North Coast Peru

                                    Beachs at North Peru

Peru has many faces, it is the turn to the North Tropical Coast, pleasure, relax, fishing, surf and more. This region is located near Ecuador, even though we have a lot of beautiful beaches, most of them  are concentrated in this area. There are many beach areas and resorts for all tastes, even for the pickiest. Imagine a glass of champagne before sunset, a massage while listening to the gentle roar of the waves, cocktails at sunset accompanied by the most selected music. If you are looking for more action enjoy of scuba diving, surfing, auto rallying or catching a sword fish from a boat.

At this point, I say good bye to our tour in Peru, there are many sites to visit, I am only mentioning the most popular. Try to visit our country: any time, how long: it is up to you!!!

Arequipa, second largest city

                  Arequipa City and Misti Volcano, Cotahuasi's Canyon and dowmhill bike

Arequipa is the second largest city of Peru, has been named “White City” because the most of ashlar buildings and is also named “the eternal blue sky” for its exceptional climate, located at the foot of the imposing volcano Misti.

The use of volcanic rocks in the construction of temples, monasteries and houses give the city a unique and peculiar aspect. Some tourist sites are the famous Valley and Colca Canyon,  the natural wonder  of Arequipa, the Valley and Cotahuasi Canyon, denominated the canyon of the wonders and considered one of the world’s deepest and largest canyon, both are ideal for the practice of rafting, trekking and mountain biking, the Valley of the Volcanoes made up of 80 small volcanoes which gives the appearance of crescent; the Sabandia Mill, The National Sanctuary of Mejia  lagoons, the Thermal baths of Yura and Jesus or even the attractions of the capital as the impressive Santa Catalina Convent,  the Principal Square, the Cathedral, the Viewpoint of Yanahuara, and not less important  the countryside of Arequipa with beautiful colors combination and platforms that dating back to Inca times.

Arequipa’s food is famous for its diversity for the form of its Indian-European preparation and is distinguished worldwide for its exquisite dishes and stews prepared in clay pots. There are many reasons why you may visit the White City and go back again and again.

Peruvian Cousine

                                                        Cebiche and Pisco Sour

The site I chose is only a sample of the many Peruvian restaurants around the world. In this case in Las Vegas; Mi Peru Restaurant (URL: www.miperugrill.com) doesn’t show all the variety of the food but I think they offer the most popular dishes. I only wanted to add a contribution to the list of restaurants in Las Vegas Wiki however, I would like to make a comment about our delicious foods: Peruvian cuisine is not only the traditional dish: “Ceviche”, and the very popular drink: “Pisco Sour” (I’ll tell you later how to prepare both of them), the Peruvian food scene offers so much more. Influenced from their regions: the coast, the mountains, and the jungle, and from overseas flavors (Europe, Japan and China), Peruvian cuisine is the best in Latin America. Just for that Peruvians are understandably proud of their food.

During our imaginary tour about our vast culinary experience I expect people understand why the Peruvian cuisine is considered one of the most diverse and most famous in the world. One of the reason we have a lot of food’s variety is because the selection of food is huge, and all of it is so fresh and delicious and you can find it out in all the super markets and small markets.

Peruvian food has a lot of flavor, and some dishes are spicy, their dishes usually are sided by rice or potatoes. Oh! I forgot you don’t need to expend a lot of money to eat, there are affordable restaurants, of course there are very expensive bistros too.

Well, let me share the recipes of two famous foods, and always remember you can enjoy our cuisine in any Peruvian restaurant around the world. By the way, I got these recipes through the internet. You can get the ingredients on several Latin Markets.

Ceviche: Traditional Peruvian ceviche features raw fish that is citrus-cooked by marinating in Peruvian lime juice, raw onions, and chili. It is usually accompanied by some corn (on or off the cob) and a slice of sweet potato whose sweet starch provides almost perfect balance to the acidity of the leche de tigre, the ceviche marinade. For greater variety, try ceviche mixto which throws in octopus, shrimp and other shellfish. You will also likely be served an appetizer or side of canchas, large toasted, salted corn kernels.

Pisco Sour: The cocktail that grows on you. Get your fill of the traditional pisco sour, a cocktail made with Peruvian pisco liquor and lime juice with a layer of beaten egg whites on top. After having done that, try some other flavors, including the one made with maracuya (passion fruit). When well-made, it’s incredible.

Puno and Titicaca Lake

Sistine Chapel at Puno City, Uros's Island and a Uro's womam on boat

Puno has been named the "Peru’s Folklore City"  from its cultural expressions and particularly dances that remembered  the uses and costumes of our ancestors. The area surrounding the city of Puno was where the Aymara civilization started,   and it was the origin of  the  Inca’s civilization.

It's located on the shore of world’s  famous and fascinating Lake Titicaca, the world's highest elevation commercially navigable lake, it is located at 12,421 ft above sea level, on the Peruvian Altiplano. There are many  islands on the lake, one of them was constructed by the natives over floating  plants and they live and make agricultural labor  there, it’s name is the  Uro’s   Island.

You can reach this magic site by train from Cuzco (around 4-5 travel  hours, very comfortable) or by plane.

Another advantage of Lake Titicaca and Puno is that you can go to Bolivia Altiplano, that  have a very similar culture.

Macchu Picchu - Inca's lost city

Macchu Picchu and Inca's trail trek

Machu Picchu – Inca’s lost city

This sacred city is located in the Vilcanota Valley at Cuzco – Peru (you can travel to Cuzco by plane, it takes around 45 minutes), between the Andes (mountain region) and the Jungle (rain forest region) in the top of a high mountain, around 7,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level, it was constructed around 1,400’s in solid pieces of stone (nobody knows how can move it to this place), the area is 5 square miles. The city was rediscovered in 1911 by archaeologist Hiram Bingham, there is one of the most beautiful and enigmatic ancient sites in the world and is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The ruins have palaces, baths, temples, and several rooms, also there are structures that were used for astronomical observations and ceremonial functions.

There are two ways to access the city: by train from Cuzco (about 3 hours) and the Inca Trail trek, a route very hard but very beautiful, it take around 4 days (20 miles), a magical experience.

http://www.peru-machu-picchu.com/