I look at the people below now, at them all milling around this place of deep importance that’s been linked to enlightenment and spirituality, and I wonder what they’re all seeking answers for, if anything, and if their answers have somehow been delivered. There’s something nice about knowing I’m not the only one to feel like I need a little encouragement and direction. Maybe that’s a bit of enlightenment right there.

We spend the rest of the morning exploring Machu Picchu, with Mike wanting to find out all he could about the historic structures, and then head down to the markets of the town below. The following lunchtime we grab a train to Cusco, back to where our Peruvian adventure started. After dumping our stuff at the hotel and giving ourselves a proper spruce-up we head out to dinner as a collective to celebrate all we’ve experienced and overcome with our walking boots on our feet.

We’re sitting at one long banquet-style table, with Scott joining Mike, Zaza and me down one end with the boys and Bronagh the other side of Mike, and then Betsy, Gillian and co. just beyond from them.

‘I’m going for a pizza,’ I declare to anyone who’s listening, my taste buds already making me salivate at the thought.

‘It’s your final night to have local food,’ Scott reminds me, nudging me with his leg, startling me somehow. Making me super alert to the heat of his hairy leg against my own smooth one, a feeling that remains even when they’re no longer touching.

A twinge.

A yearning.

I am not broken.

I can’t help but wonder if this is how affairs start up. Someone coming along and unlocking something to make you feel a little more alive. Opening up feelings and sensations that were previously left dormant and neglected or, in my case, that I’ve become completely closed off to because of the changes that have happened within me, because of how altered I feel.

It’s nice to know I’m still in there somewhere. It makes me feel so hopeful about getting my life back on track with Nick, even if it is slightly uncomfortable to be experiencing things moving within me thanks to a man in his twenties whose unkempt ways and travelling lifestyle are so very different to my own … even if he has put on a nice shirt for the occasion along with some inviting aftershave.

‘I’m sticking with my first choice,’ I declare.

‘I’ll go pizza too!’ agrees Zaza, sizing up the menu in her hands. ‘A bit of guinea pig on the side though, yeah? To share!’ she adds with a glint in her eye.

‘I think I’m done on the adventure front,’ I laugh back.

‘For now!’ chimes in Mike.