Top Peru hotels
Museos - Museums Lima
8 Reviews Lima is by excelence, a city of museums. With more than 50 museums in the city, the best ones in Peru are located here. From public to private and from general to specialized museums, visiting them...
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Sacred Valley Cusco
10 Reviews Our horseback ride from Urubamba up past the salt terraces to Maras and Moray was the best adventure of our entire visit to Peru, For a mere $US60 a person, Rancho Casa Hospedaje supplied a...
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Inca Trail Machu Picchu
16 Reviews Stumbled across a really great way to see machu Piccu and to see some authentic Peruvian life along the way. Some friends found a Dutch guy in Cusco who arranges tours on behalf of a Coffee...
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Las Salinas de Maras Cusco
4 Reviews This was definitely one of the more bizarre sights we saw on our trip to the Sacred Valley! A huge salt mine carved out of the hillside, with terrace after terrace of mini salt-pans spread out in...
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Ruins Machu Picchu
13 Reviews We can upon these impressive ruins which were only rediscovered in 1941 enroute to the Sun gate as you can see from my photo restoration work in going on using techniques which are as ancient as the...
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San Blas Cusco
7 Reviews Well San Blas isnt too off the beaten path but its somewhat of a walk if you want to get there from the Plaza de Armas. Of course we did do a bunch of stops by the time we got here. But I think San...
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Moray Cusco
3 Reviews Moray was one of the more unusual Inca sites we visited. It's basically a series of big, circular terraces in the middle of nowhere, with an out-of-this-world quality about them. These formed an...
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Machu Picchu Cusco
3 Reviews Being in Cuzco, Machu Picchu - South Americas most famous place - of course is on your list of places where you must go! . Looking on the most common photos you see behind Macchu Picchu the steep,...
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If you have a little extra time, why not consider a trail less travelled than the Inca trail. There are many which are free and would really get you away. If being completely on your own is not appealing, and depending on where you go security could be an issue, then a trip which you might consider would be a treking trip to Colca Canyon. You would find guides and transportation to the trail head in Arequipa.
Most travelers going through Puno do not attempt to catch its rather limited range of attractions. Instead they cruise Lake Titicaca and take in the floating islands. I tried to see something of the town of Puno itself as I a had a morning's time to kill. First off I visited the cathedral. It receives somewhat mixed reviews from travellers. This is probably because the interior in not as decorative as other major churches throughout Peru. Instead this 17th century cathedral is minimialistic for a baroque church. This probably reflects the austere manner that the local Aymara Indians approach their faith as opposed to elsewhere in Peru. However the facade of the cathederal is quite eleborately decorated as are the two towers. The cathedral dominates the Plaza de Armes as no other in Peru. This is because of the way it sit atop of the sloping square.
The Puna, or Altiplano, is the region in the Andes where you have high plateau rather than snowcapped mountains, although these can be seen in the distance. Most travelers who travel by bus from Arequipa to the Colca Valley will travel through this region. There is hardly any vegetation in the region and it resemble the Arctic tundra. Like the Arctic it is also very cold inspite of the sun. Because of the altitude, over 3500m, the air is very thin and it is best to take it easy while you are here as altitude sickness is a problem. Wildlife that you see is usually in the form of alpacas, llamas and vicunas. There is also an abundance of birds. The overall atmosphere of the Puna is very stark. It seems both mysterious and threatening however I really enjoyed traveling through it just the same.
My family and I flew out of Cuzco to Puerto Maldonando where we got a water taxi up the Tambopata River to the Wasi Tambopata Lodge. We stayed here at the lodge for three nights and had a great experience. This part of the Amazon is much higher than the Brazilian Amazon and is closer to the cloud forests of the Andeas. Because of this boardering eco-zones this area is said to have a higher diversity of floral and fauna than in the Brazilian Rain forest. Briliant!
We only ran into one other group of trekkers the entire 4 days. We passed through several villages and got to see some really neat things. The highlight of my trip so far was when we passed through Huacawasi. We were like aliens to the people, and all the little kids were let out of school and came over to us. I took two packages of cookies and squatted down and practically got bum-rushed by about 25 three-year-olds. They were all so dirty. Their little faces, finger nails and toe nails were black. Someone got a few photos with my camera and then I gave them the cookies.
Chachapoyas is a nice smaal place. There are lots of ruins to see, but it is not easy getting there by public transportation. Often, you ave to take the bus to a crappy hotel, stay there and the next day you have to travel 4 hours back. Fortunately my hotel arranges tours to places when there are at least 3 people, that wanted to visit a place. It is a trip with a taxi and the son of the hotel owner is your guide. The tours are expensive though, but it is better then take a three day trip to visit one site. I have been to Kuelap. It is really the best ruin I have ever seen. Kuelap was a fortress, a city of the Chachapoyan culture, which began in 800 BC and stopped during the Inca domination in 1420. The building of the fortress started in the nineth century. In the time the spanish conquered the Inca empire, Kuelap belonged just one century to the Incas. The chachapoyan people had pact...
We kept going and stopped for lunch shortly after that. 3 or 4 little Quechua boys followed us, and our cook gave them some crakers and cookies. They must have been starving and were chowing on all our leftover lunch. I gave them some candy and gum to take a photo with me. Later that afternoon 3 or 4 little Quechua boys showed up and walked miles with us. Lissa had a tape recorder and recorded one of them talking. She played it back, and they laughed and laughed. I took out my digital camera and took a short video of them. They about died when I played it back. I had to play it a few times, because they were so amazed. Our guide said that I am like an alien to them and am bringing magic/mysticism into their world. It was really fun to watch their reaction.
Queque?a, it is located outside of Arequipa, it has good pads to make a good walk showing you not only a very nice landscape of mountains and pre inca terraces but also local plants and flower and a local traditional culture.
La Ricoletta is the other convent-monastery in Arequipa. It has an ancient library, a pinoteca (picture gallery), two rooms of archeologic pieces, two rooms of Amazonian artifacts gathered by missionaries and even a collection of religious items. The patios show the personal care of one of the fathers who humblely serves as the gardener. I loved the feel of the place and the variety of things to see.
You're not far away from the Salinas de Maras, when you are in Chinchero... It would be a shame to miss them. Ask a cab to bring you there.Vous n'etes pas tres loin des Salinas de Maras, quand vuos vous trouvez a Chinchero. Ce serait dommage de les louper. Demandez a un taxi de vous y emmener.
7 Reviews and 251 Opinions We did not stay here, but it was pointed out to us as the hotel used for some of the VIPs that came...
Hostal Rumi Punku Cusco
7 Reviews and 486 Opinions Very nice hotel including all amenities, even wi-fi. Recommend the tours booked via Sergio at the...
Sumaq Machu Picchu Hotel Machu Picchu
303 Opinions
Reviews and photos of Peru attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Peru sightseeing.
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Q: We will be traveling in Dec. can only spend about 6 days in Peru. Would appreciate any suggestions on how to best use our time. ...
A: Firstly, if you stay on the coast, be prepared for heat and humidity. If you go inland, be prepared for altitude. I imagine you will be arriving first off in Lima? Six...
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