Peru: Lima to Cusco

From Huaraz we caught an overnight bus to Lima, where we stayed in a nice, modern area of the city called Miraflores for a few days. We toured the city by foot taking in the oceanfront walkway, a cool outdoor mall, the Huaca Pucllana pre-Inca ruins and the 'largest fountain complex in the world' - which is lit up with lights and a laser show each night.

 

 

After Lima we moved down the coast to Huacachina - an 'oasis' in the desert. This tiny town is known for its dune buggy & sandboarding tours through the desert, which was so much fun but slightly scary with our crazy driver!

 

 

 

 

We also visited the local Tacama winery and tasted Pisco's at the Tony Labis property (Pisco is a grape brandy aged for 2 years in clay pots). I can't say I'm a huge fan of straight pisco but luckily it tastes much better when mixed in a cocktail, like the famous Peruvian "Pisco Sour".

Another long busride brought us to Arequipa, home of the 'world's deepest canyon' - the Colca Canyon - which is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. We prepared for a difficult 2 day hike into the canyon but unfortunately we had to cancel the trip when I caught a bad case of food poisoning; instead of the canyon trek we just enjoyed walking around Arequipa while I recovered.

Our next stop was Cusco, the gateway to the Sacred Valley and Machupicchu. Unfortunately, Jody caught food poisoning here (two days after me) so we were delayed another few days regaining our strength for the 5-day Salkantay trek to Machupicchu. June is a big month for festivals in Cusco so it was nice to walk around town and see all of the celebrations.

 

 Today is our last day in Peru before we head for Bolivia; I hope to blog about the Salkantay trek soon!