21 day – Gadventures Inca Heartland Trip
Category: Peru
Lima Half Day Tour
City of Kings and Queens Tour by Haku Tours
A brilliant tour and really interesting guide. I was picked up at my hotel in Miraflores and driven into the centre of Lima. First stop was the St. Franciscan Monastery for a look around the church, the museum and the catacombs. Yep those are bones through the grate, people should not throw money down there apparently.
Walking around Lima on such a beautiful sunny day you really do get to see it at its best. The bar is allegedly the oldest in South America…Hemingway is said to have been here. The green building is the old station which also is apparently the oldest in South America. I am going on what the guide told me, but haven’t verified anything.
The main square has a nice atmosphere and we felt very safe.
Changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace being watched by some tourists, locals and a couple of nuns.
The tour was 3.5 hours and I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t too far to walk, our guide bought us an ice cream which was appreciated as it was a very hot day. We learnt lots about the history of all the palaces and the gruesome stories about the catacombs and all the bones and skulls in there. There was also a really interesting story about a painting of the last supper that was in the museum…the artist was hung because of what he painted and he had said that Jesus was homosexual. Edwin was so enthusiastic and interested in history, architecture and art. We were a small group of just me and another couple, so for $36 I thought it was well worth it and would recommend to anyone.
Inca Heartland in Peru, South America – G Adventures
Spot condors at Colca Canyon, trek the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, experience local life at a homestay on Lake Titicaca, explore the world’s highest capital city
Source: Inca Heartland in Peru, South America – G Adventures
South & Central America Adventure Booked
Having thought I would take some time off work to do a few weeks of voluntary service overseas, I got distracted by looking at holidays in South America!
I thought I would do the GAdventures Southern Cross trip from Lima to Rio, but then I couldn’t get excited about the Brazil part of the trip and wanted to go to Costa Rica instead. After an hour with Alessandro at STA Travel in Victoria, London, we managed to work out that I could do Peru, Bolivia and then Costa Rica. Success!!
So I set off after Christmas for a 46 day trip to Peru, Bolivia and Costa Rica!
On my travels I will be able to tick off a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites (which I should start to keep track of as I’ve seen quite a few already). I am excited to see Machu Picchu but have been realistic about my physical capability and have booked the train, rather than making the 4 day hike – this has also given me enough time to do the optional Jungle Safari! I’ll be seeing Lake Titicaca, the Uyuni Salt Flats, volcanoes, hopefully turtles, condors and hopefully lots more.
I need to pack for all seasons as it is rainy (summer) season in Peru, Bolivia is high altitude so can be minus temperatures at night and Costa Rica will be hot and likely humid.
For anyone interested these are the trips that I’ve planned:
Photos and my progress will be tracked on this blog (wifi signal dependent!). There are going to be quite a number of days where there won’t be any signal or indeed electricity! However, I’ll try to keep it up to date when and where I can.
