The highest navigable lake in the world: Lake Titicaca

Located in the southern Andes of Peru, between the border Peru - Bolivia, Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, which altitude is 3,812 meters above sea level. The Titicaca lake is situated in the Collao plateau in Puno and as the biggest Peruvian lake it receives the water flows of the rivers Huancaná, Coata, Ilave and Ramis (from Peru) and its waters give birth to the Desagüadero river that goes into Bolivia.

Peru has the 59.6% of a total surface of 8,380 km², in which you can find interesting islands with ancient cultures and people like Uros, Taquile, Isla del Sol or Amantaní. Along its shore multiple towns are spread that keep the rich testimony of pre-Columbian and colonial times.

The importance of Lake Titicaca is that it works as a weather-regulator in a place where temperature would be below 0 C°. It helps to maintain a higher temperature at nights when the heat of sunrays is irradiated to the surroundings. That is why Puno (3,827m), which lies at its shores, is warmer (but still cold…) than Juliaca (3,824m), a city located some kilometers far behind it.

The deepest canyon in the world: Cotahuasi (so not the Colca Canyon!)

Located in Cotahuasi (La Unión, Arequipa), the river of the same name has created the deepest canyon in the world. A scientific expedition made in 1991 determined that the Cotahuasi Canyon has a depth of 3,535 m, some meters more than the Colca Canyon in Caylloma, Arequipa (3,200m). Although other explorers say that the real deepest canyon is the Apurímac Canyon (between Apurímac and Cusco) with 4,772m in the area of Chojesapra and Huarjajata, it is not scientifically proved until today. At least we can say that Peru holds the three deepest canyons in the world…

Around the area of the Cotahuasi Canyon there are plenty of gorges joined by ancient suspension bridges. You can also find high waterfalls like the Catarata de Sipia of 150m of height. The place can be explored by bike, trekking, horse or car. Another option is to visit the thermal baths available nearby or the geological formations like the rock forest.

Highest railways pass in the world: The Ferrocarril Central

The Ferrocarril Central del Peru is, undoubtedly, the highest in the world. Starting in Callao port, from almost sea level, it passes by Lima city and then reaches the peak-altitude of 4,818 m. in the Anticona pass (Ticlio, Lima). In La Oroya mining town, the railway forks in two routes: one to Cerro de Pasco and the other to Huancayo and Huancavelica. This is probably one of the more interesting and awesome railways in South America, because it goes into the hardy Andes through more than 60 tunnels and several bridges. It reaches its highest altitude in a distance less than 150km of length. Built in the last century, it was the first railway in South America with the Lima-Callao route. Unfortunately, there is no regular schedule at the moment.

Highest departmental capital city: Cerro de Pasco

With 4,338m above sea level, the mining city of Cerro de Pasco is considered the highest capital city in the world, almost a kilometer higher than La Paz in Bolivia, the highest state capital in the world. The capital of Pasco department is also known as "the city that moves itself" because of the intense mining activities that started the last century and cause the enhancement of the open-cut mine in the heart of the city. In these mines big seams of silver, copper, zinc, plumb and other minerals are exploited. The Cerro de Pasco mining centre concentrates the most important mining companies of Peru and other countries.

The biggest convent city in the world: Santa Catalina

With an area of 20,426m², the Monasterio de Santa Catalina in Arequipa is the biggest convent city in the world and the most important religious building in Peru. Built in 1579, this convent was closed for the seclusion of about 450 nuns and was open to the "world" in 1970. Inside are colonial narrow streets, gardens, cloisters and squares with the original Spanish names like Granada, Sevilla or Zocodober.

Santa Catalina is located in the heart of the city and has kept the original architectural style of the 16th and 17th centuries. Beautiful by all sides, this convent maintains the same furniture and utensils used once by the first nuns. There are two site museums with original colonial paintings, sculptures and porcelain pieces.

The longest and highest tropical mountain range: Cordillera Blanca, Ancash

The Cordillera Blanca or White Mountain Range is not only the longest tropical one, it is also the highest in the tropics. With a length of more than 150km, the Cordillera Blanca has the most beautiful mountains half-covered with ice and snow with an average altitude of 5,500m. In the surroundings, there are more than 300 lakes and lagoons with unequal colors and shapes.

This mountain range has an approximate surface of 2,000 km². It contains the Huascarán National Park and runs along the River Santa valley, known as Callejón de Huaylas (Huaylas alley), where picturesque towns and villages were settled a long time ago. In the Cordillera Blanca is located the highest peak of Peru and highest tropical mountain in the world, the Huascarán, with its summit at 6,768m above sea level.

The biggest pre-Columbian mud city in the world: Chan-Chan

Chan-Chan or "Sun-Sun" was the capital of the Chimú Empire. It is a huge urban complex made of a kind of mud called adobe. It is located in Trujillo (northern Peru) and was built by the 13th century. In fact, Chan-Chan is a city of cities with a surface of 1,417,715m². When a chief died, his city had to be closed and the next chief built a new one near to it.

In Chan-Chan there were different neighborhoods for the priests, warriors, servants, and pottery and gold workers. The greatness and perfection of this city is expressed in its high decorated walls, long passages, ceremonial squares, palaces, workshops and warehouses. Nearly all the walls, some of more than 4 meters of height, are decorated with relieves of marine-life motives.

The biggest and unique collection of pre-Columbian erotic ceramic: Moche culture

The Museo Larco Herrera is the place where you can find an exclusive collection of pre-columbian erotic ceramic, the biggest and unique in the world. Placed in Lima, this private museum has a number of more than 40,000 ceramic pieces, most of them belonging to the Moche culture, which makes it the biggest ceramic museum in the world. The Moche people were very expressive and they did not hesitate to reflect this in their crafts. Also known are the descriptive huacos-retrato, a kind of portrait ceramic that shows happiness, sadness, anger and other states of the human soul.

The biggest weapons collection in the world: Museo de Oro del Peru y Armas del Mundo

Located in Lima, this fine private museum houses the biggest collection of weapons and military goods from all over the world. Here you will find almost all the countries and empires represented by its original weapons, armors and combat supplies. A part of them belonged to famous people like Napoleon, P.Díaz or Pinochet. The collector, Miguel Mujica Gallo, is also the owner of the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum), an exquisite collection of golden artifacts from the pre-Colombian and Inca stage in Peru. An obliged destination for all visitors to Lima, even now its being accused of having a large number of fakes on display…

The most famous and amazing trekking route in South America: The Inca Trail

The Inka Trail (Camino Inca) to Machu Picchu is a must-do for every traveler that says to be a trekker. This trekking route, based in the ancient Inka Trail has a length of 33km and can be made in 3-4 days. From the beginning, you will start at approximately 2,600m, at the second day is reached the highest pass at 4,200m and the following days, the way goes down the mountain slopes to the steep rainforest area where the Machu Picchu citadel (2,200m) is located. This trek offers great views of the mountains and nature. Of course, you will find on the trail a lot of impressive archaeological sites. The classical route begins at the Km88 of Cusco-Machu Picchu railway, but there are other shorter and longer routes.

The longest river in the world: The Amazon

With 7,200km of length, the Amazon River is the longest in the world and has a fluvial basin surface of 7,050,000 km². The Amazon is born in the altitudes of the snowcapped mountain El Misti, in the Cordillera de Chile, in Arequipa with the name of Monigote River. Then, it goes down the Peruvian rainforest and receives the water of more than 70 tributary rivers. After crossing the Brazilian jungle it ends at the Atlantic Ocean.

The longest journey by bus: Ormeño

Expreso Internacional Ormeño is a bus company created in 1970. It is one of the largest in Peru and it has been included twice in the Guinness Book of Records because it makes the longest international overland journey. Ormeño buses link the cities of Caracas (Venezuela), Bogotá and Cali (Colombia), Quito and Guayaquil (Ecuador), Lima (Peru), Santiago (Chile) and Mendoza and Buenos Aires (Argentina). The covered distance is more than 9,000 kilometers between all these cities...

The potato was born in Peru

One of the most common vegetables for meals, fast food and vegetarian food, the potato, saw the light for the first time in ancient Peru. Known from pre-Columbian times, the potato was domesticated by hunter-gatherers and improved by the Incas. That is why Peru also offers the biggest variety of potatoes: more than 2,000 different kinds!! Almost all the towns in the highlands have their own kind of potatoes. Yauli, a village located in Huancavelica, is the only place in the world where more than 250 potato types are produced. Also the quality of the Peruvian potato is one of the best, having won a lot of prizes in international annual competitions. There is an important scientific centre for the potato, the Centro Internacional de la Papa.

Climates and biodiversity

In the world, there are 32 kinds of climate, as per the Thornwaite classification. Peru has 28 climates of it. So it means while traveling in Peru you can come across with hot deserts, dry forests, humid savannas, plain rainforests, cold plateaus, cool steppes and icy mountains. As good as it gets, Peru also concentrates 84 of a total of 104 zones of life (Holdridge classification) available in the world. This is what it makes Peru to be one of the most biodiversity countries on our planet.