Arequipa lies at 2400m altitude at the foot of the El Misti volcano in the Peruvian Andes. It is an attractive city with many fine colonial buildings, the most famous of which is the Santa Catalina monastery. This is a large monastery built in Hispanic colonial style, its walls painted vivid colours throughout. It is actually a convent and was opened to the public in 1970.
About 4 hours drive away is Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world. The 'Cruz del Condor' viewpoint overlooks the canyon, and if you come here early enough in the morning there is a very good chance that you will be treated to the sight of huge Andean condors rising up from the canyon on the morning thermals. There are some great lodges in this area where you can enjoy a relaxing stay in comfortable rooms with good food.
A flight from Arequipa brings you to Lake Titicaca. Here you will head out from Puno and visit the floating reed islands of Uros. One of the 40 or so tortora reed islands is kept as a kind of living museum to this traditional way of life of the Uros Indians. Continuing northeast, you sail to a more remote island of Amantani. Here you will get a good view of island life as you stay as guests of a local family. The next day you visit Taquile, a very traditional island known for its weaving and knitted products, before heading back to Puno, ready for your flight to Lima and home.
Set in high Andean mountains at 3320m, Cusco is an attractive town which draws people from all over the world. Built on the foundations of an Inca city, you can still see intricate Inca masonry and buildings as you walk through the town. The huge cathedral dominates the main square which is also flanked by many shops selling alpaca jumpers, jewellery and many other crafts, textiles and artworks It is the favourite city of most visitors to Peru, as the mixture of ancient history, traditional Andean culture and a relaxed atmosphere makes it a charming place to stay for a few days. A short distance from the main square, Koricancha, the Temple of the Sun, was once one of the most important buildings in the whole region, and its inner walls would have been covered with beaten gold. Today the Inca masonry can still be seen, though the church of Santa Domingo was built on top of the ruined temple.
Sacsayhuaman is a megalithic fortress just outside of the town which was begun by Pachacuti in the 15th century. It is an impressive structure even today, and is the site of the annual Inti Raymi festival which re-enacts the Inca Sun God celebrations each 24th June. Puca Pucara (meaning Red Fort) is a small fort worth a look, and it is close to the impressive Inca water fountains or baths of Tambomachay. Qenko was another a sacred site for the Incas, and includes various designs and geometric patterns carved into the rock. It may have had importance in a fertility rites.
The Urubamba Valley, close to Cusco, was known as the Sacred Valley to the Incas due to its beauty and great fertility. Ollantaytambo was a fortress probably built in the 1460s by a great Inca ruler called Pachacuti. Nearby Pisac is a little-understood temple site with megalithic Inca terraces still used by local peasant farmers. Pisac is also known for its weekly markets with local produce such as fruit and vegetables as well as crafts.
Having explored Cusco and Sacred Valley, it is time to visit Machu Picchu, the famous lost city of the Incas, and one of the most magical and mysterious places on earth. Situated on the spine of a jungle-cloaked granite peak towering some 600m above an entrenched meander of the roaring river below, the site is frequently shrouded in misty clouds pierced through by the powerful equatorial sun. Constructed from precisely sculptured granite blocks carefully joined with the projecting exposed stone of the surrounding mountain, Machu Picchu may be the finest architectural achievement of the new world. Our guide will reveal the story of the rise and fall of the ancient civilizations of the Andes with the tragic end of the Incas and the unresolved mystery that this "lost city" of Machu Picchu remains.