Travelogue : Peru
Lost city of the Incas

Macchu Picchu - Lost City of the Incas. Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake. Nazca, mysterious lines that have baffled scientists for decades. Peru's wonders conjure up unique South American images. Whatever you do in Peru, it will change you. The drama of antiquity played against the mystical Andes mountains and fabled Amazonian jungle draws you along singular paths of human experience. The ruins of Macchu Picchu and Sacsayhuaman cast you down corridors of time to the brilliance and success of the Inca Empire.



Empire of the sun

We went to Peru and Bolivia to explore the very heart of the pre-Columbian empire of the Sun, the birthplace of the Inca civilisation.
We travelled on some of the world's highest roads and railways traversing the Andrean landscapes from Cuzco to La Paz. We enjoyed the dramatic Andrean scenery and the atmosphere of bustling markets, crowded with colourful local inhabitants.


World's highest roads

After arriving in Lima, you'll fly to Cuzco, capital of the Inca empire. After acclimatizing to the altitude, you'll visit the surrounding Inca ruins of Puka, Pukara, Kenko, Tampu Machay and the renowned fortress or Sacsayhuaman. From the tremedous foundation stones of Sacsayhuaman (sexy woman) we visited the village of Pisac and its colorful Indian craft market, the breathtaking Machu Picchu ('Lost City of the Incas'), the most astounding feat of stone engineering in Ancient America to Lake Titicaca and La Paz, set against a towering backdrop of snow-covered peaks of Mount Illimani (even higher then Lhasa in Tibet). Its colourful picturesque street markets bustle with local indians cloaked in vermillion ponchos and round-faced women doffing hard brimmed bowler hats.


Macchu Picchu

We went back to Lima, capital of Peru, over the Pan-American Highway. On our way we stopped at Moquegua and Arequipa, and overflew the mysterious giant drawings of the Nazca Lines; huge, geometrical figures cut into the stony desert floor.




If you are interested in our whole PERU/BOLIVIA story you are able to download our dairy using the following ACROBAT PDF files. If you download the first PDF file you've got the 54 pages at once, the other PDF files are parts of this dairy. Remark: the dairy is written in Dutch!

Indien u geïnteresseerd bent in ons gedetailleerde dagboek over de PERU/BOLIVIË reis, kan u het met behulp van de ACROBAT PDF files - al naargelang uw keuze - in zijn geheel of in delen downloaden. Ons dagboek is geschreven in het Nederlands!


Acrobat PDF files



This is a non-profit web page. All the establishments mentioned in this travelogue are places I've been to and which I would like to recommend to people who like to travel around in Peru and Bolivia.

Special thanks to Lotte, Arco and Marianne!!

Travelogue and photographs by Joël Neelen © October 1994. All Rights Reserved.