Blogs from Peru, South America - page 1115

Tingo Maria might be the capital of coca growing but a gringo can still walk down the street safely without being offered any white powder. After staying in the lovely city of Huañuco for two days it was time to make my way, 6 hrs by car, to Tingo Maria by means of a collectivo (shared car: s.45) The nice thing about taking the road less traveled is I get to visit with the real Peru...such nice people: relaxed, helpful, and friendly. Unlike the furious fast frantic city of Lima. The ride to Tingo Maria took about 2 hours and was quite the adventure. The roads were unfinished and very bumpy and I didn't enjoy banging my head against the window. But after awhile the body gets used to it (or goes numb)... We were all ... read more

I´m super excited at the prospect of settling here in Cusco for a week or two. WE´ve found a great hostel with this open air rooftop sitting area that looks out onto the whole city it´s just perrrrrfect and for only 12soles a night (approx $5AUD) yeeeeharrrr. It´s definitely a tourist city. It´s hard to find the middle ground between wanting to avoid all the other tourists along the gringo trail, and the relief and comfort felt by being able to find and order a good (and more likely less tummy-churning) meal from an English menu. AFter the tummy turning nightmare of Huaraz, I can say that I can deal with seeing a bunch of other tourists around the place. Lots of cute little stone-cobbled alleyways and funky little cafes and market stalls etc. Yesterday was ... read more

Well, I have had a rather rough couple days since we left the trail and at times have wished for the comfort that only altitude sickness can bring. Currently, we are in Nazca to view the famous (or infamous?) Nazca Lines. Nobody really knows what they are or were for but everyone has a guess, from an astronomical calender to alien landing site. My opinion? It was just boring in Nazca, so they wanted something to do. That was our opinion last night, and it seems applicable if you assume the lines did not exist. So, Lima was little to no fun for me. We arrived at the bus station on time, full of food from our big lunch and ready for the long, curvy ride back to the big city. My food, unfortunately, would not ... read more

Hello, I cannot believe that this place is real. It feels like a real secret. It is amazingly beautiful. We are heading to the north of Peru and have stopped in the middle of miles of sand dunes. In the middle of all these dunes, there is a lagoon, with healing mineral water.. a real oasis. It is really beautiful. And just what we need after the adventures of the last couple of weeks, some R & R. Swimming in a lagoon, drinking pisco sours, eating icecream. Felt like we were on holiday. We also did the most fun thing ever... razzing aroung the dunes in a sandbuggy. It was loads of fun, our driver speeding up hills and over the other side, was excellent. We also got off to sandboard, with proper boards - the ... read more

Executive Summary (4/2 - 4/12): In Cusco we learned the Inca Trail was booked up for a month, so we spent 4 days in a jungle retreat near Puerto Moldonada where we enjoyed exotic birds and local shamanic traditions. We spent 2 days exploring Machu Picchu, amazed that it lives up to the hype. Cusco is not only bellybutton of the Incan world, but Gringo central. I survived the constant hassles and witnessed some of the typically South American pre-Easter excitement. Heading to the Jungle Although many travellers advised us not to pre-arrange the Inca Trail trek, when we tried to sign up for a trip once we arrived in Cusco we learned that the trail was booked up for a month! Recently, and wisely, the government has imposed limits to how many people can use ... read more