My wife Deb and I spent the first two weeks on our own mostly. We did take two tours that we located on our own. We drove and walked around Arequipa while staying at a guest house, La Casa de Ana. Ana, by the way, is a great help in knowing good, reliable and professional tours. My highlight there was the beautiful monastery near the main plaza.
We took a van tour to see the condors in Colca Canyon and soaked in a hot spring along the river. This was a good idea and a most interesting trip. We stayed in a very neat hotel just across the river from Chivay. We ate Peruvian pizza one night.
From there we went to Puno to visit Lake Titicaca, Taquille Island and a floating reed island. The reed island thing was OK but is a tourist trap, but I think it helps some nice people. Next it was into a new Mercedes bus to go toward Cusco. Along the way we visited more ruins, saw some fine views of the Andes, ate more cui, and had the best internet reception of the entire three weeks. The driver, guide and "stewardess" had a bit of coca along the way. We drove up to over 15,000' and had coca tea.
In Cusco we spent a couple of days on our own just walking around and being curious. I liked it there quite a bit although like most of the touristed places you will get hassled on the street to buy wares and art. Don't ever say, "Maybe next time." They will remember you. In Cusco we joined an REI tour, but that's the next part.
We took a van tour to see the condors in Colca Canyon and soaked in a hot spring along the river. This was a good idea and a most interesting trip. We stayed in a very neat hotel just across the river from Chivay. We ate Peruvian pizza one night.
From there we went to Puno to visit Lake Titicaca, Taquille Island and a floating reed island. The reed island thing was OK but is a tourist trap, but I think it helps some nice people. Next it was into a new Mercedes bus to go toward Cusco. Along the way we visited more ruins, saw some fine views of the Andes, ate more cui, and had the best internet reception of the entire three weeks. The driver, guide and "stewardess" had a bit of coca along the way. We drove up to over 15,000' and had coca tea.
In Cusco we spent a couple of days on our own just walking around and being curious. I liked it there quite a bit although like most of the touristed places you will get hassled on the street to buy wares and art. Don't ever say, "Maybe next time." They will remember you. In Cusco we joined an REI tour, but that's the next part.