Peru is a country in South America and located at the Pacific Ocean.

Impressions of my Vlog

Lake Titicaca (Floating Island of Uros)

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at over 3800 meters. On the Bolivian side, the starting point is the city of Copacabana. There are boats to the islands of Isla del Sol (sun island) and Isla de la Luna (moon island). Isla del Sol looked Mediterranean and consisted of many terraces of the Incas for the cultivation of quinoa. We visited ruins and enjoyed the sunset during an overnight stay on the island. On the Peruvian side, the starting point is the city of Puno. On a day trip we were at the floating islands of Uros. They are made of reeds and inhabited by locals for tourist purposes. Then we went on the tour to the island of Taquile, where people lived with their own traditions.

Colca Canyon (Arequipa)

The Colca Canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. From a lookout point we saw close up Condor birds, which let themselves be carried by the wind. During a hike for three days we went with a beautiful view over 1100 meters into the canyon. We bathed in a refreshing pool in an oasis, before we went again over 1000 meters out of the canyon. The starting point was the city of Arequipa with the Santa Catalina Monastery, a city in the city.

Machu Picchu

Remote in the mountains of Cusco and only accessible by train or on foot are the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. The huge complex is located on a mountain and is one of the 7 New Wonders of the World. To this day, it is speculated what it was used for.

Sacred Valley & Cusco

Along the Sacred Valley between Machu Picchu and Cusco are many ruins of the Incas. Noticeable was the construction style with many terraces on which vegetables were grown, presumably to prevent famine. Near Moray were impressive structures made up of many circular terraces. The Incas were also smart for the salt extraction and dried water from salt springs in basins, as it is still handled today in Salinas.

Rainbow Mountains

Close to Cusco at over 5000 meters are the Rainbow Mountains, known for their colorful hills in recent years

Nazca

The Nazca Lines are symbols and figures in the Nazca Desert and no one knows how exactly they originated. With a length of up to 370 meters, they are best visible from the air and we flew over them with a small plane.

Huacachina

Huacachina is an oasis in the desert near Ica. We drove with a sand buggy over the dunes and were sandboarding.

Paracas

At the city Paracas, the desert meets the sea and we explored the area with the sand buggy and bike. With a boat we went to Ballestas Island, the poor man’s Galapagos Island and saw penguins, seals, many birds and a dolphin.

Lima

Lima is the capital of Peru and we saw the guard change at the palace, that reminded me of London. In the neighborhood of Miraflores was a ruin of a Pre-Inca pyramid, that was built earthquake-proof with many small plates. The Barranco neighborhood felt like a small city and we were having local food with locals, that I met at the beginning of the year on this world trip.

Huaraz

We hiked close to the city Huaraz in the Andes the Santa Cruz Trek on our own for four days. At 4750 meters we had to go over a pass with thin air and hail. On the second day it almost only rained and we camped at over 4200 meters were we had only snacks for dinner, as we could not use the gas cooker. On the third day the clouds cleared and we finally could see the beautiful white covered mountains. A fun adventure where we got on with our ultra-light gear with just two 30-liter backpacks.

Planning

  • I traveled to Peru on my world trip through Latin America:
    • 1. Bus from Copacabana (Bolivia) to Puno. Day trip to the floating islands of Uros on Lake Titicaca.
    • 2. Bus from Puno to Arequipa.
    • 3. A 3-day hike in the Colca Canyon of Arequipa.
    • 4. Night bus from Arequipa to Cusco.
    • 5. Bus from Cusco to Ollantaytambo and train to Aguas Calientes.
    • 6. Machu Picchu
    • 7. Hike from Aguas Calientes to the waterworks along the railway tracks and bus to Ollantaytambo.
    • 8. Bus from Ollantaytambo to Urubamba. Day trips to Moray, Salt Terraces of Salinas and Pisac.
    • 9. Bus from Urubamba to Cusco to explore the city and the ruins the north.
    • 10. Day trip to the Rainbow Mountains from Cusco.
    • 11. Night bus from Cusco to Nazca and we flow with a plane over the Nazca lines.
    • 12. Bus from Nazca to Ica (Huacachina) and we made a buggy tour with sandboarding in the desert.
    • 13. Bus from Ica to Paracas and we made a buggy tour as well as rented bicycles to explore the National Park. Boat tour to the island Ballestas.
    • 14. Bus from Paracas to Lima and explored the city.
    • 15. Bus from Lima to Huaraz.
    • 16. Hike of the Santa Cruz Trek for 4 days.
    • 17. Bus from Huaraz to Guayaquil (Ecuador) via Trujillo.
  • I used for my planning and can recommend the Lonely Planet for South America and the Rough Guide for South America.

Accommodation

  • Only a few hostels had heating and it was very cold at night such as in Puno and Cusco at over 3000 meters.
  • Compared to Bolivia, the showers had a stronger pressure for hot water. This was because there were mostly water boilers instead of a hot water construction on the showerhead.

Transport

  • All major cities are connected by buses.
  • Between the small towns there are minibuses (Colectivo).
  • We booked our tickets on RedBus (https://www.redbus.pe/en/) and Excluciva is recommended by the Foreign Office. There should often be Wifi on the bus, but there never was.
  • To travel from Peru to other countries, such as Ecuador, there are international bus companies like Cruz del Sur (https://www.cruzdelsur.com.pe/). I took them from Trujillo to Guayaquil (Ecuador).

Food

  • Most restaurants offer daily menus for 10 to 15 SOL (2.70 € - 4 €) that consisted of a starter, main course and a drink. This was cheaper than ordering a single dish.
  • A typical drink is Chicha Morada, which is purple and made from corn. It tastes slightly sweet and was often part of the daily menu.
  • Peru is known for ceviche, a dish with raw fish and seafood. It is best in the capital Lima, which is located on the coast.
  • The national drink is Pisco Sour, made out of grape brandy with lime juice, sugar syrup and egg white.