Traveller Dervla Murphy and her nine-year-old daughter Rachel, accompanied by an endearing mule named Juana, clambered the length of Peru with only the most basic supplies to sustain them, spending most of their time above 10, 000 feet. Their gruelling journey was marked by discomfort and danger, though mother and daughter remained resilient throughout, sustained by their great affection for the beauty of the Andes and impoverished people who live there. Eight Feet in the Andes takes the reader on a journey from Cajamarca, near the border with Ecuador, to Cuzco, the ancient Inca capital, over 1300 miles to the south. Confronting horrors and joys along the mountain paths, the Murphy women prove that they are as indomitable as ever.