In October I took a day trip to Machu Picchu from Cusco. I wasn’t sure if my timing would be too tight, but it turned out perfectly.
The Monastery of Santa Catalina de Siena is the most popular attraction in Arequipa, Peru, but at 40 soles for a ticket ($12 USD), it’s also the most expensive. Some budget travelers may hesitate to go, so I thought I would do a picture tour so you can decide for yourself if it’s worth it.
We found Lima to be a big, gritty city with perpetually foggy weather, congested traffic, and poor air quality. Only a few neighborhoods are safe to walk around in, and of those, Miraflores has become overly commercial and cute, colorful Barranco is being overtaken by high-rise developments.