Peru Vacation

PERU

See Peru Pictures


Go directly to the following cities:

Nazca
Arequipa
Colca canyon
Cuzco
Macchu Picchu
Lima
Huaraz
Trujillo
More Lima




We arrived to Peru on Sunday November 28, 1997 at 11:30 pm. We had reservations for the first night. And at the airport we agreed to talk people from a travel agency.

The next morning the travel agency picked us up and took us to their office. We discussed the itinerary and planned of all our trip. For $1000 per person we could make the whole trip. We would be picked up in each city, taken to the hotels and taken to all tours. Hotels with breakfast, airplanes (3), buses, certain trains, tours and some meals were included in the price. We had calculated it would cost us more less are the same, so we accepted.


We left Lima that same afternoon, and headed south to Nazca . The bus trip was pleasant and we saw a little of Lima. All the coast of Peru is a desert. It is so dry, that there is absolutely no vegetation, just sand. The costal towns are in places where there are rivers. Unfortunately it got dark very soon and we couldn't enjoy the view any more. We arrived at Nazca late at night, went to our hotel and went to sleep.

The following morning we could admire the hotel we were in. The rooms were nothing special, but the hotel was beautiful! The hotel had been an hacienda of a very rich family. With the agrarian reform, the land was distributed to the workers. The family could only keep the house, which was turned it into a hotel, and are now trying to buy the land back little by little. The hotel is a colonial style building, with pool and gardens. It is full of fruit trees: papayas, mangos. It also has buganbilias of different colors. In the middle of the garden, there is a gigantic cage with around 25 love birds of different colors. After breakfast we were picked up and taken to the airport to see the Famous Nazca Lines.

At the airport, we met our pilot, got on the plane and took off. The Nazca lines are something spectacular and it was the most impressive thing we saw in our trip. Apparently the desert in this area is covered with a layer of minerals that, with the heat of the sun, has formed a thin crust on top of the sand which is darker than the sand. The inhabitants of this area about 2000 years ago, removed that crust in certain parts, letting the lighter colored sand at the bottom show and making drawings. We could clearly see: a hummingbird, a whale, a small lizard, a dog and other animals and geometric figures. All this figures measure between 20 m.and 45 m., which makes them too big to be seen from the ground. There are also perfectly straight lines that are miles long. And the big question is: What is their purpose? Especially if they could only be seen from the air and this people couldn't fly! One theory says they were made by extraterrestrials. The pilot told me that when he tells tourist it wasn't extraterrestrials they don't believe him and they don't want to hear it! The flight lasted around one hour, and it was certainly enough. Any longer and we would have been sick!

In the afternoon we took another tour to go to a cemetery of the people who lived in this area (the ones that made the lines). One of the interesting things in this cemetery is that there are human bones everywhere! This people, like other indigenous groups in Peru mummified their dead. They were mummified, dressed with their best cloths, put in fetal position, and wrapped in fabric. They were always seated looking east and berried with pottery, food and other offerings. Now a days these tombs are often ransacked and destroyed, leaving the remaining mummies exposed to the sun and the heat. With the strong sun, they lost what was left of skin and now human bones are found scattered all over the area where the cemetery.once was. The local government has reconstructed some of the tombs and now they are open to the public. It is an interesting place!


That same night we took the bus to go to Arequipa . We left Nazca to 9:00 p.m. and arrived at Arequipa to 6:00 a.m. The bus was air conditioned and had a television. In Arequipa, we were picked up and taken to the hotel. After a nap, a bath and breakfast we were ready to explore Arequipa.

Arequipa is the second largest city of Peru and is the South most point of our trip. The idea to go there was that it lays at 2300 meters above sea level and we thought it would be good to get used to the altitude before going higher. One of the interesting places in Arequipa is the convent of Santa Catarina. Which was a very exclusive convent. Constructed in 1580, apparently only nuns who came with dowry of at least 1000 gold coins were accepted. Each nun had 3 or 4 slaves who cooked, cleaned and took care of them. The nuns lived in luxury, with porcelain plates, real silverware, silk curtains and English carpets. They sometimes had parties where musicians were invited . The convent did not accept indians, nor racially mixed women, only women of Spanish blood. They lived this way for three centuries until the Pope found out and made them free the slaves and live normally. Since 1970 the convent is open to the public, although around 20 nuns still live there. The building expands to a large city block and it has patios and many apartments. It has a central kitchen and several rooms where the nuns received their guests. The building is of colonial style and very beautiful.


The following morning we were picked up to go on a 2 day tour to the Colca canyon . Apparently this canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon (3200 meters of depth). The people in the tour were very interesting, and I believe the tour was especially enjoyable for that reason. On the way to the canyon we went through a pass of 4800 meters above sea level (the highest point in our trip). Through most of the trip we could see the snowed tops of volcanos and mountains. Before arriving at our highest point, we stopped at a small restaurant to drink Coca tee. When getting off the bus, Claudia felt the effect of the altitude. She felt dizzy and from the bus to the rest room got very tired, although it was only a few steps away. While at the rest place, we saw our first alpaca. It was in the restaurant eating cookies that the tourists gave it. After drinking the tee, like magic, we all felt much better, except a poor japanese in the tour who got very sick! On the highest part of the way, we saw vicunas. Vicuna is the smallest animal of the llama family and it is endangered and protected by the government. We also saw big groups of llamas and alpacas. (I don't know if I saw guanacos, nobody showed them to me.)

After a four hour bus trip (on un unpaved road), we arrived at our hotel in a town named Chivay (at 3700 meters above sea level). The hotel was also very pretty. It was a Motel where each room was a cabin, rustically decorated. The lobby and restaurant of the hotel had a big chimney and was decorated with tools and horse gear. After resting a little, we went to bathe to thermal baths. This was one of the most pleasant experiences we had on the tour. It was cold and when I saw the pool was outdoors, I thought we were crazy! Not only was it cold, but it began to rain. We put our suits on and got in the water. The water was so hot, we could only stay a few minutes inside, so most of us just sat at the side of the pool with half the body underwater and the rest outside, being cooled by the rain. We were neither cold nor hot! After the bath we returned to the hotel where there was a celebration with live music . We ate dinner and a group of children made us dance. What they did not take into account, is that we were not used to the altitude and after dancing a couple of minutes and we were exhausted! That night we had alpaca meat for dinner. The flavor was very good, but it was a bit tough. We were told that alpaca meat is very low in fat and very healthy.

The following morning we got up early, and after breakfast we went to see the condors. The Incas, as other indigenous groups of Peru, believed condors were sacred animals because they are able to fly up to 10,000 meters high. The Incas thought they were the messengers of the Gods. We were lucky and saw 2 condors, but they were too far to be able to appreciate them. Then our tour guide decided we should walk a little at the edge of the canyon. This would have been fun, if it wasn't for the lack of oxygen at 3700 meters above sea level! Later we visited some towns in the area and admired the irrigation system of the Incas. We returned to the hotel to eat lunch and began our ascent again to return to Arequipa. On the way back, it rained a lot and we could see it had snowed at the higher elevations.


The next day we flew to Cuzco. We arrived at Cuzco at 8:30 a.m. Where we were taken to the hotel again. The Cuzco translated to English means " the navel of the world ", and was the capital of the Incas. As soon as we arrived we went to see the center of town. Cuzco is a beautiful town! All the houses have red tile roofs and many houses have balconies. The central square is very pretty too. It has a beautiful cathedral and other churches. Since Cuzco was the Inca capital, the Spanish put a lot of emphasis in destroying the buildings and building beautiful churches. The cathedral and the Church of the Company of Jesus of Cuzco are the most beautiful churches we saw in all of Peru. Another one of the attractions to be in the capital Inca, is to eat some of the specialties of the region and we couldn't pass the opportunity to eat Guinea pig (Cui). When seeing the animal whole and without hair, it was kind of gross, but when we tried it we were pleasantly surprised. The meat was very tender and it had very good species.


The following morning we were picked up at 6:00 a.m. to go to the train station and go to Macchu Picchu . The trip lasted 3 hours and was very pleasant and very interesting. The altitude changed of 3200 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.) to little more than 2000 m.a.s.l. Macchu Picchu is in an almost tropical zone. The train tracks are next to a river, and there are no roads that go there. We arrived at Agua Caliente (the town near Macchu Picchu) at about 11:00 a.m. and we went to our hotel to leave our things. Since there are no cars in Agua Caliente, we had to walk a while to get to our hotel. It would have not been so bad if it wasn't that the street was going up hill and the backpacks were heavy. After leaving the things, we went to the famous Macchu Picchu.

Macchu Picchu is in the top of a mountain and to go there, there are buses (the buses were brought in by the train just like the gasoline, the food and all other necessities for the town). It was hot and the sun was very strong. We arrived at the top the hill where the ruins can be seen and the photos for postcards are taken. The ruins in Macchu Picchu are nothing spectacular and are not as beautiful as the ones in Mexico. What is spectacular is the place where they are found. They are on top of one of four mountains from where the river can be seen. Everything is completely green. The ruins consist of a city with its perfectly well kept stone buildings. The only thing that is missing are the ceilings of the buildings which were made of straw and no longer exist. The main buildings have smooth walls and are not very spectacular, but then we found out that this people didn't have iron and that the people used volcanic stones to make the sides of the stones so smooth. The guide also told us, that the stones of these buildings are not glued together in any way! Each stoned was carved to fit exactly together with the stones next to it, and the fit is so perfect that not even a piece of paper could fit in between the stones! He also explained that all these smooth buildings (the important buildings) were covered with thin gold boards and for that reason they do not have any carvings.

Normally the Tour of Macchu Picchu goes to the top of another mountain, but the previous September there was a fire and they did not let us go up. The guide told us that the fire was very bad and that helicopters from the Peruvian Navy tried to extinguish it, but could not. The Peruvian government decided to evacuate the people who live in the area. The residents of Agua Caliente thought that Mother Nature was upset by something and town administrators should make a ceremony to calm her and to see if the fire was extinguished. The morning of the following day, when the people were supposed to leave, the town administrators got together and made a ceremony. Around 9:00 a.m. , when all the people were on the train ready to leave, a huge storm started that extinguish the fire and the inhabitants of the town did not have to go.

After visiting Macchu Picchu for a few hours, we went back to the hotel. We ate dinner and went to bathe to the local hot springs. This were not as warm or as nice as the ones in Chivay.

The following day we went walking down the river by the tracks. We saw wild parakees flying, many huge butterflies and a lot of vegetation. We were supposed to go to some waterfall, but Claudia found walking in the tracks very tiring and we decided to return to Agua Caliente. After eating and picking up our things we went to wait for the train to return to Cuzco. When we arrived at Cuzco, it was already dark and we got to admire the beauty of the City lit up.

On our last day in Cuzco we took a tour of the city. We visited the inside of the churches, and we could appreciate the Inca architecture. In the cathedral there is a very interesting painting. When the cathedral was being built the manual labor was of course Inca. Also Inca painters were used. Apparently the artist (an Indian) was told to make a large painting of the last supper. He had no idea what the meal consisted of in the last supper, so he painted Jesus with his apostles having a guinea pig and choclo (corn on the cob) for supper .


The next day we flew to Lima, where we stayed one night before continuing north on our trip. We decided to visit the gold museum. The gold museum is a private collection. The museum has gold, textiles and other pre Colombian artefact, but it also contains a huge collection of arms, horse saddles, and spurs. We saw only the first floor (of three) and the truth, we were dizzy with so much stuff! Beside the gold, what caught our attention (and it is hard to miss) is the pornography. There are a lot of ceramic pieces with couples having sexual relations. In all the imaginable positions! And in some also with animals too!


The following day we took a bus to Huaraz . This bus trip was very pleasant. Not only did it have air conditioner and television, it also had a stewardess that feed us lunch and played games (everything including in the price). We arrived at Huaraz and were taken to the hotel.

The following morning we were picked up to go to Chavin de Huantar, southeast of Huaraz. The trip to Chavin lasted about 3 hrs. Although the highway was paved, in certain parts it was scarily narrow. The culture of Chavin is much older than the Incas and dates from 1300 to 400 B.C. Chavin (if restored) could be more spectacular than Macchu Picchu. Chavin is, like in Mexico, a religious center, and their buildings verify it. Here the buildings are decorated and inside one of them is the Lanzón de Chavin, a sacred stone. The most important building was decorated with large human heads made of stone. Most of these heads are now inside the building. Unfortunately everything is in ruins and a lot of imagination is needed to imagine what it must have looked like 2000 years ago.

We returned to Huaraz for the night and on the following day we took another tour. This to the north of Huaraz. Huaraz is in the middle of the andes in a valley known as the Callejon de Huailas, between the white mountain range (Sierra Blanca) and the black mountain range(Sierra Negra). The Sierra Blanca, to the east, has snow-covered mountain tops and the Sierra Negra, less high and to the west has no snow. From Huaraz, in the Sierra Blanca, it is possible to see, among others, the Huascaran mountain, that at 6768 meters is the highest tropical mountain (between the tropics) of the world. In our tour we visited the Cemetery of Yungay. On May 31, 1970 an earthquake hit near the coast of Peru. The Earth movement got to the base of the Sierra Blanca, where a fault passes, causing another earthquake. This one caused that a gigantic piece of ice, together with stones and soil, came off the side of the Hurascaran, barring what was the city of Yungay, killing in a matter of minutes 18,000 people. Less than 200 people survived. The town was rebuild close by and the old location was turned into a cemetery and monument in memory of the dead.

The tour continued to one of the Llanganuco lakes (they are two). This one is close to where the snow starts at the Huascarán mountain. This was the most beautiful place we saw in Peru. The lagoon lies on white stone and there is an algae that gives it a beautiful turquoise color. That, together with the snowed tops makes a beautiful view. Unfortunately we were unlucky with the weather. It was very cloudy and we couldn't see the snowed tops of the maintains. On the way back we visited other towns and returned to Huaraz when it was already dark.

Our guide told us the following legend about the Llanganuco lakes:It is said that the daughter of the king of the area fell in love with a solder of her father's army, and began a relationship in secret. When her father learned about the affair, he tried to separate them. Since the soldier was not of an acceptable social class, he was sent to prison. Shortly after, the king found out that the soldier and his daughter tried to flee together so he order them killed. They were tied up, far from one another, where they could see each other but not touch each other. With time they turned into two mountains that are now snowed covered and with their tears the two Llanganuco lakes were formed. We visited the one made by her tears.


That night we took the bus and continued on to our next stop: Trujillo . This trip was terrible! The bus was full and although it was equipped with air conditioner and television, neither was working. It was very hot, especially when we got to the coast , and to make matters worst, we got a flat tire that had to be fixed. We arrived at Trujillo very early and went the hotel.

Heat, Heat! Trujillo was very hot and humid. The first day we visited some colonial houses, that are now owned by banks. The rest of the day we spent at the park going from tree to tree looking for shade.

The following day we took a Tour to Chan Chan, capital of the empire Chimu 1300 B.C. Chan Chan would be a spectacular place if it wasn't destroyed. It is a city completely constructed out of mud and is the largest city of mud in the world. In this area of Peru it never rains, or almost never, and for that reason the city has survived this long. Unfortunately each time an El Niño occurs, it destroys more of the engravings on the walls, to the point that there's not much left. We visited two living areas, which are partially reconstructed and decorations can be seen. Later we went to Huanchaco at the beach to see the fishermen return in their straw ponies.

The following day we took another tour, this one to see the Huaca of the Moon and the Huaca of the Sun. These are a pair of pyramides that were constructed by the Moche civilization, about 700 years before Chan Chan. These constructions are also of adobe. The huaca of the sun is the largest pre Colombian building in Peru. The Huaca of the Moon is the interesting one because it contains different decorations in their original color. This tour was very interesting, but the heat was unbearable.


That night we flew to Lima , where we spent our last day. We dedicated to visit museums. Among others, we saw the Museum of the Nation, where we saw the Treasures of el Señor de Sipan. The government got to the tomb before the thieves! El Señor de Sipan was an important figure of the Chimu culture and his tomb was found recently. The impressive collection of artifacts discovered include, clothing, gold jewelry and other offerings with which he was berried. The Museum of the Nation is very well presented/displayed, but the treasure of El señor de Sipan is the only really interesting thing in it.

We also visited another private collection with more than 55 000 pieces of ceramic (including erotic ceramic). Finally we went to the Museum of the Inquisition. We finished our trip to Peru drinking Pisco Sour next to our hotel and to the following morning the travel agency picked us up and took us to the airport.