The eight feet belong to Dervla Murphy her nine-year-old daughter Rachel & Juana an elegant mule who together clambered the length of Peru from Cajamarca near the border with Ecuador to Cuzco the ancient Inca capital over 1300 miles to the south With only the most basic necessities to sustain them & spending most of their time above 10000 feet their journey was marked by extreme discomfort occasional danger & even the temporary loss of Juana over a precipice Yet mother & daughter a formidable duo were unflagging in their sympathetic response to the perilous beauty & impoverished people of the Andes In this extraordinary adventure Dervla Murphy is at her intrepid best facing up to the terrors horrors & joys of her journey along the mountain paths