When talking about Peru, Machu Picchu comes up as an association. But there's much more to see. It is also the Andes, Lake Titicaca, and the Amazon basin with its tropical forests. It also means Inca culture, glaciers, volcanoes and snow-capped mountains and basically friendly welcoming people.


Before going off, consult your family doctor and get prescription pills to help you at altitudes.


We scooted over the city Lima except of using its airport. Following our decision to scale the heights gradually, we started the tour in Arequipa.


Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and is characterized by a Spanish construction style reminiscent of the Spanish colonial times which is still evident in the architecture and design style of the city's appearance. There’s a large square in the City center, as in any other Spanish city, surrounded by Spanish-style buildings and a cathedral at its center. A visit to the nearby Santa Catalina Monastery will tell you the story of the city life from the 16th - 19th centuries.


Most of the tourists leave Arequipa in the very early morning to visit the Colca Valley. We decided to stay overnight in Chivay, a nearby village.  In route you will see herds of Llamas, alpacas and Vicunas, beautiful landscape and the queñua forest.

The next morning on our way to to the Cruz del Condor view point, where you can watch the canyon and observe the flight of the condors, we stopped in Yanque Town to visit the early morning market.


The canyon is natural and striking. Some say it is the world's deepest canyon. It is as twice as deep as the American Grand Canyon, but it less impressive since the walls are not as steep. If you are patient and lucky you will see the spectacular condors in their flight.


Five - six hours drive will get you to Puno which lies on Lake Titicaca.


Taking a motor boat from Puno’s port will take you to Uros Islands which are known as the floating islands. The original inhabitants of these floating islands are said to descend from one of the most ancient peoples of the Americas and still to this day practice their ancient traditions. Their dwellings made of totora reed are built on the surface of Lake Titicaca.


It is a beautiful sight. Take a short visit and the Uros (inhabitants) will show you how they build the island and explain about their way of life.


Another 2 hours by boat will take you to Taquile Island where time appears to have stopped. The Mediterranean atmosphere of this place is striking, with its steps of stone and its houses. Its indigenous community that lives here, around 350 families, is descendants of the Incas and known for their Textile activities, such as their beautifully woven chumpis (belts), chullos (caps), and ojotas (and sandals). Their agriculture system operates on a collective basis and the crops are distributed according to each individual need, a traditions which goes back to the 14th century.
Taquile also offers a magnificent lake landscape from where the impressive snowfalls of the Cordillera Real (Real mountain chain) can be seen. Take your lunch at the peak of the island and continue to Amantani Island.

Amantani Island  is located 37 km from Puno and in front of the Capachica Peninsula and offers beautiful landscapes, archeology, as well as a variety of arts and crafts, including ceramics, cut stone works, and a local fur industry managed by the local inhabitants. Visit the archaeological remains of the temple of Pachatata and Pachamama, on the top of the island, centers of adoration and worship to the land, built in honor of our 'Cosmic Parents'. An overnight stay with a local community family in Amantani is a nice option.

Take a few hours ride to Cusco.  Visit Cusco’s historical Inca and Spanish colonial monuments, such as the magnificent Main Square. Visit the Cathedral, which is originally built on the site of the old temple of Suntur Wasi (House of God), now the church of El Triunfo, a particular interest are the choir cloisters, the pulpit, the engravings on the altar and furniture.


Continue onto the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo, a Spanish construction belonging to the Dominican Order built upon the foundations of the Inca temple of Koricancha or Temple of the Sun. Koricancha (in quechua, site of gold) was the main religious building of the Incas dedicated to the worship of the Sun and whose walls, according to the chroniclers, were plated with sheets of gold. Magnificent blocks of finely carved stone were used in its construction.


Don't miss the surrounding ruins of the city of Cusco: Sacsayhuamán, which is a  huge Inca fortress built on three overlapping platforms, each of them over 1,180 ft. long, and  then, onto Tambomachay, known as the Inca baths. It was apparently a site dedicated to the worship of water and a resting place for the Inca monarch.


Kenko, it is said to have been a worship site. There is a huge 20 ft. high stone block that looks like a puma. There are also passages, canals and stairways with stone engravings representing animals and finally, Puca Pucará, which was an administrative and military center formed by terraces, stairways, passages, turrets and vaulted niches.


Cusco can be the point of departure to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.
In the Scared valley you can visit Maras, where layers of beige and white salt pond, are still used to crystallize salt from water, and Moray, an Inca experimental farm, where a natural depression has been utilized in enormous terraces superimposed in concentric form with a shape of a great coliseum, achieving up to almost 500 ft. in difference of height levels. Don't miss the old Inca Community of Pisac which is located at the entrance to the Sacred Valley, 20 miles from Cusco. Its traditional colorful local market has over the centuries attracted the local traders and remote communities from all over the valley, to come and sell their wares dressed in their traditional and colorful costumes.


Stay the night in a hotel in Ollantaytambo and take the morning train to Aguas Caliente which is the closest village to Machu Picchu.


There are 2 options now to get to your Machu Picchu from Aguas Caliente either buy a bus ticket and go up to Machu Picchu (ticket includes round trip) or  to embark on a long hike which ends with a climb of no less than 1700 steps. Way back is the same way.


Hopefully you get a good clear weather when visiting the Machu Picchu citadel at the altitude of 7970 ft.  For a spectacular view and semi-extreme experience try go on and climb the Huayna Picchu (8,920 ft.). It should take another one and a half hours or so, each direction.
Back to Cusco and off to Puerto Maldonado by air.

Puerto Maldonado, the capital of biodiversity of Peru board a motorized canoe and cruise along the Madre de Dios River to one of the lodges and experience one or 2 days of jungle life.


Obviously, there's much more to see in Peru but it is a question of how much time you can spend and what your budget limit is.