A hike through the lovely Cusco countryside.

In this interview, Steve Roll of Travelojos talks with Ben Box, author of the South American Handbook, about Peru’s struggle against the perception that Cuzco is all there is to Peru. Ben points out some interesting alternatives to Machu Picchu and shares why he thinks it’s safe to visit certain regions of Peru and Chile that remain unaffected by the recent natural catastrophes.

STEVE ROLL – The area surrounding Peru’s main attraction, Machu Picchu, was hit hard by floods last month and won’t be available to tourists until April. Even before …

Just a quick note–the word is that access to Machu Picchu should be reopened around April 1st, as the level of the Vilcanota River is starting to go down enough to allow repairs to the railroad. (This is, of course, barring natural and human delays.)
The government is scrambling to get tourists back to this main attraction, but meanwhile local residents are still living in tents among the rubble of their destroyed homes. Andrew Dare has a piece up on Living in Peru about his return visit to the …

The tourists were airlifted out of Aguas Calientes, and the world has breathed sigh of relief that Machu Picchu was unharmed and will be reopened again soon. But it hasn’t stopped raining in Peru.
The last few weeks have brought unnaturally heavy rains Peru’s highlands, including Cusco and the Sacred Valley. The strange storms have caused continual flooding and landslides, and while it appears the worst of the weather is over in the southern highlands, the storms are spreading. In the region of Huánuco (near Huaraz), more than …

Jessie and I arived as early as we could to the Inca agricultural testing site Tipòn to get a unobstructed view of the terraces. We showed up just in time to catch the end of an impromptu futbòl match on one of the lower terraces between the “Grass Cutters” and the “Edgers”. The referees, better known as proctors, sat calmly out of bounds retrieving stray balls and relaxing in the cool morning. This is the real Peru and we love it.

We met this crazy kid while stumbling around Ollantaytambo. His name is Washington, he goes by Washi’ and he was out with his crew painting up walls with his campaign slogans. Washi’s running for mayor. This photo was taken before the rain and flooding affected the area. Hope you’re still doing well buddy, and good luck.

Here we will be giving tourists and travelers some clues, hints and tricks dealing with transportation around any given town. From Buses to Combis to Big Buses. This installment is dedicated to travel in the city of Cusco, Peru, and surrounding areas. We have compiled Cusco bus information and put it all into this map. This map is not complete, but we will update it every time we whip through Cusco. All of the locations are detailed on the map page and below. Cheers and good luck.

Machu Picchu may be closed for now, but Peru still awaits!