Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [240]
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HIGHLIGHTS
Pore over 25,000 colonial-era books in the convent of Santa Rosa de Ocopa (Click here) at Concepción
Arrive in the highlands in spectacular style via the world’s third-highest railway to Huancayo (Click here)
Hunt for handicrafts in the villages of the Río Mantaro valley (Click here) around Huancayo
Chill out as the only gringo in forgotten, colonial Huancavelica (Click here)
Celebrate the country’s top Semana Santa fiesta in Ayacucho (Click here)
Hike out to isolated Inca and pre-Inca ruins near Tantamayo (Click here) and La Unión (Click here)
▪ BIGGEST CITY: Huancayo, population 387,700 ▪ AVERAGE TEMPERATURE: January 12°C TO 24°C, JULY 8°C TO 24°C
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LIMA TO TARMA
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SAN PEDRO DE CASTA & MARCAHUASI
Isolated San Pedro de Casta (population 500, elevation 3200m) is the perfect precursor to your Central Andes adventure. The road from Chosica twists spectacularly upward for 40km around a sheer-sided valley before arriving at this mountainside town clustered around a ridge and resounding with the bellows of burros (donkeys). A mirador (lookout) two blocks up from the plaza offers breathtaking valley views.
People come here principally to visit the little-known archaeological site of Marcahuasi, a nearby 4-sq-km plateau at 4100m. Marcahuasi is famed for its weirdly eroded rocks shaped into animals such as camels, turtles and seals. These have a mystical significance for some people, who claim they are signs of a pre-Inca culture or energy vortices. Locals have fiestas here periodically, but on most occasions it’s empty and all yours.
Because of the altitude, it’s not advisable to go to Marcahuasi from Lima in one day; acclimatize overnight in San Pedro. It takes two hours to hike the 2km up to the site; you can sometimes catch a bus part of the way if it’s not engaged on other municipality business (departing 7:30am from the plaza most days), then hike for 45 minutes. A Centro de Información (01-571-2087; Plaza de Armas; San Pedro) has limited information and maps; staff can arrange guides for S10. Mules and horses can also be hired for similar prices.
You can camp at Marcahuasi but carry water: the few lakes there aren’t fit to drink from. In San Pedro, the basic Gran Hotel Turístico Municipal (s/d without bathroom S10/20), just off the plaza, has erratic hot water. Local families have beds (ask at the information center). Simple plaza restaurants serve a menú (set meal) for about S5.
Getting there entails taking a bus from Lima to Chosica (Click here); minibuses to Chosica can be picked up in Central Lima from Arica at Plaza Bolognesi (S3.50, two hours). Then ask for Transportes Municipal San Pedro, which leaves from the bus yard by Parque Echenique on the main drag (the Carretera Central) in Chosica at 9am and 3pm (S6, four hours). The bus back to Choisica leaves at 2pm.
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LA OROYA
064 / pop 35,000 / elev 3731m
Bleak, chilly La Oroya, self-titled ‘metallurgical capital of Peru and South America,’ is only worthy of a mention for its position on one of the region’s main road junctions. (It recently featured in the Blacksmith Institute list of the world’s 10 most polluted places). Routes from here lead north towards Cerro de Pasco, Huánuco and Tingo María (and into the northern jungle); east to Tarma (then into the central jungle); south to Huancayo and Ayacucho (and eventually Cuzco) and west to Lima. There are two parts to town: a vast industrial swathe south of the river and the old town (more convenient for onward bus connections) to the northeast. Be wary going out at night here: even locals advise against it.
You’ll find a Banco Continental (39-1174; Horacio Zevallos Gomez) with an ATM over the bridge from the old town.
Few travelers stop here: if stranded, basic Hostal Inti (39-1098; Arequipa 117; d without bathroom S18) has hot showers. In the old town, other uninspiring but safe-enough options can be