AREQUIPA

Arequipa, Peru's second largest city is located 1024 km (640 miles) South of Lima. It was founded in 1540 and is one of the country's most attractive cities. Full of Colonial churches and mansions, including Santa Catalina, a restored Convent established in 1579 and now open to the public after being closed for 400 years, Arequipa is known as the White City because much of it is built of ashier, the smooth white building stone cut from volcanic lava quarries.
Three volcanoes dominate the skyline: Misti, Chachani and Pichu Pichu. North of Arequipa lies the spectacular Colca Valley, a picturesque Andean valley dotted with little towns founded in Colonial times.
The Canyon is one of the deepest in the World and home of the majestic Condor. Arequipa's mild climate and altitude (2.300 meter above sea level - 7500 ft.) make it the perfect place to acclimatise before continuing your trip to Cusco or Puno.

In all aspects the trip was
 better than our expectations.
All the porters were friendly
 and nice and reliable.
Food was excellent and we
 liked the variety. Our guide
 was surely the best we had in
Peru so far. He had a lot of
interesting, knowledge about
everything in the inca trail.
He showed positive, energy
and attitude all the time.
We thank to whole team
very much INKA TREKS.
 INCA TRAIL TO
MACHU PICCHU, 2007/09/06
group (08 pax)
Radka.Joskova
rjoskova@biomed.cas.cz

PUNO

was the territory of the Tiahuanacos (800 A.D. – 1200 A.D.) who were the highest cultural expression of the Aymara people that established themselves in what is today Peru and Bolivia. The Incas took over these lands in the fifteenth century, and the Spanish, attracted by the mining industry developed there, left an important Colonial legacy throughout the entire area.
Today, the city of Puno (3,287 masl), which lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, is the folklore capital of Peru and the site of the Feast of the Virgen de la Candelaria. In the outskirts, you can visit the spectacular Chullpas de Sillustani, a complex of impressive burial towers built by the Kollas, Juli, famous for its beautiful Colonial churches, Lampa with its vice royal church built between 1675 and 1685, Llachón, a community that still maintains its centuries old customs and cultural expressions, and Pucará, known for its pre-Inca pottery and for the “toritos de Pucará” that the artisans of today create from clay.
The lake contains numerous islands whose inhabitants continue to live as their ancestors have in custom and tradition. The Uros an example of this; this people group lives on “floating islands” that they have artificially made entirely of totora reeds, and they navigate in their traditional boats also made out of totora reeds. Taquile, Suasi, and Amantaní are knows for their kindness of their residents, their ancestral skill in weaving, their pre-Columbian constructions, and lovely countryside. The Titicaca National Reserve (36,180 hectares) protects extensive stretches of totora reeds and various species of plants and animals.