PERU

THANK YOU PERU

If you’re heading to Peru, make sure you take care of it.
I was drawn to Peru because of Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines.

I went on what was perhaps my most challenging trip in terms of organisation.
After visiting Santiago and the Atacama Desert in Chile, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, Salar de Uyuni and La Paz in Bolivia, my trip ended in Peru.

MEANS OF TRANSPORT

PLANE

Lima‘s airport has been rated the best in South America on more than one occasion.
Its central location makes it an ideal hub for connecting flights between America, Asia and Europe.

Of all the airports I’ve been to, it’s the only one that only allows entry to outbound airline ticket holders.
It’s about 10 km from the capital, and you can get there by taxi at a great price.

BUS

If you’re looking to catch a bus, there are several options.

There are several bus routes from Bolivia to Peru.
At least 10 companies offer similar routes from La Paz station.
Prices vary depending on departure time and whether lunch is included.
It’s a good idea to ask all agencies for the price and choose according to your needs.

Once you’ve got through passport control and entered Peru, the bus staff are likely to offer you a tour of Lake Titicaca.

Cruz del Sur buses connect the various Peruvian cities and even allow you to travel to Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Colombia at a reasonable cost.
I’ve used them for long journeys in Peru.

The price is usually the same, but you can choose your seat and the service you want.
– regular 2° piso: seats recline 140 degrees and offer a classic service.
– suite 1° piso vip: seats reclining 160°, excellent service (waiter always available for anything).

Just a heads-up: the ‘1° piso’ is the upper floor.
I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who gets motion sick, as the bus goes pretty fast (and it can feel even faster on narrow streets with lots of bumps).

One thing to note is that the seats recline as if they were a bed.
They are certainly spacious and comfortable, but the space with the seat in front is not at all adequate.
If you fully recline it, the person at the back will find themselves unable to move with the seat on their knees.
It’s important to show respect and understanding.

I gave some to the person behind me, but I can’t say the same for the person in front of me.
The 13-hour overnight trip was a bit of a war between the person who was forcefully slamming the seat on their knees trying to recline it and the person who was preventing them from doing so with some heavy punches and kicks in the backrest and headrest.

After that tough battle, I decided to make the next few trips in the less reclining but equally comfortable seats on the ground floor.

WHAT TO SEE IN PERU

It’s hard not to think of Peru about Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas, one of the 7 wonders of the world.
The insane amount of money to see it is the biggest expense I have ever made for a single place. Is it worth it?

If you’re going to Machu Picchu, you’ve got to stop off in Cusco.
Allow a full day for this.

If you’re into history and mysteries, you’ve got to take one of the small planes that fly over the  Nazca Lines.
That’s the only way to see some of the more than 800 drawings that the Nazca civilisation is thought to have traced between 300 BC and 500 AD.

From the peaceful town of Paracas you can take trips to the marine reserve and the Islas Ballestas, which are home to penguins, sea lions and eared seals.
You can also get to the nearby village of Huacachina, where you can go sandboarding or dune buggying.
This is basically having fun speeding up and down the high sand dunes with a car or board.

The capital, Lima, is the second most populated city in South America and it’s a good idea to allow a few days to visit it properly.