Visit Huaraz in the highlands of Peru!‏

Huaraz is located in the “Callejon de Huaylas”, the name of Peru’s most popular valley because of its magnitude and its great views full of mountains. The valley has on one side the “Cordillera Blanca” which is a mountain range with almost all of its peaks filled with snow, and in the other side there is the “Cordillera Negra”, also a mountain range very vast and long but its peaks don’t have any snow.

Huaraz is the capital of the Ancash department in Perú, and to get there is about 6 hours by car or 8 hours if you take the bus, in a highway full of stops to take beautiful pictures of the landscape!

There are an endless amount of options for outdoor activity near Huaraz. People spend years exploring the high mountain beauty of the Cordillera Blanca. For mountain climbs and some of the treks it is highly recommended to use the service of a guide offered by many professional adventure agencies in Huaraz. Typically, what you pay is what you get. Make sure you only climb mountains with certified mountain guides. It can safe your life. The mountaineering season is from May to September. Treks can be made all year round although it may rain in the afternoons from November to April.

If you are not very much into mountain climbing don’t think Huaraz is just about this, there’s lots of other things to do here, for example, to do a tour all along the “Callejon de Huaylas”, where you can stop in the beautiful cities of Carhuaz, Yungay, and Caraz. Each of these cities has its own unique appeal or history, for example, Carhuaz is known for its great parties that can lasts weeks!!!! On the other hand, in Yungay you can visit the sacred field in the place where the old city of Yungay was before the avalanche from 1970 covered the whole city in mud. Finally, in Caraz you can taste one of the most delicious blancmange from Perú, and they come in many flavors!

A great attraction in Huaraz is also the Llanganuco Lake, which is located at 3,800 meters above the sea level, and from where you can see not only the Huascaran (the most famous and highest peak in the region), but also great views of all mountains!

A very popular daytrip from Huaraz is to the ancient ritual center of the Chavin culture, East of Huaraz. It is one of the oldest archeological site in South America. Although a new road has made the wonderful trip shorter, I recommend you to stay a night in bordering village Chavin de Huantar.
Chavin de Huantar was developed around 900 B.C. late in the Initial Period. At an elevation of 3,150 m., Chavin de Huantar is situated at the bottom of Cordillera Blanca's eastern slopes, approximately halfway between tropical forests and coastal plains.

When it comes to food, in Huaraz you can definitely find veriey……….one of the most tipical dishes or appetizers in Huaraz is the “choclo con queso” which is just the boiled corn with some fresh cheese which is very salty and has a unique flavor, and is made in the city of Chiquian, in Huaraz. You can also find many places that served the famous “Cuy”, the Peruvian guinea pig, and also “Trucha”, which is a very rich fish from the river.

A Delight from mother earth: Pachamanca!

Pachamanca means "food from the earth" or alternatively “pot from earth”, and it is precisely in the earth or in the ground where the food for the Pachamanca is cooked. The cooking is based in hot rocks that are put in a round hole, which form a kind of a big pot underneath the ground. The food is wrapped in banana leaves so that it doesn’t get dirty.

This dish is prepared mainly in the mountains of Peru, but because of its popularity it can also be found in many cities, prepared in different country restaurants. These restaurants normally have a hand-made oven made in the ground, and the first step in the preparation is to heat the rocks with woods. At the same time, while the oven is getting warm, all the meats are macerated with species and wrapped in banana leaves. Also, some potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn are also wrapped to be cooked in the “oven”.

Once all the food is in the oven, it is all covered with more banana leaves to concentrate the heat, and from there, it takes from 50 to 90 minutes before the food is ready to eat! Once the food is ready, there is mostly a small ceremony (based on the tradition from pre-Inca times) where a leader thanks the mother earth for the food…….and after that all the cookers and helpers start to take out the food and unwrap it.

The food is typically served in the table in wooden pots if it is a familiar meal, but if it is in a restaurant, each person is served with one portion of each of the elements of the Pachamanca: chicken, pork, beef, potato, corn, sweet potato, beans, etc!

Also, in the table there is typically some cream chili, as it is a usual in Peru food, for those who wish to eat some of the Pachamanca with it.

So…..if you are coming to Peru, especially to some city in the mountains like Cuzco, Junin, Huaraz or Ancash you have to try the traditional Pachamanca! If that is not the case and you are going to be in a city in the coast, you only have to ask for a country restaurant there it is served so that you don’t miss it!

Visit Cajamarca in the highland of Peru!‏

The department of Cajamarca is located in the north of Peru, and is known mainly for its great landscapes and its delicious variety of cheeses! The city of Cajamarca is the capital of the department with the same name, and has a number of tourist attractions like the cathedral, the cloister of San Francisco, some great balconies that have an amazing view of the city, and some other temples that come from colony times and are admired for its architecture.

In February is the “Carnaval de Cajamarca”, or the Cajamarca’s carnival, which is the major festivity in the city, tourists from other parts of Peru and foreigners come in great numbers to be a part of this great festivity where there are long parades, dances and parties in the streets of Cajamarca where you can have a taste of its delicious food. The principal day in the Carnival is the Sunday, where the big parade goes all around the city with impressive costumes and masks that are typical of Cajamarca, and the dances last all night long.

When it comes to food in Cajamarca, the main dishes are the “Picante de papa con cuy”, which is a potato stew, a little spicy, served with cuy, which is a kind of Peruvian guinea pig and is very popular in the highlands of Peru. Another special dish from Cajamarca is the “Chicharron con mote”, which is a very fried pork meat served with a peculiar kind of corn which grain is super big and is often used in appetizers. Other dish from Cajamarca are the “Humitas”, which are a delicious mass made of corn and some species, and can be served in breakfast, lunch or even as an appetizer in the evening!

A little bit outside of the City of Cajamarca there are some great tourist attractions, like the “Ventanillas de Otuzo”, which are ruins from the Caxamarca tribe, that had a peculiar way of bury their dead people and constructed niches in the rocks, and this is the part that has survived almost intact until today and is the main attraction in this place.

Also outside of the city are the “Baños del Inca” or “Inca Baths”, which are hot springs and constitute a natural spa, with very relaxing and even curative characteristics. The minerals that compose these waters have therapeutic characteristics for the treatment of bone injuries and nervous system conditions.

Visit Arequipa: The White City

The city of Arequipa, which is located in the southern region of Peru is just where the Misti volcano ends, this is why you can have a great view of the Misti almost from any point in the city. Arequipa is located at 7,700 feet above the sea level, so it is located in the mountain region of Peru. The Misti is the main volcano but Arequipa is really sorrounded by many volcanos, and in one of these volcanos is where the famous mummy "La momia Juanita" was found.

Aerquipa in kown as the "white city" because of the color of the ashlar, which is Peru is know as "sillar" and is a volcanic rock, with which the great temples that exist in the city were built, such as the temple "La compañia" and the "Santa Catalina" temple. The beaty of the city, together with its special light and its landscapes really touch the visitots to this great city.

Arequipa is also know as the city with the "eternal bluw sky" because of its grat weather, with sun in more than 300 days in a year and is never too hot but neither too cold so its just perfect!

Near to the city of Arequipa is also located the Colca Canyon, which is really very popular and almost every person that comes to Arequipa also visit the Colca, for its great view and also to see the great Condors...I will make a special post dedicated just to the Colca because is just worthy of it!

When it comes to food in Arequipa, this is where the great "picanterias" of Peru are from, and are known as this because of its distinguised "picante" or spicy flavor........in Arequipa you can eat a delicious "Rocoto Relleno" which is a kind of chili stuffed with meat and other species, or you can also try a great "Chupe de Camarones" which is a soup with really big and delicious shrimps, or for example you can also have an "Ocopa Arequipeña" which is made of potatoes with a thick souce made of species that are typical from Arequipa............

There is just so much to know here in Arequipa and I think you will need at least 3 or 4 days just in this city to discover its great beauty.....there are flights from the city of Lima, the capital every day and more that once in a day so it is very accesible and because is one of the most popular cities in Peru there are lots of hotels and a great variety of options!!! Hope you come soon!!

Visiting Machu Picchu

Well, let's start with the obvious, when anyone thinks about sightseeing or tourism in Peru the first thing that comes to everyone's mind is Machu Picchu, even more after it was named one of the Modern Seven Wonders of the world!

The citadel of Machu Picchu is the most important and most visited attraction in the department of Cuzco, and was discovered almost 100 years ago, in 1911, despite it was built in the time of the incas, around the 1400's. The city was built at the top of a granite mountain, and the incas, using engineering techniques, were able to transport heavy stone blocks up to the mountain side, and once there, they used their excellent masonry skills to produce amazingly polished stones that fit together perfectly.

The citadel is divided into many sectors:

• Agricultural Sector
• Checkpoint
• Upper cementery and burial zones
• Urban Sector
• Temple of the sun
• Ceremonial Rock
• Main temple
• The plazas
• Doors

The meaning of Machu Picchu is "old mountain" in Quechua, the language of the Incas, and near to the citadel of Machu Picchu there is a smaller mountain called Wayna Picchu, which means "young mountain", and many tourists can walk over to that mountain and conquer its summit, which is really an amazing experience because along the route and at the top are sacred structures and eye catching terraces, built right against the slope’s edge.

Another atraction inside Machu Picchu is the Wiñaywayna, which means "forever young" and is perhaps the most beautiful building along the Inca Trail. On the third day of trekking is when you reach this spot, located at an altitude of 2,700 meters, with its small urban sector and must see ceremonial fountains, ten to be exact, and a tower of typical Incan stonework.

Now that I mentioned it, a lot of tourists decide to take the famous "Inca Trail" insted of going by traing to Machu Picchu, this trail is really very adventurous and really not recommended if you like to be comfy and clean all the time because is a journey of minimum 3 days into the Peru forest!! I will give more detail about the Inca trail in a future post......