Vacation in Peru

Here is a post about our one month vacation in Peru that began in mid-April 2011.

Lima:  The capital of Peru is coastal city with some interesting things to see and some amazing food; we also found a vibrant Chinatwon.  The big downside to Lima was that everyone speaks Spanish with a NY accent and we could not understand what they were saying.

Nasca:  Our next stop was Nasca.  This desert town is about 6 hours south of Lima (by luxury bus).  The main reason to visit Nasca is to fly over the famous Nasca lines.  These huge pieces of art drawn on the desert floor can only be seen from the air and nobody really knows how or why they were made.

Arequipa:  From Nasca, we took an overnight bus to Arequipa.  It was a rough trip and Emma greeted the city by stepping off the bus and puking all over the terminal.  It was uphill from there.  We did a home stay with a wonderful family and enjoyed hanging out with them and getting to know the city.

Colca Canyon:  About 3 hours from Arequipa is Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world. We went on a guided trek which entailed some tourist attractions, a night in a beautiful village, and then a hike into the canyon the next day. We camped at the bottom of the canyon and hiked back out the following morning.

Puno and Lake Titicaca:  After six uncomfortable hours, our bus stopped outside of Puno due to a general strike over the environmental practices of an American-owned mine. We managed to get a taxi driver to take us to town but he had to go on dirt roads over a small mountain - this involved lots of pushing.  We spent a few days in Puno and then took a boat to Llachon, a little village on Lake Titicaca.  We stayed with Don Magno and his family who primarily speak Amayra. It is a beautiful and peaceful and we hope to go back there someday.

Cuzco:  We took a tourist bus from Puno to Cuzco.  The trip took all day and involved some sight seeing at Inca ruins and a buffet lunch.  When we first got to Cuzco, we could not figure out what all the fuss was.   However, after a few days staying in an amazing hotel on a hill (112 steps from the street to our room) we fell in love with the place.  It is a beautiful city filled with 500 year old ruins in a stunning valley.

Lares and Machu Pichu:  In Cuzco, we hired a guide service that took us on a 3 day trek over 15,000 foot mountain passes.  The guides brought extra horses for the girls, but our little mountain goats never needed them.  At the end of the trek, we went to the famous Inca ruins known as Machu Picchu - which lived up to all the hype.

Amazon:  After Machu Picchu, we returned to Cuzco and then caught a plane to the rain forest.  We stayed in a very cool lodge.  The rooms have only 3 walls and the beds look out over the jungle.  Our family was assigned a guide, Natalie, who took us on all sorts of interesting adventures.

After the Amazon we flew back to Lima and then on to Managua.  It was a wonderful trip and we hope to return to visit parts of the country we missed, primarily the far north and central highlands.