"Peru, my first taste of the Andes and the jungle" Top 5 Page for this destination Peru by calcaf38

Peru Travel Guide: 7,653 reviews and 20,331 photos

Village on a tributary of the Amazon - Peru

What amazed me about Peru is that in the space of nine days, I got to visit two thouroughly different regions.

Cuzco and Machu Picchu were breathtaking (literally, with the elevation). Cuzco is truly a wonderful town, and the descendants of the Incas always have a smile on their chiselled faces.

And the Amazon is strikingly peaceful, with Iquitos a haunting base for river expeditions.

Peru, my first taste of the Andes and the jungle - Peru

A fun book to discover Peru by: The Adventures of a Tropical Tramp, by Harry L. Foster. The lost generation didn't get any more lost than in the person of Harry L. Foster. You will greatly enjoy his adventures in 1920s Peru, and you'll find that some things have not changed a bit through the years.

Postface: This page, very slightly revised, is the first page I built after joining VT. Today, I would probably not write a page about the whole country, preferring instead to delve deeper into each stop along the way. Recently for instance, I built pages about individual destinations in Ecuador which are larger than my whole Peru page. This doesn't mean that Peru was a minor adventure. But in 2003, I didn't yet feel that I was on special assignment for VT every time I ventured away from home. Not coincidentally, my wonderful Peru trip was also my last voyage organisé. Not with a group, but with an agency, airport transfers and other trappings that I do not use anymore. Traveling has changed me, but even more, VT has changed the way I travel and process my travels.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Ruins, People, Mountains, Rivers, Hospitality
Cons:So-so food, Unpredictable domestic air and rail
In a nutshell:Two adventures for the price of one

Last visit to Peru: Aug 2003
Intro Updated Oct 13, 2007
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Reviews (31)

Iquitos - The Iron House Things to Do (15)

Gustave Eiffel (yes, of the Tower, and of the Elevador Santa Justa in Lisbon fame) designed a prefab iron house for the... more travel advice

Iquitos' Madcap Motocarros Transportation (4)

The Motocarros are to Iquitos what the TukTuks are to Southeast Asia: moped-rickshaws. It's a lot of fun, but you'd... more travel advice

The Caiman at Night Things to Do (15)

A popular after-dinner activity in jungle lodges is caiman spotting. The caiman themselves are not all that impressive... more travel advice

Birds of the Amazon Things to Do (15)

I'm not really a bird person. My wife can spend a long time staring at her bird feeder, but I'm rather ignorant. Yet for... more travel advice

Comments (23)

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toonsarah May 21, 2008 at 4:47 AM

Great page, although I know what you mean about earlier VT pages being not how you'd do it these days ;) I love your photos of the kids in the rainforest and I'm jealous you got a shot of the caiman (we didn't - long story!)
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starship May 1, 2008 at 10:14 AM

Great page! But I'm still left wondering if this trip would be a heaven or hell. Couldn't take watching an animal I would consider a pet become a meal.
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craic Apr 30, 2008 at 4:18 AM

what a trip you had (roasting guinea pigs! oh no!)
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volopolo Mar 24, 2008 at 8:07 AM

Great page. A lot of information and pictures! Keep traveling! volopolo
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risse73 Mar 19, 2008 at 12:10 PM

Your pictures in Peru look great. I remember these "models" quite well! :) Yes, the humor could easily be a Piscean trademark...or perhaps a unique individual talent! :)
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angiebabe Oct 24, 2007 at 7:41 AM

You show really well how amazing the Inca stuff is& xlent photos(luv the carpets in the mkt.Top5quality&really get a sense that the place is so Inca vs Spanish.U dont have pics of guinea pigs roasting on a spit!?
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Bwana_Brown Oct 5, 2007 at 10:27 AM

A very enjoyable account of your Peru impressions! Those are beautiful photos of the various Incan ruins, but I think I would have liked to try that Amazon trip myself! Great details in your tips.
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ATLC Sep 23, 2007 at 4:08 PM

Inca Kola indeed! The Iron House is an interesting structure. Great page!
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JessH May 28, 2007 at 5:58 AM

Hello Oliver. Fascinating insights here with lovely photography. Thanks for sharing! I hope to make it to Peru someday in the future... Good to see that the piggies are employed in the tourism business. haha! Greetings from the desert / Jess :-)
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atufft May 2, 2007 at 11:49 PM

I don't know why I haven't examined these pages before. Always witty especially in the tips probably misses by some readers.