Blogs from Peru, South America - page 12

Today we left Cusco for a long but interesting bus ride to Puno, on the edge of Lake Titicaca. This road is known as the Manco Capac route because legend has it that the first Inca leader, Manco Capac child of the sun, emerged from Lake Titicaca, together with his sister Mama Ocllo. As well as the stops, we had great views en route, including a mirror-like lake with fabulous reflections of the Andes and those fabulous craggy.mountains and snowy peaks. There were herds of llamas and alpacas and we passed lots of women in traditional dress working the fields, doing washing in rivers and carrying babies in colourful wraps on their backs. ... read more

Today was one of those days I'll remember for the rest of of my life. The day started at 4.45am so we could be at Machu Picchu when it opened at 6am. I didn't feel the least bit tired all day: so much adrenaline from such an amazing day. I'm really glad we came on a guided tour because Claudio knew exactly how to make the most of this remarkable site. Machu Picchu was built around 1450, primarily as a religious centre by Pachacuti, the Alexander the Great of the Incas. It was functional for less than a century because in 1539 the Spanish invaded and destroyed the Inca Empire. They never found Machu Picchu but they brought smallpox which runners from Cusco carried to Machu Picchu. The population was decimated and the site was abandoned. ... read more

We are in a lovely hotel in Urubamba, a small town in the Sacred Valley. The steep peaks of the Andes tower above us and make a sharp contrast with the Spanish-style style colourful gardens and mission architecture of Hotel Agustos. Today we left Cusco and entered the Sacred Valley, which is surrounded by rugged mountains. Parts of the foothills are striped with terraces, necessary for agriculture in this inhospitable terrain. It was interesting to see the same techniques used by the Inca and for contemporary farming which (apart from tourism) is the chief activity in the area. The focus of today was Pisac, a large archeological site which was a key Inca city and religious centre in the 14th Century before the construction of Machu Picchu. Surrounding massive terraces running down the mountain side, there ... read more

The start of this holiday was a series of challenges with our Melbourne to Syney flight delayed due to high winds causing us to miss our Sydney-Auckland- Lima connection and our one day tour of Lima and resulting in lost luggage, which we are told is now en route and we hope will arrive tomorrow. But there was a silver lining - we had a lovely unplanned day in Auckland courtesy of Qantas, had lunch with cousins Natasha and Rob, and took in a little of the views from the Waitakere Ranges. I also managed to convince Qantas to compensate us by moving our return flights a couple of days later so we can see Lima at the end so if the luggage turns up it will all work out. But today the holiday really got ... read more

Dear All Greetings from Paracas, a small but wonderful town on the Peruvian desert coast about 4 hours south of Lima. I arrived here on Saturday afternoon, and have had an absolutely incredible time here. These last few days have really been filled with fantastic sights and adventures, really quite unique ones, and have reminded me once more why it is that I travel – to see more and to learn more about this beautiful world that we live in. What a pleasure it has been! So on Saturday morning I bade farewell, temporarily, to my hotel in Lima and took a taxi to the Cruz del Sur bus station south of the city centre. Cruz del Sur is supposed to be the country’s best intercity bus service, and I have to say it has probably ... read more