DAY 10: PUNO (TITICACA LAKE) My bus left Arequipa at 1:30 a.m., 30 minutes late. I had expected to be in Puno (altitude 11,665 ft.) around 6:00 or 6:30 a.m., but we didn’t arrive until 7:30 a.m. because of the many stops the “Ormeño” bus made. Next time, I will go to Puno from Arequipa by plane or by a Cruz del Sur bus because they offer the best service in Peru. Since my Titicaca Lake tour was leaving at 7:45 a.m., I had just enough time to leave my backpack at my hotel before my transfer guy drove me to [View Full Entry]

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DAY 9: STILL IN AREQUIPA Today I woke up early to visit some of the old colonial churches and houses of Arequipa as well as some hotels. My first visit was the Sabandia Water Mill or “Molino de Sabandia,” built in 1785. The entrance fee was around US$ 1.70. In this old colonial building I spent about an hour. Here you can see the old way to process wheat, also some art pieces and old tools and the most important thing, beautiful landscape. This is a peaceful place where you can just go to relax and enjoy the view. On the [View Full Entry]

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DAY 8: AREQUIPA This morning I felt lazy, so I stayed most of the morning with my parents at their house. I left their house only to buy my bus ticket to Puno. I had to look for a bus that would be leaving the next day around 11:30 p.m. or a little bit later in order to be in Puno around 7:30 a.m. to start my tour over the Titicaca Lake. I had been told that a regular bus trip from Arequipa to Puno takes about 5 hours and thirty minutes, so I bought a ticket for the Royal Class [View Full Entry]

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DAY 7: COLCA CANYON - AREQUIPA Today the alarm clock woke me up at 5:50 a.m. and I was really happy because my headache was history. Since my bus would be picking me up in one hour and ten minutes, I took a quick shower and then I left my room to eat breakfast. When I left my room, I almost froze because the temperature was around 30ºF. After eating breakfast, I went to my room to pack and get ready. My bus arrived around 7:15 a.m. and took me to the Yanque Main Square. In the Main Square some kids [View Full Entry]

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DAY 6: CHIVAY - COLCA CANYON At 7:30 am Juan, the driver, and Omar, the tour guide, picked me up in a comfortable small bus. After picking up another 9 tourists from their hotels, we left Arequipa city around 8:00 am. Before boarding the bus, I would suggest taking a pill for altitude sickness. On the way to the Colca Canyon, we passed the district of Yura and then we stopped at Quisquos Irrigation to appreciate the view. Then, we stopped in “Pampa Cañahuas” to appreciate the vicuñas. The vicuñas belong to the llama and alpaca family. These animals are [View Full Entry]

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DAY 5: AREQUIPA My bus arrived in Arequipa at 8:15 am while I slept during most of the trip. The bus ticket had cost me about US$ 45.00. My parents picked me up from the bus station and I went to their house to unpack and take a hot shower. (The city of Arequipa is at 7332.67 feet altitude.) At 11:00 am I went to a local hospital in order to get the yellow fever vaccination. If you are planning to go into the jungle, you should get the vaccine in your own country at least 15 days prior to [View Full Entry]

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DAY 4: PISCO - PARACAS - NAZCA Today was a cold shower day. That’s because I found out too late that I should have turned on the thermal machine 30 minutes before taking a shower. Since I didn’t have a lot of time, I took a cold shower. It certainly woke me up, but I wouldn’t recommend it. What I do recommend is that you ask at your arrival to each hotel how their hot water works. At 7:45 am a van picked me up to take me to “El Chaco” Beach in Paracas in order to do the Ballestas [View Full Entry]

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DAY 3: LIMA-PISCO-PARACAS Today I left Lima at 5:45 am, using the Soyuz (bus company). The bus ticket costs around US$ 5.50. The buses of this company leave every 10 minutes, but they are not that comfortable and they stop all the time. So I recommend that you travel with Cruz del Sur. The exit to Pisco is located around 227 Kms. (141.87 miles) south of Lima, and the bus took 3 ½ hours to get there. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear the assistant driver of the bus calling my stop. When I realized I’d missed my exit, I said, “Stop,” [View Full Entry]

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DAY 2: LIMA When I awoke at 9:00am today, I remembered how overcast and humid Lima can be in autumn. Despite the weather it is a capital with a lot of history (the main colony of Spain in America) and nice places to visit. I was eager to begin my trip, which I’d been planning for over three months. The first thing I did was go to the bank and deposit my money in an account. Those who are not Peruvian would not be able to do this, in which case I would suggest taking some cash in a safe [View Full Entry]

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DAY 1: LOS ANGELES - ATLANTA - LIMA I boarded the plane at LAX (Los Angeles Airport) just after 8:00 am and landed in Atlanta four hours later. An hour after that, I boarded the plane to Peru. It was packed mainly with tourists. Actually, the two girls who sat next to me were going to stay in Ayacucho for two months to teach English to little kids, but before doing that they were going to hike the Inca Trail and visit Cusco, two things that were on my itinerary as well. The plane arrived in Lima after 6 ¼ [View Full Entry]

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