First trip in December 91. Lima very third world, mostly shanty towns and the first city I had visited with no sign of up-market areas. The Cholera epidemic and Sendiro Luminoso (Shining Path) terrorists made it completely uninviting to tourists.
Second visit in December 97. Vast improvement, largely due to the efforts of President Alberto Fujimori. Due to Doris's father's house still being under construction we stayed in a hotel in Miraflores, the main up-market area for shopping, restaurants and entertainments, and hence for tourists.
Lima was much "Americanised" with high quality, clean shopping centres, security guards / police outside all public buildings, and Cambios (registered money changers) on most streets.
As planned, we made it to Cusco, Machu Pichu, Pisac & horse-trekked much of the Cusco area. Machu Pichu was as good as expected - no trip to Peru is complete without a visit, but allow time in Cusco to acclimatise to the altitude - 3,500 m. There's loads to see around Cucso anyway - the tourist capitol of Peru. Any type of excursion around Peru can be arranged with the many travel agents there.
We visited more relations in Panama on the way back.
The third time, the family went for the entire summer holiday (5 weeks) and I joined them for the last 6 days. As usual we crammed in several thousand miles of travelling.
I landed in Lima 23.30 Saturday night and stayed at the now finished and much improved house. Sunday morning fly to Cusco,then on to Abancay by car. Tarmac roads now in good condition almost all the way. Stayed at the Hotel de Tourismo, good & clean.
Monday morning on to Sanayca via car. Not such good roads and for most of the journey could have done with a 4 x 4. However, for someone who prefers rural holidays in unspoilt areas, the scenery was great. Arrived in Sanayca at 14.00, planned to stay for about one hour. Three hours later we were still enjoying the summer carnival and being offered drinks from one of the friendliest communities I have ever met, considering I don't even speak Spanish - or Quechua.
Due to the cost and long flights we are limited to visits only every 2 or 3 years. Still to see are Lake Titicata, Puno, Iquitos, Nasca Lines etc. Tourism is quite rightly on the increase, since Peru has so much to offer. I can well recommend travelling through South America; I certainly feel at home in Lima & Cusco.
We use the following contacts :
Journey Latin America - Tours and holidays to South America and Central America.
Welcome to Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts
Royal Inca I Hotel Cuszo Peru, Reservations and Rates and Information
South American Explorers: Lima, Peru - Quito, Ecuador - Ithaca, NY
We've found the best flights to be KLM via Amsterdam or AA via Miami.