Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing the extraordinary colours of the mosses and orchids of the rainforest on the Macchu Picchu trail, and the amazing geography of Macchu Picchu itself. Also the Corpus Christi processions on the afternoon of our full day in Cusco, which we knew nothing about in advance.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Fabrizzio, our group leader, was absolutely excellent in the way he dealt with my wife's sickness, making sure she saw a specialist in Cusco after having an intravenous injection at a government health centre on the way. This enabled her to recover and enjoy the last couple of days of the holiday. Generally he was a very caring person and very good at his job.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Chewing coca leaves and drinking the tea does really help with altitude acclimatisation, but you need to be strong and fit from the start. My wife's gastritis was, according to the doctor we saw, caused by the medicine she was taking. Having no gall-bladder, she needed to take Lansoprozole in order to tolerate the obligatory anti-malarials and the ibuprofen she took for muscular problems.
Suggestions
A day and a half in Cusco may not be enough for altitude acclimatisation. Our guide book recommends longer. Anyway, the time in Lima, both coming and going, is not enough to take advantage of, and it would have been better to have gone straight to Cusco, a beautiful town with museums and churches we did not have time to visit.