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.

LAN Peru jet at Lima Airport

If you want to get around Peru quickly, the best option is to take internal flights. In Peru there are several companies that can get you to and from the major cities.

Peruvian Airlines
LAN Peru
TACA Peru

Peruvian Airlines jet at Lima Aiport

TACA airlines Jet taxiing in Lima 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

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

Machu Picchu is an incredible example of the Inca's skill at stonework

Machu Picchu is one of the most famous places in the world. Many millions of people who have never been there have seen the classic picture of Machu Picchu high in the Peruvian Andes. I want to tell you about Machu Picchu but also show you some other views.

If you want to visit Machu Picchu you will have to first travel to Cusco, which was once the captial city of the Inca Empire, so it is worth a visit to see that. Obviously the Spanich colonialists destroyed most of the original Inca building but it is full of character and there are some amazing ruins in the hills outside the city called Sacsayhuaman.

You can reach Cusco by bus or plane. I would recommend a good company like Oltursa or Cruz del Sur if you choose to go by bus. LAN Peru are a good choice to go by plane.

There are many hotels in Cusco to suit all budgets. If you are just back packing there are backpackers hostels and if you have the money there are very luxurious 5 star hotels that even have oxygen pumped into the room to help you cope with the altitude.

Travel by train to Machu Picchu from Cusco

From Cusco you can catch a train to the small town of Aguas Calientes which is very near Machu Picchu. The train line is Operated by PeruRail who are jointly owned by Orient Express. They have different classes of train for backpackers and travellers who prefer (or can afford) luxury.

The train follows the Urubamba River into the Sacred Valley

The trains travel firstly up over the hills surrounding Cusco and then along the valley towards Aguas Calientes. Cusco is actually higher so you will be following the course of the river as it cuts through the mountains. The journey lasts about 4 hours and will take you past small towns, farm and some interesting landscapes. You will see evidence of the Incas long before you get to Aguas Calientes, if you watch out of the window you will see stone terraces that the Incas built to grow their crops. 

From there you will probably want to to stay overnight in a local hotel before going to Machu Picchu. It is good to go early in the morning and see the sun rising over the mountains which is an amazing sight. You can travel from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu by one of the fleet of small buses there that take people up the winding road to the top of he mountain where you can enter the site .

Of course a tour operator can organise all of this for you. Even local tour operators can do this if you have not made all your plans before you get to Peru. Most hotels in Cusco will know trusted tour operators who will have organised hundreds, or thousands of tours for travellers.

The incredible skill of the Incas at Machu Picchu

When you first get to Machu Picchu you will probably be organised into a tour, which is good because even though it looks beautiful you need a guide to really understand everything. If you get close to the stonework you will see just how skillful the Incas were.

Just imagine how much each stone you see weighs, and try to imagine how it got all the way to the top of this mountain. That is amazing to think of but then look closer, all of the stone is carefully carved and shaped. It looks crazy, but because there are no straight lines these walls are not easily affected by earthquakes which is why you can still see them today.

Huayna Picchu and the Inca's terraces over the steep canyon

Another thing you will see is the terraces all around Machu Picchu where the Incas grew their crops. They were expert at growing food in difficult environments and they used their skill with stonework to create enourmous terraces. In the photo above I am climbing up to Huayna Picchu (say it like ‘Why-Nah’), which is the tall peak you always see in the ‘classic’ photos. It is a hard climb as it is VERY steep and the stone steps are very uneven but what makes it harder is the lack of oxygen which you rally notice when your leg muscles are working hard, so I would not recommend this for everyone. It can take around an hour to climb up and it is great to finally get to the top and see the views. You will of course have to share the place with the other tourists – and the french man writing a poem and sitting at the very highest point! 

Just one of the unusual plants you mights see at Machu Picchu

Also very few people stop to see the plants and trees around them, you can find wild begonias, fuschias and other plants and flowers worth a moment of appreciation!

An Oltursa Bus just arrived in Arequipa. Note the hostess helping a passenger.

Bus travel is the main form of intercity transportation in Peru because flights are expensive and the train system is not very delevoped (there are a lot of mountains in the way). The trains cover just a few routes like the one for visiting Machu Picchu from Cusco, or going to Lake Titicaca. They are really more like a tourist train and not really a passenger train for Peruvians.

There are accidents on Peruvian roads and you might hear stories about the buses being dangerous. Companies do take safety seriously but in some places, especially high in the mountains the roads can be dangerous because rocks can fall onto the road and cause a blockage and other drivers can cause the accident.

A bus being recovered from a valley in the Ancash region

It is important to realise that things in the UK and Peru are different, here in the UK most people will drive their own car from city to city, but in Peru most people will take a bus. This means that there are many more buses in Peru, so of course there will seem to be more accidents. Bus companies compete on safety as well, and the best companies will have GPS tracking, two drivers who drive in shifts and extra front wheels for very good steering in winding roads. Below is an Oltursa advert showing their safety and first class seats.

Buses in Peru are generally very comfortable but everything depends on the price you pay. The best companies to travel with are Oltursa and Cruz del Sur. They are very safe, offer food on board and you can sleep in the seats that recline almost like a bed.

If you are travelling between the major cities you will be travelling a long time and will probably have to sleep on the bus. For example from Lima to my home city of Arequipa the bus journey can be 14 hours, so it is worth paying a little bit more for the first class compartment to get a good reclining seat and a comfortable sleep. The first class passengers also have their own toilet, which means less people use it!

You will get some hot food, coffee, breakfast, all served by the hostess that looks after the passengers. It is not the finest food you can eat in Peru, but it is as good as airline food and if you are vegetarian you can select this option when you book your tickets (or they will assume you want chicken as usual!). On these long journeys they keep you entertained with films (usually in Spanish but sometimes in English with subtitles) and on Cruz del Sur you can even play Bingo!

There is a lot of competition between the two leading bus companies in Peru and they do lots of advertising on Peruvian television. This advert is about the Oltursa buses from Arequipa, which is my home city. I actually know the people in the advert that are getting their tickets which was a surprise to see!

The video below is from a bus fanatic. There are people who like to spot buses like some people like plane spotting. Most of the major inter city and inter provincial bus companies in Peru are in this video. In the middle you can see a Cruz del Sur Cruzero bus with 4 front wheels like the ones I have been on.

Church in Huaraz, Peru

Huaraz is a city high in the Andes in the Ancash region of Peru at an altitude of 3052 m (10,013 feet) above sea level. It has a population of about 100,000. Its is pronouced like ‘Wa-raz’.

It was founded in 1574, but was badly damaged in a massive earthquake in 1970, which killed an estimated 80,000 people in the area. This led to most of the town being rebuilt, so the buildings you find there are quite new, and the roads are wider than they were before.

Huaraz is situated in a long valley between the Cordillera Blanca (White Range – a long snow capped mountain range) and Cordillera Huayhuash.

Local women in traditional dress off to the market. (Their kids probably wear jeans!)

Travel to Huaraz

It is about 420 km (about 261 miles) north of the capital, Lima. It can be reached by bus for around $20 US each way, which takes about 8 hours usually leaving late at night from Lima and arriving in Huaraz in the early morning. Good bus companies have comfortable seats as many journeys in Peru are very long so they have to be! You can sleep in the bus, but you might find that as you travel high into the mountains, even higher than the town of Huaraz, that you get short of breath and wake up gasping!

You can buy a tour from Lima for going to Huaraz, the travel agency arranges accomodation, and transport from Lima to Huaraz, they even pick you up from Huaraz bus station and take you to the hotel but you can go by yourself as well.

I recommend you chose a reputable company like Cruz Del Sur, which have a very good safety record, as the mountain roads can be dangerous and bus accidents are quite common in Peru (partly because it is the most common way to travel from city to city). I will put more information about buses on other pages on this site.

A colourful street in Huaraz

Huaraz is a popular destination for trekking and climbing. It is close to the Huascarán National Park, which contains the moutain of Huascaran, which is 6768 m (22200 feet) high which makes it the tallest moutain in Peru.

The weather can be cold at night, even in the summer months. When I visited I saw some rain as well, which is from the clouds coming over the mountain range from the Amazon. In many mountain towns it can be very cold at night and warm in the day.

A lake in the Ankash region high in the Andes

There are lovely views in the way to Huaraz, we visited the Llanganuco lake that has an incredible light blue colour from the minerals in the water. You can go on a little boat and buy some simple hot traditional food nearby cooked by local women, like boiled corn or boiled Peruvian potatoes with chili sauce. If you go as part of a tour they will take you to restaurant where you can try more elaborate typical food from the area.

Links (open in a new window):
www.cruzdelsur.com.pe