Only a decade ago, Iceland was not a popular tourist destination until Icelandair, a low cost airline, introduced direct flights to the US. Now, Iceland suffers from overtourism. Rather than discouraging visitors, however, Iceland is looking to diversify its tourism offering. Recognizing the strain being placed on Reykjavik and a small number of other sites, […]
In the Amazon jungles The last day of our vacation was in Lima. It was morning when we got there. This time, we had no bad experience leaving the airport (see the post Tumbes). At first, we tried to do usual sightseeing but the polluted air of the Peruvian capital made it difficult to enjoy.
From the Andes to the Amazon jungles On the following day, we got up at 5 am. Taking a cold shower in the jungle was easy. The temperature there stays over 30º C (90º F) all day long and humidity is 90%. Absence of electricity presented a problem for my husband who had an electric
In the Amazon jungles, Peru 2004 Read More »
Lake Titicaca After another night in chilly conditions in Puno and almost all day on the bus, we were back to Cusco. It was time to see something completely different and we bought air tickets to Puerto Maldonado, a city in the Amazon forest. The flight was only half an hour, but what a drastic
From the Andes to the Amazon jungles, Peru 2004 Read More »
Puno Visiting Lake Titicaca was a dream came true. The syllables ‘Ti·ti·ca·ca’ of its exotic name sounded like a song when I was a child. I knew that the lake was somewhere deep in the Andes, far from my native Russia, and I had no hopes to see it one day. Lake Titicaca is the
Lake Titicaca, Peru 2004 Read More »
Machu Picchu Our next destination was Lake Titicaca. It took 6 hours by bus to get to it from Cusco. The lake is located even higher in the mountains, at 12,500 feet (3,812 m). People who come from sea level may experience altitude sickness. We were already well adapted and did not feel a thing.
Cusco For anyone who wants to see Machu Picchu, the trip starts in Cusco. Our tickets included a 4-hour train ride to the site and back, a 10-minute shuttle bus to the entrance and admission to the ruins. We got up very early to take the first train so we’d have more time in Machu
Machu Picchu, Peru 2004 Read More »
Tumbes After one day in Tumbes at sea level, we were up in the Andes again. Cusco is located at 3,400 m (11,152 ft) which is higher than Quito. I was back to wearing a sweater. Cusco was the capital city of the great Incan Empire. The Incas were brilliant engineers. They managed to build
From Ecuador to Peru After a rather exhausting bus ride from Quito, we decided to spend one night in Tumbes and bought tickets at a travel agency for the following day to fly to Cusco via Lima. Tumbes saw multiple conflicts between Ecuador and Peru. It belonged to Ecuador until a war between these two
Leaving Quito It was even more uncomfortable to be alone on the dark street. More questions popped into my head. What if the bus came and my husband Sergey was late? Would the driver wait for him? We did not have cell phones; I could not tell Sergey that the bus was already there. Soon,
From Ecuador to Peru, 2004 Read More »
