MAGIC PERU

we set off on 7 August from Rome, Lufthansa flight A large group again this year, there are 27 of us!. Unfortunately we arrived in Lima without our luggage!. We reached our hotel, the Grand Hotel Faraona ***, Miraflores, excellent. We continued to the Paracas reserve, very beautiful with its desert scenery plunging into the sea, and the Cathedral is truly majestic, then the museum of Ica, very very interesting for understanding Peruvian culture over time..

Afternoon devoted to a visit to the Huacachina oasis, surrounded by very high dunes where you can take a ride in dune buggies or throw yourself headlong on sandboards, or take a wonderful walk and enjoy the spectacle! A very abundant and distinctive dinner at the hotel Las Dunas ***, bungalows immersed in nature with a fabulous pool! Early in the morning we headed for the jetty where a boat was waiting for us, and we took the wonderful cruise to the Ballestas islands, admiring first the famous Candelabra and then all its beautiful inhabitants: countless birds, penguins, sea lions, truly a spectacle of nature. We then continued to Nazca (here unfortunately we couldn't do the flyover, due to bad weather...it'll be next time!) Hotel Paradores ***, perhaps the least beautiful of the trip.

Continuation of the journey, still without luggage, heading for Arequipa, where, they say, our luggage should have arrived in the meantime! Truly spectacular landscapes, desert on the left and on the right the sheer drop to the ocean, truly unique scenes! Casa Andina ****, a really nice and distinctive hotel, and we see our luggage, we're full of happiness...not all of us though, Vanda's luggage is still missing After dinner, given the proximity to the centre, a walk on foot in the Plaza de Armas, really pretty, with its two-storey arcades full of very distinctive little places.

Arequipa, a very beautiful city, city tour; first we went to a sort of farm-stay where we could see the natural setting in which the white city nestles, admiring the three volcanoes, Misti, Pichu Pichu and Chachani, that frame the city, the church of the Company of Jesus with a cloister full of shops; we continue the visit with the monastery of Santa Catalina, the beautiful excursion to the Colca (here unfortunately soroche caught me...and not only me...but then again the pass you cross is at 4900 metres...), in the evening we stayed in Chivay in a very pretty hotel, perhaps the most distinctive of the whole trip, the Pozo del Cielo ***, all in stone, truly unforgettable, as unforgettable was the encounter the next morning with the condor, who could forget it! you cross truly spectacular landscapes! Visit to the distinctive market of Chivay.

Continuation of the journey, return to Arequipa and then Puno, thrilling; before arriving, the visit to the Sillustani necropolis.. We arrive at our hotel, the Gran Puno Inn, a typical mountain hotel, very simple and without a lift. A full day on Lake Titicaca, visit to the Uros islands (even if they are only touristic...thank goodness they still exist...we saw some beautiful children, even if with skin burnt by the sun; we have to admit that Peruvian children are the most beautiful in the world!).

Here we launched a boat made of totora reeds...and when they find 27 people all together!!!!!! We continued the slow sail towards the island of Taquile and here we reached the village square after an arduous path; the panorama is spectacular with the blue lake and the Bolivian Andes covered in snow; on the way back to the boat we went down 522 steps; here a different culture lives, a very distinctive one, and you can learn about their costumes and their ways of life. At last we've arrived in Cusco; four days are perhaps too few to visit the wonderful city and the wonders of its surroundings. Hotel POSADA ATAHUALPA ***, central. Immediately a visit to the magical Plaza de Armas where we meet the very colourful procession of the Assumption.

The tour of the Sacred Valley, Chinchero, where we learn the dyeing method of the wonderful fabrics; visit to the fortress of Ollantaytambo; arriving at Pisac, before immersing ourselves in the colours of the market we headed to the old clay oven to eat the famous “impanada”! A very colourful market and a visit to the necropolis of Pisac with panoramic views over the Sacred Valley, down to the Urubamba river. The salt pans of Moray and the amphitheatre of Maras. Today is the big day: the Vistadome train awaits us, which will take us in a little over an hour to Aguas Calientes, the little town at the foot of Machu Picchu.

Arriving at the station, all aboard, numbered seats: on the right the view of the mountain, on the left the view of the Urubamba river: an incredible spectacle, we pass Inca bridges, some ruins, a landscape that is truly very very evocative; arrival at 8.00 at Aguas Calientes, a quick crossing of the little market that awaits us on the way back, and a bus to tackle the final climb, a zigzag road with hairpin bends and...after 20 minutes we arrive at the entrance of the most magical archaeological site in the world!! We go up onto the terrace from which we can finally admire.....THE WONDER!!!!! Feel free to look at photos, films, documentaries...what appears before our eyes is truly indescribable!...simply marvellous! What strikes you is not the majestic ruins, but above all the natural setting in which they are set.

I really think it's the most beautiful in the world! it's a truly magical place where you feel a truly unforgettable emotion: the temple of the sun, the temple of the condor, of the clock, the temple of the three windows, the main temple, the ceremonial baths, and then it left us free, to enjoy to the full the magic of this place. At three in the afternoon we had to leave the site.....but the emotion we felt we'll carry with us forever! A stop at the little market of Aguas Calientes, then everyone back on the train for the return to Cusco... Last dinner in Cusco at the restaurant Inka, very distinctive decor, waiters in costume, a very nice setting, excellent dishes.

Flight for Lima, the same very welcoming hotel as on the way out, the Grand Hotel Faraona, and then a city tour I must admit that although I'd been preparing this trip for years, watching documentaries, photos, guides, never never and ever could I have imagined the emotion I still feel when I think back to the day of MACHU PICCHU!!! No description will ever convey even a fraction of what that site really is: perhaps it's the location, perhaps the wisps of mist, perhaps the sun filtering slowly through, perhaps the majesty of the intact city...I don't know, but it's truly a UNIQUE place in the world! We did this wonderful tour, organised online with Michele Mosca of Perù Paradise Travel, spending a truly affordable sum.

We are truly very satisfied with the organisation we had, thanks to all the truly capable and competent people who acted as our guides, escorts and drivers; everyone was truly able to make our trip a truly wonderful journey! On our return, arranging the photos, watching the films, listening to the music and sorting out the various purchases, not always in the best of taste, and above all the encounters and the sharing of one's emotions complete the work begun long before, but they absolutely don't finish it, because the emotions we felt will always remain alive within us. Perhaps we had some unpleasant situations, often due to bad luck, against which no one can do anything....but in conclusion I think it must be considered, for everyone, a wonderful MAGIC journey! MIRELLA!