We took an overnight bus from Arequipa to Lima, arriving in the morning. Having been there before, and with no particular fondness for the city, we only hung around there during the day, and hopped on another night bus immediately northwards to the mountain town of Huaraz. There are plenty of outdoor activities to do in Huaraz. Sonja took advantage of many of these, going rock climbing and two day hikes (Pastoruri Glacier and Laguna 69) during our time there...

Back into Peru to continue our march northwards, we stopped in Arequipa for a few days. The central part of Arequipa is a bit like a less polished, less touristy version of Cusco, but walk a short distance from the centre and it becomes a bit unappealing. Like many others, we used Arequipa as a base to make a trip to the Colca Canyon, touted as the world's second deepest, where we did a two day hike. We were fortunate to see Condors flying in the canyon, and t...

Cusco is a must visit destination for any trip to Peru. Located high in the Andes ranges, it's the launching pad for any and all surrounding mountain activities, most notably a visit to the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. Cusco is a very touristy town but isn't over the top (yet) so retains a lot of charm and character. To go on the "classic" 4 day Inca trail trek to Machu Picchu requires booking ahead 6 months in advance, due to its popularity and the limited nu...

We had considered travelling from Lima to Cusco on one incredibly long overnight bus, but decided there was enough interesting things between the two cities to break up the ride. This led us to Paracas National Reserve for a night, about three hours south of Lima by bus. The Peruvian coastline is where the ocean meets the desert and it's a beautiful area with sandy cliff faces up to the water's edge. We hired bikes to explore the reserve, allowing us to see th...

Finally into South America, we flew into the capital of Peru, a place Jansen visited nine years ago. Perhaps it comes with travel experience, but the place seemed much tamer and far less intimidating than it did the first time. Upon our airport arrival we paid a visit to the tourist information office. Our thoughts were to see if we could catch the local bus from the airport to the popular area of the city called Miraflores. We were warned at the office we'...