After spending our first weekend in Peru with the Cuba’s, Chuck and I spent 44 of the next 72 hours on a bus. First, we took an overnight bus from Lima to Huaraz. Next, we had a twelve hour bus tour to Yungay and a lagoon. The following day there was another 12 hour bus tour to another lagoon, through a mountain tunnel, and Chavin. Finally, we had another overnight bus from Huaraz to Trujillo where we toured the city and three nearby archaeological zones. Huaraz, north of Lima, is situated between the cordillera blanca and negra. It was a nice town with beautiful views. Our only regret is that we didn’t have more time. It would have been nice to get to know the town itself, but there just was not enough time to do ... read more

Monday the 25th of January we travelled from Cusco to Puno on a tour with Inka Express. Along the way we stopped at Andahuaylillas, Sicuani, La Raya, and Pukara. We left Cusco at 7am and pulled into Puno at 7pm. Along the way the views were either beautiful or heart wrenching. The mountains and countryside was absolutely breathtaking, but there was also tremendous devastation and destruction from the flooding and landslides the first half of our journey. Such beauty and such tragedy! Our first stop was to the small town of Andahuaylillas to visit a small church, which was said to be the Sistine Chapel of South America. The church, both inside and out, was beautifully painted with murals and motifs from floor to ceiling. When we visited, the church was undergoing what appeared to be ... read more

Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru with a population of around 900,000 persons. Arequipa is located in the Andes Mountains of Southern Peru at an altitude of 7800 ft. Temperatures averaged about 75 degrees while we were in the area. Chuck and I arrived to Arequipa the morning of Friday, January 15th. We found a taxi driver who drove us around town to secure a hotel room, reserve a tour to Colca Canyon, drop off laundry and see some sights. For $40.00 we made use of the taxi for about 5 hours. After looking at a handful of hotels, we decided on the Hotel Villa del Carmen. The hotel was clean, small, situated across the street from the Selva Alegre Park, and within walking distance to the main plaza. The nightly rate was ... read more

We came to Peru to explore the country (obviously), but also to attend the wedding party of Angela (Chuck’s daughter) and Miguel (her husband). The party took place on Saturday the 9th of January. Although the party did not start until about 9 in the evening, we arrived earlier in the afternoon to spend time with Angela and Miguel and his family. When we arrived almost all of the furniture in the living and dining rooms had been removed to make room for the party. There was a large table against one wall and stacks of chairs. The kitchen was filled with pots and bowls of food in the process of being prepared. There was beans, onion, garlic, meat, pastries, sauces; we will just say there was a plethora of food of all kinds. We ... read more

Cajamarca From Lima we booked a flight on Star Peru Airlines and travelled to Cajamarca. Cajamarca is in northern Peru at an altitude of roughly 9000ft. The name Cajamarca means the place of the Caxa (pronounced casha) cactus. It was absolutely wonderful to arrive to a place that was green, the air was clean, and the view included trees, mountains, and farmland. When I stepped off the plane I could not stop smiling! Our first day we walked around town, taking in the sights and the scenery and admiring the ornate colonial churches. Later that day we went to Banios del Inca. The Banios (I spell it with ‘ni’ because I do not have the Spanish ‘n’) del Inca consists of a series of baths or hot tubs fed from the hot springs (158 degrees Fahrenheit). ... read more