taking a new hotel, joining restaurants, making a trip to somewhere. At the end this wasn't funny
anymore, but just anoying. Furthermore form a certain point the prices were only shown in dollars and
not the the local currency anymore and rised accordingly. The quality instead decreased.
As a consequence we increased our speed and left Peru a lot earlier than planned. Arequipa for
example was completely cancelled from our itiniary. That's because the bus which was scheduled for
5am just left the station at 4.30am (would you expect such a thing in Peru?)
The next possible bus left at 8pm (!) and went to Cusco and that is the reason for skipping Arequipa.
It's obvious, that we never saw the money for our trip to Arequipa again...
But step by step:
The first leg led us from Lima to Ica. The 'highlights' in Ica were a small but very interessting
museum and the oasis of Huacachina. But how to ruin such a nice piece of nature: We think only
peruvians might be able to explain this!
Ok ... we went on to Nasca and to the really astonishing lines which can only be seen from a plane.
On the same afternoon we also went to a cemetery with a lot of mummies. Additionaly we were able to learn
about making gold in a very old fashioned way.
By the way: Have you ever seen naked peruvian dogs ...
After our problems with the busride to Arequipa we went to Cusco: In our first night bus taking
15 hours from Nasca. Cusco is by far the niced town in Peru. Our first thing to do in Cusco was
planning our trip to Machu Picchu. It worked fine and we went (this time by train) to Aguas Calientes,
the small town below Machu Picchu. And here again: I don't know how much ignorance you need to build
a town like this??
After one night in Aguas Calientes, the next morning at 6.00am we went to Machu Picchu, which took us
20 minutes by bus. We spent half a day there before we went back to Cusco by train. Machu Picchu
was really incredible. Not the ruins itselves but their location on the top of the mountain!
After one or two days in Cusco, we went on to Puno, lying right besides to Titikaka lake. The trip
from Cusco to Puno was really breathtaking and alternatively can be made by train in the doubled time.
Puno again is no highlight but it is a good point to do a ship tour on the lake. We visited the floating
reed islands and the Isla Taquile. Well I have to admit: It's very touristy.
After a second night in Puno and a really nice dinner with the two Swabians Sandra and Michael we went on
to our last few kilometers in Peru. They led us at the shore of the Titikaka lake to Bolivia.
Just a small conclusion according Peru: After our actual experiences in Bolivia, we can only recommend to
visit Bolivia then to visit Peru ... and ...Machu Picchu can also be visited in combination with a round
trip in Bolivia!
But if you are really interessted in the precolumbian cultures of Southamerica - you have to visit the
incredible sites in Peru.
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