Reflections of Peru

As with Bolivia our time in Peru flew past and there were so many similarities between the countries. Whilst this was the third time we have been to Peru, the experience did feel quite different (although Lima was, well always Lima) whether that was because we came here on our own, we made a land crossing, it was no a holiday (well apart from Machu Picchu!) and we were seeing completely different parts to before. Our reflections are as follows:

• Peru is spilt into three zones, Jungle, Mountains and Coast. Whilst we only experienced the last two they were very different. The mountains were hot during the day, freezing after dark, vast and beautiful and captured our imagination. The coast was grey, warm, damp and very arid.
• We had high expectations of the Inca Trail and also Machu Picchu and we were not disappointed. In fact they both completely exceeded them with lots of  "wow" moments
• In addition Cusco is a very beautiful city and whilst very touristy seemed to cope with it well 
• There is a lot of poverty with over 50% of people below the poverty line, although the up market city areas, especially in Lima seemed very affluent
• The local people seemed very friendly and happy to talk to us if we attempted some Spanish
• The food was excellent, lots of variety and different flavours. All seemed very clean
• Also Peruvian wine was very good as was the beer, with our preferred type being Cusaquena
• Again lots of "Artisan" craft markets everywhere selling very similar goods. If we were on vacation we would probably have bought a couple of the fine quality rugs and blankets
• We felt very safe everywhere (apart from our first trip through Juliaca post riot!) and we were happy to walk around at night where it was busy; the usual common sense rules of course always apply
• Tours aside, Peru is a very inexpensive place to visit, bus travel was only a few pounds for half a day journey (and the quality of the buses were in the main good), dinner for 2 was £15 to £20, and you could get good en suite accommodation with hot shower, clean bed and wifi for £40 to £45 per night
• The wifi was OK in most places, as always better in the morning as the bandwidth couldn't cope with the number of users on an evening
• We covered long distances in comfort with Cruz del Sur and certainly worth paying a bit extra for the comfort and security you get with them
• Challenging to get all the right toiletries, especially if you need cleaning solution for gas permeable contact lenses!