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Imagine a city in a valley surrounded by volcanoes, where all streets are paved with stones and all buildings are immaculate white, while people are dressed in colorful traditional costumes. This is the beautiful Arequipa, the third largest city in Peru, where there is no Inca sign, but only Spanish colonial buildings all built of […]

Though difficult to access considering its location, this place is magic: at more than 2400 m, up on the Machu Picchu Mountain, surrounded by a circle of other mountains, with stunning views, it is a living piece of culture and history. As it is well hidden, this UNESCO Heritage site was missed by the Spanish […]

Imagine old ruins that are still in very good shape and tell a story just as you watch them, in an amazing scenery. This is the Sacred Valley, called sacred because of its most fertile land in the region, property of the Inca Emperor himself. We made multiple stops on the way, but some of […]

After hiking in the Cordillera Blanca our first impression of Peru changed dramatically and Cuzco just strengthened the new view. With well preserved, colorful colonial architecture, surrounded by Inca ruins, the city is the living evidence of a rich and complex history. As the biggest city and former capital of the Inca empire, where the […]

After so many disappointing places in Peru, Huaraz was just a new one on the list with its mountains of garbage, bad smell, many many dogs on the streets…we reached it after 10 hours of bus passing through ugly towns, though nice natural sceneries. But the 3 days that followed (my birthday in the middle) […]

Founded by the Spanish in the XVIth century, Lima is a curious mix of a modern mega city, skyscrapers, malls and amazing seaview apartments in Miraflores, old villas in a romantic hippie ambiance in Barranco and areas of colonial architecture especially in its historical downtown, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For those who […]

Where are we? Where is that Peru that everybody talks about and loves? After the unsafe and not too nice Mancora, entering Trujillo continued on the same note. Looking out on the bus windows we could see ghetto-like streets, ugly buildings and piles of garbage everywhere…disappointing. Fortunately, the city also has few nice things to […]

We reached our first stop in Peru early in the morning when it was still dark. And it was quite creepy! The bus stops somewhere in the middle of the town and most of the accommodations (ours as well) are located near the beach (more or less 500 m from the center). We would have […]