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I`ve visited the lost city of the Incas, Macchu Picchu for the second time in six months - and it never ceases to amaze me. We said goodbye to one of our guides Valentin, in Aguas Calientes, so Angelo gave us our guided tour around this impressive place.

Machu Picchu is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

The Incas started building the "estate" around AD 1400, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored. The restoration work continues to this day.

While all the others climbed Huayna Picchu, I´d already done this last time and grabbed the opportunity to explore the Temple of the Condor, the Sun Gate and the steep terraces and cobblestone paths that wind their way around Machu Picchu. At about 1.30pm, I caught up with some of my fellow trekkers and was waited for the bus taking us back to Aguas Calientes and our hostel for a late lunch. We finally took the train back to Ollantaytambo with a bus connection arriving in Cusco city at 9.30pm.

In Cusco, the last two days have celebrated the Day of the Deceased, or El Dia de los Difuntos. It´s a religious day where Peruvians commemorate their dead familiy members and friends. They visit the cemetery and pay respect by leaving flowers, large ornamental crosses, food and drinks and tantawawas (bread babies). I wandered up to one of the nearby squares in San Franciso Celle, and watched a band with black suited musicians. They resembled the cast of the Blues Brothers and sounded fantastic! Some people danced in the square.

Suddenly, the chief of Cusco arrived accompanied by a priest and a live band. They blessed the large tantawawas or bread baby, which has a body made of sweet bread and carmel and a paper mache doll head. They blessed the huge bread doll and then started cutting it up for the crowd to eat. As the Cusco chief walked through the crowd, he shook my hand and gave me a golden placa echenic, or badge. He`s a typical public figure - great on the PR! This is a special time in Peru, when you remember you dead loved ones and what made them special.