There are 466 blog posts for you to enjoy.
Juliaca, Perú: One Night Was Enough
May 16, 2026
Juliaca, Perú, with a population of around 276,000, sits at 3,825 meters (12,549 ft). That's as high as many snow-covered mountains, I'm thinking of you - Mt. Hood (in Oregon, USA). But there's no snow here. In fact, the afternoons are typically at a balmy 75° F (24° C), average year-round. Right now, though, as I'm writing this, the temp is 62, and it's around 3 p.m. So, the climate data is either not quite right or today is unusually cold. At any rate, Juliaca, the city, the streets are dirty and quite dusty, they're congested with traffic, and the traffic blasts its horns at every opportunity. There's nothing pretty to see; the central plaza, the Plaza de Armas, is closed for renovation, and the cathedral appears to be closed with it. I did get a few photos by holding my phone up over the tarps around the plaza. They're in the photo album. There's a hill in the middle of the city with a lot of stairs up to the top, which I climbed and took pics of the city.
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Pucará, Perú: A Cold Gas Station Room and a Town with a Deep Past
May 12, 2026
Pucará, Perú, sits along the highway north of Juliaca, a small Andean town that most travelers experience through the window of a bus. They stop, they browse a few ceramic shops, maybe visit the archaeological site, and then they’re gone. What they don’t see is what the town feels like once the buses leave.
This town sits at 3910 meters elevation, that's 12,828 feet. It's cold. All day, all night. Cold. But that's the same for this wide region of Perú. This town's history goes back to 1800 BC.
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Ayaviri, Perú: 25,000 People, All Indoors
May 9, 2026
Ayaviri, Perú, sits in a wide valley in the high Andes in the southeast of the country. Where I am right now, in my hotel, 3895 meters (12,778 ft.). It's cold. Right now, 4:37 pm, it's 12° C (53° F). The worst part is the hotel has no heat, which is normal, but it also has no heaters to rent to the guests, which is not quite normal, even in this part of the world. At any rate, the town of Ayaviri has a population of 25,000. I've been out walking all over town, and the streets are sooooooo quiet. There's almost no traffic, not even in the city center. I think 24,900 of the people are inside trying to stay warm.
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The Inca Empire is Gone, but the Inca People are here to stay
May 6, 2026
One question I've been curious about while traveling through the Andes is this: Did the Spanish wipe out the Incas? The answer is: No. The empire fell, the rulers were executed, and the cities were taken over. You would think it was the end of their civilization. But the reality is very different. The Spanish destroyed the Inca ruling structure, not the Inca people. Their descendants are still here, all across the Andes.
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Sicuani, Perú: Heavy History, Light Tourism
May 2, 2026
Sicuani, Perú — population about 58,000. Elevation: 3,549 meters (11,643 ft). The area has been inhabited since Inca times. Later, Spanish conquistadors took control and incorporated it into the colonial system. The climate here is on the cold side. During the dry season, nighttime temperatures often drop below freezing.
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