Peru is a large South American country rich in history and culture, but with regions displaying incredible poverty.

The capital, Lima, is an intriguing city, but it's huge gap between fancy shopping malls in Miraflores, and the thousands of featureless breezeblock homes that make up the majority of the city is a little disconcerting. Potentially beautiful, but made grim by shady economic management and political corruption over the last 30 years.

With the world famous UNESCO protected ruins of Macchu Picchu, there is the opportunity to walk the Inca Trail, and take in some once in a lifetime views. The delightful city of Cuzco offers a beautifully preserved starting point, and looks like a South American Prague with church domes and cobbles streets..

Arequipa is also well preserved, but without the same tourist bustle, and is a good place from which to explore the surrounding volcanoes and canyons. The cartoonish oasis town of Huacachino is an other-worldly stop off in the middle of thousands of square miles of sand dunes, with fun sandboarding and dune buggy rides possible. Finally, the northern city of Chiclayo has a friendly charm, and unbelievably large market, and has recently unearthed another set of Incan ruins, which vary in scale and gradeur all across the vast country.