Some Peru planning

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I’m trying to losely iron out a Peru itenerary. I know I’m not going until September, but I have to register for the Inca trail hike and get the permit and so I guess I am sort of building around that part of the trip.

I fly in to Lima on the 2nd of September (very late so sightseeing will begin on the 3rd) and I am thinking of only spending 2 days max in Lima. I’m the kind of traveller that dislikes developed/modern cities. For example, when I go to Europe, I am spending no time in Frankfurt b/c it’s kind of modern in comparison to, say, Munich or Cologne. I love seeing big cathedrals and love architecture and I love the REAL stuff a place can offer me… not something I can fly to NYC or LA and see something similar, know what I mean?
So I feel like there is much more to Peru than Lima. I do want to spend a day or 2 there though. There’s a park that overlooks the shore I am dying to see and I am going to try to go hang gliding if I can afford it. So after that I’ll probably head up to Cuzco to get used to the altitude. That will be a good time to check out the Sacred Valley - I am definately planning on horseback riding to see that. Then the Inca Trail/Machu Picchu thing is 4 days, and by that point, my trip will be like half over. Well maybe not.

Anyhoo, I originally wanted to head up to the Amazon area, namely Iquitos, because there’s that floating marketplace they call the “Venice of South America” which would be cool but Iquitos is only accessible by airplane or boat, there are no roads. Boat would be VERY cool but waste the entire rest of my trip and I’d still have to fly back. Flying there is SO expensive. A one-way ticket is 360 bucks from Lima. And the runway there is only open early in the morning or late in the evening because during the day geese or some sort of birds sit on the the runway (random I know).

So Iquitos is a no-go, sadly. But Lake Titicaca is a definate! From Cuzco the train is like 8 hours, so is the bus, to Puno. Or I could fly but that’s kind of a waste of money. There’s a lot in that area I want to see. There’s some man-made floating islands which are supposed to be cool. And I can check out La Paz on the Bolivia side if I get an extra day or so.

I want to do a zip-line but it looks like Ecuador is the place for the zip-lines, and other Central American countries. But that’s okay.

My purpose with Peru is not to rush around to a new place every single day like I am in Europe this summer. This is a chillax for awhile and be one with myself out there before I start school again in September. I’m hoping it to be more of a spiritual type trip for me, not because I am trying to see churches or Amazon witch doctors or something (though that would be sweet) but especially on the Inca Trail, I’ll have a lot of time to think and clear my head. So this is why that although I know I could fit in a few days here and there at some other places, I want to relax and take it in.

Next post I am going to talk about the one random country I bet 90% of you have never heard of, and I am DYING to go. So stay tuned!

Posted by pinknic38 on April 8th, 2008

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