Peru

Hiking

Peru is an absolutely great country for lovers of tourism. Thanks to the thousands of kilometers of mountain ridges of the Andes, the possibilities are really endless. The country with the monumentality of mountain views can be compared to the Himalayan countries in Asia. In addition, hiking is much more adventurous here due to the absence of mountain huts and other conveniences.

The most popular are the marches around the local glaciated mountains. Count on the fact that most treks are quite remote and you will meet other tourists only on a few of the most famous. But maybe that's good news for a lot of people.

The most classic and most visited treks can be found in the Cordillera Blanca, Huayhuash and of course around Machu Picchu. – ** Inca Trail: ** Peru's most famous march leading through the Vilcabamba Mountains to the Peruvian icon of Machu Picchu is also the most crowded and overpriced. In addition, thanks to bureaucratic restrictions, you don't even have to get to it (it is often sold out even 4 months in advance). – ** Santa Cruz trek: ** is the most common march in the Blanca mountains. Climbing the high saddle of Punta Union and overlooking the southern wall of Alpamaya is one of the great experiences – ** Huayhuash trek: ** is a long and challenging march around the entire mountain of the same name. Lately a lot of commercial affair with tourists riding horses. – ** Colca trek: ** takes you back to one of the deepest canyons in the world.

• ** Alpamayo BC trek: ** A remote trek in the Cordillera Blanca with the need to cross several high saddles and visit the old BC Alpamayo overlooking its north face. – ** Trek around Alpamaya **: a very challenging and remote trek in the Cordillera Blanca combining the Santa Cruz trek and the BC trek into one long circuit – ** Ausangate trek: ** The circuit around the eponymous mountain in the Vilcanota mountains offers magnificent views of the ice walls and turquoise lagoon – ** Cotahuasi trek: ** lesser known canyon compared to all visited Colca – ** Punta Olimpica trek: ** hiking in a deserted area overlooking beautiful lakes and the highest mountain of Peru Huascarán starting in the high „bus“ saddle of Punta Olimpica – ** Salcantay trek **: A very interesting alternative to the Inca Trail, where Machu Picchu is reached from the „other side“. – ** Amazon spring: ** An adventurous hike through uninhabited landscape leads to the Amazon springs at the foot of the Mismi volcano (5,597 m above sea level) – ** Cordillera Huaytapallana trek **: walks of various lengths can be taken in the small but beautiful Cordillera Huaytapallana Huancayo

Trekking in the Peruvian mountains is relatively more difficult in that many routes lead in a deserted landscape, and if you are also hiking independently, you must have relatively large reserves. There is no such service as on ferries in Nepal style „from loggia to loggia“

If you trek with a travel agency, there will usually be horses available that will carry your entire load (most often used in the Cordillera Huayhuash or on the Santa Cruza trek in the Cordillera Blanca). The center of Peruvian tourism is Huaráz, where it is possible to arrange any trek with support or a trip to the mountains.

Tourists most often set off on Peru to 5–6 thousand volcanoes or cross the passes of more than four thousand on treks. The most common destinations are volcanoes: Mismi, Misti, Chachani, Coropuna, Ampato, Solimana, Hualca-Hualca, Pichu-Pichu, Sabancaya

The routes are mostly marked minimally, but fortunately the routes are paved, at least on the main trails. Simple sketches of individual treks are available on the Internet. However, there are also tourist maps from Alpenverein at a scale of 1: 100,000.