Arequipa My first stop after Cusco was Arequipa. It's the second biggest city in Peru, situated behind volcanic mountains. Together with earthquakes, the volcanoes have made some action in the city every century since 1500. The city was totally destroyed in 1600. It's a good place to stop if you want to do some outdoor activities. You can find the easiest 6000 meter in the world, Chachani (6075m), which you can climb in one day! River running is big in the area, and you can also visit the deepest canyon in the world, Cañon del Cotahuasi, or the easier accesible one, Cañon the Colca. Both canyons are twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the USA, with a depth of 3191 m! After three days in a canyon on my rafting trip, I didn't feel ... read more

A short history lesson ; ) Machu Picchu means in Quechua "old mountian". Our guide could tell us that the constructions started around 1450-60. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived, the Incas abandoned the place without finishing the buildings. This was around 1536. From then it was a secret until Hiram Bingham "discovered" it in 1911. It's situated just 80 km from Cuscu, the Inca capital, but was never found and plundered by the Spanish. The jungel grew over Machu Picchu and the Incas destroyed part of the trails from Cusco. When Bingham "found" the place some local people had already been living there for 10-15 years. It was these people who showed him the place. Our guide also told us that Bingham payed 1 sole (0,40USD?) to the person who showed him the place. He also ... read more

Apurimac River Cusco is one of the best places for whitewater adventures in South-America, beside Pucon and Futaleufu in Chile. You can do everything from one to six days trips around Cusco and it's plenty of companies who offer their service. The Apurimac River is among the top ten rivers in the world for rafting! It runs through an old Canyon which is as much as 1800 meter deep at some sections. It can also tempt you with more than 160 rapids from easy level to class V/V+. River Explorers I signed up for a 3 days trip with the company River Explorers and we turned out to be just six people. 3 from UK, 2 from Sweden and me. River Explorers is a small local company with excellent guides. They also try to be environmental ... read more

Coming home again I'm been coming back to La Paz a couple of times now. First arriving there the first time, then after mountaineering, after the jungle trip and in the end after the little roundtrip down to Potosi and Sucre. The main reason is that all the transport goes from or to La Paz... And the last time, on sunday it was almost like coming home again : ) All the noise, streetmarkets, steep streets, hustle and bustle and so on is good fun every time! I'm not gonna write much now, when I had a good introduction last time (see "The highest capital in the world) I spent the last days here organising a little bit. Mailing home some stuff I didn't need anymore, updated you on the blog, and watched the Champions League ... read more

The most beautiful city in Bolivia? Sucre is probably the most beautiful and important city in bolivia. It was here the independece was proclaimed, and the declaration was signed on the 6th og august 1825. Sucre is actually still the judicial capital, but the seats of government and treasury are in La Paz. The city is situated in a valley surrounded by low mountains in a altitude of 2790m. The climate, especially after been in Potosi (4070m) was mild and comfortable. Its many colonial white buildings with nice patios, plaza's perfect for studying the city life, and plenty of bars, restaurant, museums and other activities around. Sucre was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1991. Many choose to stay here longer than they planned, because of its climate, nice surroundins, posibilities to study and so ... read more