Blogs from Peru, South America - page 1134

Saa er der gaaet et par dage siden jeg ankom til Peru, saa maa hellere lige faa sendt lidt informationer hjem til det kolde nord..... (hoerer det har sneet igen) Landede i Lima i mandags, og brugte dagen paa lige at faa sovet lid, og saa ellers gaa rundt i Miraflores, de bydel jeg boede i. Jeg havde hoert adskillige advarsler om Lima inden jeg og hjemmefra, men oplvede nu ikke noget skraemmende, nok bl.a. fordi der er ret meget politi og sikerhedsfolk i Miraflores. Tirsdag tog jeg paa en guidet tur rundt i den historiske del af Lima, ikke vildt spaendende, det er ikke rigtig storbyer jeg er paa jagt eter. Men det var rart at vaere en stoerre grupe afsted, for saa er der flere mennesker tiggerne og gadesaelgerne kan overfalde. Fik ogsaa lige ... read more

CuzcoBased myself in Cuzco. Enjoyed the Plaza de Armas and surrounding area in spite of us tourists. Toured the Inca remains in Cuzco and the sacred valley. But then... MACHU PICCHUNo photos, books, or documentaries prepare you for it - - sensational. Spent a day and a half up there, wandered all over the sight, walked back up the Inca Trail to Inti Punko, the last col on the treckers route in. Lake TitikakaToured the lake. Visited the floating islands, and hiked Taqila island. On the 8 hour return to Cuzco the road was blocked at 4000metres for an extra two hours by demonstrators. ... read more

It is completely spoiled by huge amount of tourists but it still is a magnificent structure in an overwhelming location. It is expensive on a South-American price scale and you quite don't feel you get your money's worth but you get to see the Machu Picchu you have seen in photos everywhere for your own eyes. That's what we felt about it. Aquas Caliantes is quite a shitty place that get's all the tourists without any effort. Not worth staying but we had to. The hostal was the worst with paint crumbling from the walls, snail community living in the bathroom ceiling and water floating on the bedroom floor. No need to fix these things since the tourists keep coming anyway. Ofcourse there are nice hotels as well, but the prices are on western level. Because ... read more

Well, Carnaval is spread over a couple of weeks throughout South America and with is comes water balloons, streamers, and silly foam (basically shaving foam in a pressurized can). It appears to be a game of flirtation between teenage boys and girls with the girls getting the brunt of the boys ´affection.´ The other targets are gringos (ie, us white folks). With Puno having had its Carnaval last weekend, folks were still in the party mood. We were prepared with our own silly foam and got to practice with it serveral times while in Puno! What Fun! Puno, like Copacabana, is situated along the shores of Lago Titicaca. As a town we don´t have much to say besides the above as we simply used it as a jumping off point to the Islands of Amantani and ... read more

Ofcourse everybody who comes to Peru must come to Cuzco. It is filled with tourists and all the stuff that comes with that: hotels, restaurants, tour agencies, etc. But it's no wonder that it's so popular destination since it's a really nice city. The inca heritage is visible everywhere. We went for a half day's walk on the ruins surrounding Cuzco. The ruins of Tambo Machay, Puca Pucara and Sacsayhuaman were impressive remains of the Inca empire. They really knew how to work the stone and were hard and precise builders. The rest of our time in Cuzco we spent enjoying the beautiful city and good food.... read more