Afredo Rodríguez Ballón International Airport is the airport for Arequipa city, standing at the base of Misti, the volcano that dominates the horizon.

According to the Peruvian government’s records nearly 600,000 passengers pass through this airport each year.

Bienvenidos a Mi Tierra - Welcome to my Land! A statue welcome visitors as they step off their plane in Arequipa's ariport.

Arequipa Airport is served by several daily flight from Lima, which is less than 1 hour 30 minutes by air.

Arriving at Arequipa Airport with Misti in the background

It is only a short drive by taxi to the city centre, where you can find many hotels, backpacking hostels, shops and restaurants, Arequipa has much to offer but it is a great stopping off point if you want to head further south to Puno, or Arica, just over the border in Chile.

Volcano Misti, seen from Arequipa Airport runway.

Tourists arriving for the first time can’t resist taking a photo of Misti, the volcano that can be seen from almost everywhere in Arequipa, seen here from the runway of the airport.

Train to Machu Picchu. Railway from Cusco to Aguas Calientes

As a tourist you are most likely to see a train in Peru if you decide to visit Machu Picchu, where a PeruRail train takes you from the station at Cusco, down through the Sacred Valley to the village of Aguas Calientes, where you can then taken up Machi Picchu by bus.PeruRail offers tourist services with Orient Express Hotels, so passengers can travel to the popular destinations of Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca.

They have luxurious trains with panoramic windows that allow you to enjoy the scenery as you travel, with food on board.

There is also a ‘backpacker’ class of train that goes to Machu Picchu, which is not quite as comfortable but you can still enjoy the views and stick your head out of the window!

Rail travel in Peru: A PeruRail engine in the Majes valley near Arequipa.

Apart from passenger services PeruRail also run freight trains, carrying goods such as food, cement and coal.

The Ferrovías Central railway is operated by Ferrocarril Central Andino (FCCA) and has 27 stations, starting in Callao, Peru’s major port near Lima , through Lima and on into the Andes to major cities like Huancayo.

Like Peru rail, FCCA also carry cargo including food, cements and minerals from the mining companies in the Andes.  They no longer have a regular passenger service but there are special tourist trains that still take the spectacular route through the mountains. The trip from LIma to Huancayo takes about 7 hours and costs about S/. 324, which is about US$114 .

links:
http://www.perurail.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PeruRail
http://www.ferrocarrilcentral.com.pe/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrocarril_Central_Andino

Ticos are everywhere in Arequipa - but for how long?

There are officially more that 10,000 Ticos in Arequipa city, but according to one driver I spoke to there are maybe 16,000.

It sounds like an incredible number, but Arequipa is a large city and many people use the cheap taxis instead of having their own car. Everywhere you go you can see and hear the Ticos.

Ticos are small cars made by Daewoo in Korea. They were particularly popular in Peru as they were cheap to buy and run, as well as small and efficient, which is great for a city like Arequipa with many old, narrow streets.

Ticos with their company names on top!

Most of the Ticos you can see in Arequipa are working as taxis and are often painted yellow to identify that they are taxis. As you can see in these photos, they usually have big signs on top with their company name and lots of red and white tape!

Many Ticos have been customised by their drivers with stickers, slogans or even modifications to the bodywork to make them more cool!

But times are changing in Peru, more people have their own car and people expect better and safer cars. Many of these Ticos are quite old, and driving up and down the streets of Arequipa has shaken them to bits! So these old Ticos are gradually being replaced with other models like the Daewoo Matiz and other larger saloon cars.

Newer cars are replacing the Ticos.

Although newer and more comfortable models are replacing the Ticos, the Taxis will still have lots of character with the drivers customising them with stickers, sirens and installing shrines with the ‘Taxi drivers prayer’ on the dashboards!

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daewoo_Tico

Mancora beach resort in Peru

Mancora is a small town on the Northern coast of Peru, which is becoming popular as a destination for surfing and  those who want to escape to a relaxing beach bungalow.

Mancora is still a relatively undeveloped resort with a population of around 9,000 the main businesses are fishing and tourism. Estimates are that in 2005 there were 340,000 tourists. Although there are hotels with tv and air-conitioning if you want them, there are also small and intimate bungalows with just the basics to let you really relax.

Getting to Mancora involves a long bus trip from Lima along the coastal Pan-American Highway, which takes about 18 hours, so you will have to travel overnight. I would really recommend getting a 1st class reclining seat with either Cruz del Sur or Oltursa.

A faster way to get there is to fly to Tumbes with Lan Peru (about 1 hour 45 minutes) and then get a taxi or a bus to Mancora (approx 1 hour 30 minutes by road) although the flights are quite late so you might have to stay one night in Tumbes.

Las Balsas, Mancora. Pool or the beach...?

There are many different beaches in the Mancora area. Some are better for surfing, some are full of rocks and have many interesting rock pools full of life.

The Pan American Highway running through Mancora

Some people predict that in the future Mancora will be a very busy beach resort, similar to the Costas in Spain but at the moment it’s a quiet place to enjoy a relaxing holiday.

Links:

The Plaza Mayor or Plaza de Armas of Lima

Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru. Most of the tourists that visit Peru begin their journey here and stop over on the way back home.

Lima was founded in 1535, by Francisco Pizarro, the conquistador who conquered the Incas and stole their gold (a post Imperial view ). He founded the city as the capital for the Viceroyalty of Peru which covered most of South America at that time. After Peru became independent of Spain in 1821, Lima became the Capital of the new Republic.

The population of Lima is estimated at over 7.5 million people (a quarter of nearly 29 million people in Peru). It has many ethnic mixes with immigrants from Europe and Asia mixing with the indigenous people of Peru.

Gateway to Peru

If you want to explore mysterious Machu Picchu, go surfing in Mancora, rafting in Colca Canyon the chances are that you will begin with a flight to Lima.

Many international flights to Peru will land in the evening at Jorge Chavez International Airport (airport code LIM). Unfortunately the airport, which is a safe and clean place, is based in a rough area. You will need to get a taxi to your hotel, and you will be asked by many people if you have a taxi or a hotel, partly to sell you services but also to ensure that you are safe, because you can’t just hop on a bus with all your luggage.

My tip for any tourists planning to come to Peru via Lima is to book your hotel before you arrive and ask them to arrange for you to be collected from the airport. They will be waiting for you with your name on a sign and so you know that they are taking you where you need to go. Most of the travellers from Europe or North America will stay in the wealthy Miraflores district of Lima. This are is very close to the coast and has many hotels, backpacker hostels, bars and restaurants. It is also a safe place for tourists, providing you do not attract the wrong attention by flashing expensive gadgets or lots of money.

Many tourists stay in the Miraflores District of Lima – take a small tour >>

Jorge Chavez International Airport:
http://www.lap.com.pe/lap_portal/ingles/index.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Ch%C3%A1vez_International_Airport
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroyalty_of_Peru

Cusco - Capital of the Inca Empire

Once the heart of the Inca Empire, at the centre of their universe they considered it ‘the navel of the world’. Cusco is an important stopping point on any journey to Machu Picchu, but it is worth some time to explore too if you visit.

Cusco (also spelled Cuzco) is a city located in Southern Peru in the Andes at 3,000 m (11,000 ft). It was considered to be at the very heart of the Inca’s world, where the four provinces of their empire met. After the arrival of the Spanish in 1533 the Inca empire fell apart and this great city of the Incas was gradually covered in colonial buildings, many of them built on the foundations of the Inca buildings and temples.

In 1950 a major earthquake hit Cusco, and damaged many buildings. Interestingly the Inca’s stonework, long believed lost was revealed in many places as plaster fell away. The Incas extraordinary skill with stone meant that their buildings were stronger, often with no stright lines that are weak in an earthquake and so they remained.

It was decided that many of the buildings would be kept with the old Inca stonework on view and in many streets you can see the strange combination of Inca stones and Spanish Colonial buildings merged together.

There are also many ruins nearby that are worth visiting, such as Pisac and Sacsayhuamán, where you will be impressed by the huge stone walls built by the Incas and their predecessors.

From Cusco to Machu Picchu

Of course, many people visit Cusco as part of a journey to Machu Picchu. You cannot travel directly to Machu Picchu from Lima or even Cusco, but from Cusco you can take the train to the village of Aguas Calientes (meaning ‘Hot Waters’ due to some hot springs there which can be visited). Then from Aguas Calientes you can get a bus to the tourist entrance for Machu Picchu. The train journey is about 3 ½ hours, travelling up over the hills outside Cusco then down the Urubamba river (Machu Picchu is at 2,400 m or 8,000 ft. – so is lower than Cusco).

If you have not organised a specific trip do not worry, many people will sell your trips to Machu Picchu or other sights, select carefully and ask for ID if you are not sure. Your hotel may be able to recommend someone. I have used a service through the hotel I stayed in and we got our tickets for the train, a hotel in Aguas Calientes and entry into Machu Picchu for a good price.

Travel to Cusco, Peru. Some helpful travel tips

Cusco can be reached by road or air from most major cities in Peru. If you are travelling from outside of Peru you will most likely need to fly to Lima and then get a connecting flight to Cusco. However many international flights to Peru arrive in Lima too late to travel onwards to other cities by plane or by bus. So you expect and plan to spend a night in a hotel in Lima before starting your journey to Cusco.

The bus journeys are very long and often involve sleeping on the bus. They are very affordable and saves a night in a hotel or hotel. A good choice for back packers who want to see the land close up.  See ‘Bus Travel in Peru‘ for more details about the bus services.

I recommend selecting companies with modern and well maintained buses, such as Cruz del Sur who also have comfortable reclining chairs to sleep in.

Bus from Lima to Cusco:
Cruz del Sur – operate two services each day. Journey times are about 21 hours (travelling overnight). Have an excellent 1st class section.
Ormeño – from Lima via Arequipa or Ayacucho – 22 or 24 hours respectively. (No online booking when I checked)

Bus from Arequipa to Cusco:
Cruz del Sur – at least one departure daily. Journey time is around 10 hours.

Flights to Cusco are more expensive but very quick and can show you some amazing views of the snow capped Andes and the deep valleys around Cusco. Be warned the journey from the coastal climate of Lima to the high altitudes of Cusco is so fast that your body may struggle at first to cope with the thinner air. Altitude sickness can affect tourists, although many just find they are breathless when walking. When you step out of the pressurised airplane you will notice almost immediately. Just do as the locals do and try the Coca Tea to ease your symptoms.

Flights from Lima to Cusco:
LAN Peru – several flights each day to and from Cusco, flights from Lima are approx 1 hour 15 minutes.
Star Peru – two flights each day from Lima to Cusco. Flight time is also 1 hour 15 minutes.

Flights from Arequipa to Cusco:
LAN Peru – You will need to change at Lima, which makes a combined flight of about 3 hours 30 minutes.

International flights to Cusco from Europe, United States, etc:
All international flights will connect through Lima, then onto Cusco with LAN Peru or Star Peru.

Flights from La Paz, Bolivia to Cusco:
AeroSur – From La Paz there is a 55 minute flight to Cusco. It is possible to fly AeroSur from Madrid to Cusco via La Paz.

Links:
LAN Peru airline – www.lan.com
Star Peru airline – www.starperu.com
AeroSur, Bolivian airline - www.aerosur.com
Cruz del Sur, Bus company – www.cruzdelsur.com.pe
Grupo Ormeño, Bus company – www.grupo-ormeno.com.pe
Peru Rail, trains from Cusco to Machu Picchu – www.perurail.com

Colonnades in the Plaze de Armas, Arequipa, Peru

Arequipa is where I was born. A city located in Southern Peru, with a population of almost a million people. Its cathedral and many of its buildings are built from Sillar, the local volcanic rock. This is why Arequipa is known as Cuidad Blanca – the White City.

It’s very easy to get to by plane or by road. You can fly from Lima to Arequipa in 1 hour 35 minutes. LAN Peru offers seven to eight flights a day. There are also many bus companies that travel from Lima to Arequipa which takes about 16 hours, usually overnight. Travelling bus bus is quite comfortable and cheap too. Cruz del Sur and Orltursa have a safe and confortable service.  Read: Bus Travel in Peru >>

The climate is  dry and sunny almost all year long with the exception of the summer months, from January to March that is the rainy season, but after the rain there is plenty of sunshine. The temperatures are very mild,  generally between 10 and 25 C. In the winter it can be a bit chilly in the mornings.

Arequipa is called the White City because of the traditional buildings made with volcanic rock, the architecture is very interesting. In the historical centre thare are many buildings of the colonial era all made in volcanic rock and they are a mixture of  European and native building techniques.

The Monastery of Santa Catalina it’s very interesting and peaceful, it was built in in 1580 and it has an area of 20 000 square meters. It is like a walled village with its own streets where once women who became Nuns entered and remained inside – but life was not so bad, only the wealthiest women were accepted and they had a very comfortable life with servants looking after them. For the visitor today, it is a fascinating place with many attractive features to photograph.

Outside Arequipa, but still in the Arequipa region the main tourist attraction is the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest in the world, it takes 4 hours by car and there are many travel agencies that arrange mini tours according what the tourist want, some people want to do some trekking and another people just want to admire the canyon with the condors flying around.

There is another canyon called Cotahuasi that some people say is the deepest in the world , it’s a long way from Arequipa City but the views are very interesting for the most adventurous people.

Night life in Arequipa is very lively there are lost of bars and night clubs not far from the mainsquare, many tourists go there.

Links:
http://www.santacatalina.org.pe/

Iquitos - A gateway to the Amazon

Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, because of the geography (completely isolated in the Amazon) it can not be reached by road. People used to travel there by boat, but now there are several flights everyday because it’s becoming a popular touris destination. LAN Peru offers four daily flights.

Iquitos is a very interesting place, located on the Amazon river and from the moment the visitor arrives it feels like a very different place to Lima or other tourist spots in Peru. If you fly from Lima to Iquitos you will fly over dry dusty deserts, then the snow covered Andean mountains before seeing forests that become rich green jungle below you. Looking down from the window of your plane you see rivers twisting through the jungle.

The weather is very hot and humid, and it can rain frequently – after all this is a RAINforest! Don’t worry, the rains feels very warm, but when it does rain it can be heavy and sudden. So even if you are very hot it is a good idea to have a waterproof jacket or plastic bag to protect any books, passport, camera, etc.

Iquitos was known for its rubber industry at the beginning of the 20th century that brought wealth to the city and many mansions were built like the Iron House designed by Gustave Eiffel, famous for his Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Iquitos has a famous boulevard with bars and nightclubs and the night life is very vibrant.

There are other very tourist places like the Belen Market where you can find local plants and medicines and liquors made with herbs that people say that have aphrodisiac properties like ‘chuchuhuasi’ or ‘RC’.

Some people go to Iquitos to try Ayahuasca,  a kind of medicinal tea prepared with a jungle vine called Banisteriopsis Caapi and other herbs that have hallucinogenic properties, used by shamen.

My husband tries shooting a blow dart

Iquitos is a good place to start a journey into the Amazon. There are organised tours where you can travel away from the city, deeper into the jungle and stay in Amazon jungle lodges. Some jungle lodges are very basic, perfect if you want a real feel of the Amazon. You can sleep in a wooden hut that is raised on legs, just sleeping under a mosquito net. That is if you can sleep at all, because there will be the sound of the jungle animals, frogs, insects all making their noises! Of course if you need a more comfortable bed there are lodges with more comforts, with beds, showers and three cooked meals.

From these lodges you can take guided walks looking at the trees and whatever animals you might see. Your guide will point out things that are invisible to a visitor, snails, insects frogs, butterflies all camouflaged in their surroundings. Also you can go on fishing trips and catch the famous piranhas, try and see an Amazon river dolphin or do a tree top canopy walk.

You can also visit a local shaman and learn about their traditional healing and visit local indigenous people who will show you a bit of their traditions – and sell you some nice handmade souvenirs! If you buy a traditional blow pipe, it must stay in your suitcase, of you try to take it on any plane it will be confiscated!

My husband and I stayed at the Ceiba Tops Luxury Jungle Lodge – which was very comfortable. The food was very nice (even the vegetarian food was good – better than we get here in UK hotels!). They have a nice pool and jacuzzi, a lounge and bar with live music in the evenings.

We really enjoyed our visit to Iquitos and the jungle and one day we will go back again.

Links:

http://www.explorama.us/ceibatopslodge.shtml

The Colca Canyon in Peru is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.

Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru. It is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Arequipa. It is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. However, the canyon’s walls are not as steep as the Grand Canyon. There is an even deeper canoyon, the Cotahuasi Canyon to the north west at 11,488 ft (3,501 m). Both the Colca and Cotahuasi canyons are both easily seen in satellite photos of this region. The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley with towns founded in Spanish Colonial times and formerly inhabited by the Collaguas and the Cabanas. The local people still maintain ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces.

The pre-Inca terraces are still farmed today.

The canyon is home to the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus), a species that has seen world-wide effort to preserve it. The condors can be seen at fairly close range as they fly through the canyon walls and are an increasingly popular attraction. ‘Cruz del Condor’ is a popular tourist stop to view the condors, the pass where condors soar gracefully on the rising thermals occurring as the air warms. The condors are best seen in the early morning and late afternoon when they are hunting. At this point the canyon floor is 3,960 ft (1,200 m) below the rim of the canyon.

The La Calera natural hot springs are located at Chivay, the biggest town in the Colca Canyon, they are very popular with tourists.

The ancient farmers of Colca made use of every piece of land they could farm

'El Beso' - The Kiss, sculpture in El Parque del Amor, Miraflores, Lima.

In the Miraflores district of Lima, where many tourists pass through on their journeys there are some nice parks. This is a park that no romantic couple should miss.

It is not too far to walk from the centre of Miraflores, if you walk down Av. Larco and turn right when you come to the Larcomar leisure complex. Just follow the costal path and you will soon see it.

The park overlooks the Pacific Ocean from the cliffs.

The park was opened on Valentine’s Day in 1993.  The sculpture at the centre is called ‘El Beso’ which means The Kisss, designed by the sculptor Victor Delfin. You will find the park a peaceful place to relax and many romantic couples go there to be together away from the busy city and to watch the sunsets over the Pacific.

Couples enjoying the sun and views over the Pacific from El Parque del Amor

The walls of the park are very curvy and covered in colourful mosaics, some of them have poetry about love and names of lovers. I have a special reason to always remember this place…