apparently an alternative to the coastal road that is normally used but which is closed because an Ironman event is being held; the journey takes about 45-minutes. At the Hotel Jose Antonio, which is located in the Miraflores district of Lima, we meet Juan Carlos who will be our tour manager while we are in Peru. We check-in to Room 302 which is comfortable although fairly basic and without the benefit of a scenic view. After freshening up we join the other five group members for an optional tour of Lima. This tour is conducted by Oscar who is both enthusiastic and interesting. A small bus first takes us to the very extensive remains of a pyramid, apparently an example of several archaeological sites that are in the area. Huaca Pucllana is a great adobe and clay pyramid located in Miraflores, built from seven staggered platforms. It served as an important ceremonial and administrative centre for the advancement of the Lima culture, a society which developed along the Peruvian coast between 200 AD and 700 AD. The site is closed but Oscar provides us with an animated description.

The bus then takes us on a scenic route to Lima's centre, passing some interesting and historical residential developments that include some splendid examples of olive trees planted in the time of the Spanish colonisation. In downtown Lima we follow Oscar on an extensive walk around the main square with its Basilica Cathedral (where the remains of Francisco Pizarro are interred); San Francisco Church; the Archbishop’s Palace; and the Convent of Santo Domingo. Throughout the area there is an abundance of magnificent balconies. It is a lovely sunny afternoon with plenty of people enjoying the pleasant autumn weather, although we note that there is a quite heavy police presence. Oscar provides an interesting and informative excursion and includes some interesting information about life in Peru – especially their system of Identity Cards and compulsory voting.

Back at the hotel, we decide to investigate the Larcoma Mall as a place to find a restaurant. The tour bus passed the mall at the start of the excursion, but we are studying a map outside the hotel to determine which way to walk, when Oscar approaches and points us in the right direction. He also recommends a couple of restaurants that will provide typical Peruvian meals. Following Oscar’s recommended route, we walk along a couple of very busy and interesting streets to the mall, which is constructed on a cliff top overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The upscale mall is busy with locals as well as tourists, but we soon find Mangos, one of the restaurants recommended by Oscar.

Many of the diners are sitting outdoors, but we choose an indoor table with views over the coast road and the Pacific Ocean, where we can watch the breakers as the sun sets. Jeanette chooses “sticky rice with fish and eggs” and David selects “baby chicken with fries and salads”. Despite Oscar’s warning that the servings will be large, we are persuaded by the waiter to have a “typical Peruvian starter”. The starter is similar to antipasti and, like our main courses, is very filling – altogether, we eat too much.

Back at the hotel, we find the bar and have complimentary welcome drinks (whisky sours) and chat to an American before retiring at 8:40pm. It is 43-hours since we got out of bed in Knowle!

[Day 3] Monday, April 24th.

This morning we are up at 7am after a good night's sleep in two parts: 9pm to 2am and 4am to 6am. The day has started sunny, and stays mostly sunny all day and mostly hot. At the buffet breakfast we have our usual juice, fruit, and cereal - followed by made to order eggs. We are due to depart at 10am so have time to explore the grounds of the hotel. The well-designed, beautiful grounds are full of colourful flowers, and are situated at the foot of the mountains, and include a couple of young llamas. We also have time to enjoy some very sweet cake supplied by the hotel in celebration of Pam's birthday tomorrow.

Today's programme includes one of the major highlights of this trip - a visit to the Incan citadel of Machu Picchu. The route to Machu Picchu will include our tour bus, a narrow gauge train ride, and a local bus to the citadel. To accomplish this visit requires some unusual arrangements with our luggage. SAGA's detailed itinerary for the trip states that "due to luggage restrictions on board the train, you'll be required to take an overnight bag for your stay at the hotel. You'll then be reunited with your main luggage tomorrow when you arrive at the hotel". Unfortunately, this is only news to us because Gill has given us a spare copy of the itinerary - we did not receive a copy prior to our departure from home. However, we are able to utilise our normal hand luggage (usually reserved for camera equipment, etc) to incorporate what we will require overnight, and our two large cases go direct to tomorrow night's hotel in Cusco.

The tour bus takes us to the railway station in Ollantaytambo, which is located near the Urubamba River. The station is crowded with people and the arrangements to board appear to be very confusing, but Juan Carlos and Camilla shepherd us to the train's Car C. Our seat tickets, as with other tickets for this part of the tour, are comprehensive in detail and are linked to our passports - apparently a system designed to thwart ticket touts. We will be travelling on Inca Rail's Executive Class train that departs at 11:15am. Services to Aguas Calientes are also run by Peru Rail, and one of their Hiram Bingham trains (their equivalent of the Orient Express) is waiting in the station - the return price for this train costs about $650, but does include a 4-course dinner on the way back from Machu Picchu. As our overnight bags are to be taken to tonight's hotel, we purchase a locally made rucksack in the station waiting area; this proves to be a good buy both for today and on later occasions during the trip.

Although we are not ticketed to sit together, a few swops take place and we sit in seats 41 and 42, which have plenty of legroom. This pair of seats places us on the right-hand side of the train, with our backs to the direction of travel. Most of the seats are in groups of four, and the left-hand side of the train has views over the river Urubama - the fast flowing water that the train will follow to Aguas Calientes. Although we do not have the best views from our side of the train, Camilla calls our attention to interesting viewpoints which we are able to see by standing up, or moving to an adjacent door area. These include Inca ruins, agricultural terraces, and the starting point of the Inca Trail - the four-day hike to Machu Picchu.

Our train journey time for the 24-mile trip is about 1½-hours, during which we are served a snack and drinks. On arrival in Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo) we are taken to a restaurant for a buffet lunch that features local food. We then begin the last stages of the ascent to the Machu Picchu ruins. The first part is a 30-minute bus ride that initially descends slightly to cross the Urubama River, and then zigzags up a steep and very bumpy road to the entrance to the ancient site - the dirt road surface is only relieved by crude paving at the hairpin bends. The bus passes a number of people making the 5-mile climb on foot. The second stage is a steady climb up a fairly steep path - this is quite strenuous due to the altitude, but the reward is that the path brings us to the classical overview of Machu Picchu. Nothing can quite prepare the senses for the amazing sight before us, particularly as it is enhanced by today's sunshine.

Camilla is a knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide to the city, with both an historical overview from our initial viewpoint and detailed explanations as she guides us through the ruins. She explains that Machu Picchu (which means 'Old Mountain') is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge 8,000-feet above sea level. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu, which is the most familiar icon of the Inca civilisation, was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Inti Watana (a ritual stone associated with the astronomical clock), the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared. The site is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural sector, and into an upper town and a lower town. The temples are in the upper town, the warehouses in the lower.

The architecture is adapted to the mountains. Approximately 200 buildings are arranged on wide parallel terraces around an east-west central square. The various compounds are long and narrow in order to exploit the terrain. Sophisticated channelling systems provided irrigation for the fields. Stone stairways set in the walls allowed access to the different levels across the site. The eastern section of the city was probably residential. The western, separated by the square, was for religious and ceremonial purposes.

Camilla's descriptive tour lasts about 2½-hours during which we see a number of alpacas and viscachas - the latter being a form of chinchilla that attracts much attention from the tourists. At about 5pm we catch a bus back to Aguas Calientes, and then walk the short distance to tonight's hotel: Casa Andina Classic. The town lies in a deep gorge enclosed by steep stone cliffs, a towering cloud forest and two rushing rivers; it is bisected by a railway line that runs past the front of our hotel. In Room 212, which is basic, we have a shower prior to meeting the rest of the group for dinner. This meal, which we have pre-ordered, is taken in a nearby restaurant where we enjoy fish (J), beef (D), chocolate trifle, and some white wine, and the group talk enthusiastically about the iconic ancient city they have visited today.

During the night we hear the occasional train movement and the buzz of a mosquito - fortunately we have switched on our battery operated bug killer. The room is very hot and requires us to put the ceiling fan on at about 1:30am - we had previously been advised not to open the window as the mosquitoes are attracted by a light.