Hola desde Peru!
Yes it is an amazing country and I understand why so many people travel here. Beautiful landscape and a lot to discover. But it couldn't top Bolivia, at least for me. For my taste, maybe because unluckily I was here during main season, it was too full with tourists. Especially the ones who don't even speak a word of Spanish. :-/
Well, but still there is a lot to tell about the country and my travel.
First I stopped in Puno, just on the other side of Lago Titikaka and visited the floating islands. Interesting how they build those islands and how they live, but the tour was made to sell only their handicrafts which was bit annoying. But had a very nice hostel there on top of the hill with a great view over Puno and the lake.
From there I went to the famous Cusco and stayed for a while. Nice town, just a bit too pricey and still very cold at nighttime. A good place for a hot chocolate with view of the cathedral...
The bad thing was, I had a cold so I wasn't feeling like hiking and so I decided to book the more boring tour to Machu Picchu. Even had to wait a few days to get a train ticket because of all the people. But finally I started towards MP and experienced something really awesome. Beautiful scenery in the sacred valley and lots of markets and ruins. Met Sophia from Hamburg which was a nice change to speak in German and to have great company for the Machu Picchu day! And it was incredible!
The green mountains and the huge ruin on the ridge between Cerro Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu are just breathtaking. We arrived there before sunrise and got to see everything without the crowds. Then when the sun came out it turned even more stunning. We stayed for 6h up there, including a tour for two hours. For lunch we found a little pick nick spot and then we just sat and enjoyed the views. But eventually we had to leave this beautiful place and go back to Aguas Calientes. I had a train earlier than Sophia and got back to Cusco around ten at night. Right on time for late dinner and shower.
Next day I did some more sight seeing and bought a ticket to Arequipa. Tried to avoid the overpriced tourist buses and got some good deals for traveling by bus. One overnight trip later and I was in the white city of Arequipa and tried the Wild Rover hostel again. La Paz was better. But the city very nice. Many colonial buildings, an interesting and colourful monastery and super views of the volcano El Misti. And the food was great there, too, lots of local specialties. After exploring the city, I had a tour to the Colca Canyon for two days.
It is the second deepest canyon in the world. I was just a bit irritated about what the definition of a canyon is, cause it looked to me more like a deep valley and not like a canyon. Sorry. But the views were spectacular. And we got very close to those huge birds, the condors! Very graceful how they glide through the air with mas o menos 3 m wingspan.
Back in Arequipa I took a bus to Nazca and stopped only for a flight over the famous lines. Got to see the astronaut and the colibri and some more figures. Weird place! But I was lucky, I got a plane with only four people in it including the two pilots, so they flew the round as we wanted.
And in the afternoon I continued to Ica, or better to the little oasis Huacachina in the middle of big sand dunes. The dunes are up to 300 m and there's a lagoon with palm trees, some hostels and restaurants. It is actually a very touristy place, because only few families live here.
Everybody comes there only for the dune surfing, so did I. Cruising with a dune buggy up- and downhill, even jumping and enjoying views over the lagoon, the dunes and the sunset. Looks like you are in the desert. And during the ride you get to surf or slide down some of the dunes with a board. That was such a great fun, I liked it more than the volcano boarding in Nicaragua. And at nighttime there was a lot of party going on and I had to drink a lot of Pisco, uuuahh. In Pisco Sour it's fine, but pure... ;-) Had a good time there and still amazed by how many different landscapes exist within Peru.
From there it was only 4h to Lima and I checked into a really cute little hostel named the Link. Sophia was in the same hostel and so I had nice company again.
Sightseeing in Lima is not so big, there are only a few places but they are pretty. I had the feeling it is more a city to live in. Anyways the old centre and the coastline are worth a visit and of course the districts Barranco and Miraflores. There is a shopping mall in the cliffs towards the ocean and you can do paragliding from those cliffs, too. The food is amazing, everywhere you can have fresh seafood and I love Ceviche! :-)
But after four full days in Lima, I couldn't stop thinking about sun and beach, so I took a long bus up north to Mancora.
As expected it was nice and sunny, great waves and cute surfer boys all over the beach. ;-) Stayed in the Point hostel first, which I really liked, but moved then to the Loki for some party and to see a friend from Australia, Ashleigh (met her in Patagonia). That was a full week just relaxing at the beach or pool and partying all night. Fun times! Every day beautiful sunsets and yummy happy hours drinks. So I had a good finish for Peru but was already excited for the next place in Ecuador.
Yes it is an amazing country and I understand why so many people travel here. Beautiful landscape and a lot to discover. But it couldn't top Bolivia, at least for me. For my taste, maybe because unluckily I was here during main season, it was too full with tourists. Especially the ones who don't even speak a word of Spanish. :-/Well, but still there is a lot to tell about the country and my travel.
First I stopped in Puno, just on the other side of Lago Titikaka and visited the floating islands. Interesting how they build those islands and how they live, but the tour was made to sell only their handicrafts which was bit annoying. But had a very nice hostel there on top of the hill with a great view over Puno and the lake.
The bad thing was, I had a cold so I wasn't feeling like hiking and so I decided to book the more boring tour to Machu Picchu. Even had to wait a few days to get a train ticket because of all the people. But finally I started towards MP and experienced something really awesome. Beautiful scenery in the sacred valley and lots of markets and ruins. Met Sophia from Hamburg which was a nice change to speak in German and to have great company for the Machu Picchu day! And it was incredible!
Next day I did some more sight seeing and bought a ticket to Arequipa. Tried to avoid the overpriced tourist buses and got some good deals for traveling by bus. One overnight trip later and I was in the white city of Arequipa and tried the Wild Rover hostel again. La Paz was better. But the city very nice. Many colonial buildings, an interesting and colourful monastery and super views of the volcano El Misti. And the food was great there, too, lots of local specialties. After exploring the city, I had a tour to the Colca Canyon for two days.
It is the second deepest canyon in the world. I was just a bit irritated about what the definition of a canyon is, cause it looked to me more like a deep valley and not like a canyon. Sorry. But the views were spectacular. And we got very close to those huge birds, the condors! Very graceful how they glide through the air with mas o menos 3 m wingspan.
Back in Arequipa I took a bus to Nazca and stopped only for a flight over the famous lines. Got to see the astronaut and the colibri and some more figures. Weird place! But I was lucky, I got a plane with only four people in it including the two pilots, so they flew the round as we wanted.And in the afternoon I continued to Ica, or better to the little oasis Huacachina in the middle of big sand dunes. The dunes are up to 300 m and there's a lagoon with palm trees, some hostels and restaurants. It is actually a very touristy place, because only few families live here.
Everybody comes there only for the dune surfing, so did I. Cruising with a dune buggy up- and downhill, even jumping and enjoying views over the lagoon, the dunes and the sunset. Looks like you are in the desert. And during the ride you get to surf or slide down some of the dunes with a board. That was such a great fun, I liked it more than the volcano boarding in Nicaragua. And at nighttime there was a lot of party going on and I had to drink a lot of Pisco, uuuahh. In Pisco Sour it's fine, but pure... ;-) Had a good time there and still amazed by how many different landscapes exist within Peru.
Sightseeing in Lima is not so big, there are only a few places but they are pretty. I had the feeling it is more a city to live in. Anyways the old centre and the coastline are worth a visit and of course the districts Barranco and Miraflores. There is a shopping mall in the cliffs towards the ocean and you can do paragliding from those cliffs, too. The food is amazing, everywhere you can have fresh seafood and I love Ceviche! :-)
But after four full days in Lima, I couldn't stop thinking about sun and beach, so I took a long bus up north to Mancora.
As expected it was nice and sunny, great waves and cute surfer boys all over the beach. ;-) Stayed in the Point hostel first, which I really liked, but moved then to the Loki for some party and to see a friend from Australia, Ashleigh (met her in Patagonia). That was a full week just relaxing at the beach or pool and partying all night. Fun times! Every day beautiful sunsets and yummy happy hours drinks. So I had a good finish for Peru but was already excited for the next place in Ecuador.