Peru

For our three year anniversary (which isn't actually until August 11th), we went to Peru.  If I only  had one word to describe the trip, I would have to say BREATHTAKING (is that one word, or two?)! We used a travel company, Southern Explorations, and they took care of everything.  Instead of boring you with all the details, which I could ramble on about for days and days... I'll give a snapshot of what we did.

*Note: Click any picture to enlarge

DAY ONE:  Flew overnight from DFW - MIAMI - LIMA

In the process of running to catch a flight in Miami, then sitting on the runway for about two hours, somehow, our bags still didn't make it to Lima. So for the first day and a half, we were under-dressed (it was 100 degrees when we left Dallas, and 55 degrees in Lima).  Our city guide in Lima was Paula, a lovely Peruvian lady who knew all there was to know about history of Peru.  She took us to a cafe for breakfast and then we went to the Larco museum, which had tons and tons of Inca and pre-Inca pottery and ceramics.  Later that afternoon, Will and I went to downtown Lima and walked around the Plaza.  We also saw the catacombs at one of the cathedrals downtown (the name escapes me at the moment).  Our hotel was the Antigua Miraflores, a quaint and safe area of town.

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Courtyard of the Larco Museum, Lima, Peru

Antigua Miraflores Hotel

Oh yes, how could I forget our fabulous dinner! We at ate Huaca Pullacana (http://www.resthuacapucllana.com/) which is a restaurant inside of an archelogical dig.  Dinner was wonderful and of course, dessert was my favorite part of the meal!

Suspiro de Limeña, a classic Peruvian dessert

DAY TWO & THREE: Cusco

Oh Cusco. What to say? We both LOVED that city!  Our guide for most of the trip was Juan.  He was very friendly and knew absolutely everything about Peru and its history. Tourism is 40% of Peru's income, so being a tour guide is a highly-sought after position (we are assuming).  Guides have to go to college for five years in order to become a professional tour guide. 

**Maybe it's a good time to mention that Cusco is at a much higher altitude than Dallas, perhaps around 11,000 feet. Needless to say, we were both pretty winded from walking up and down the hills of Cusco.  I felt like a fat, out-of-shape, American! We drank Cocoa tea and that helped us get acclimaatized to the elevation. Ok, back to the trip. One of our first stops was the Plaza de Armas, Cusco is filled with beautiful squares and each square has some sort of cathedral or Incan ruin anchoring them. 

At Cappuccino Cafe, overlooking the Plaza de Armas

History tidbit:  When the Spanish came to Peru to take over the Incas, they converted everyone to Catholocism and built Spanish cathedrals on top of the Incan temples. So most of the cathedrals have Incan stone work either at the base (and the church built on top of the Incan stones) or somewhere inside.

Our next stop was the market.  And when I say 'market,' I don't mean grocery store.  I think the photo below will do all the explaining necessary.

Three Little Pigs

I must also note that the children in Cusco were probably the cutest children I've seen anywhere. I wanted to bring one home as a souvenir, but Will said no (and customs would probably say 'no' as well).

Precious!

The historical sites we went to in and around Cusco included: the colonial cathedral and Koricancha, the impressive Temple of the Sun, the fortress of Sacsayhuamán (pronounced 'sexy woman'), Kenko, Puka Pukara fortress that protected the royal capital from attacks; and the water temple, Tambo Machay.  For lunch, Will sampled the local delicacies including llama, guinea pig, fish roe, alpaca and a fried corn fritter.

Yum...Cuy!

After joining a party full of local Peruvians that were celebrating some Catholic holiday, we quickly left after a communication error between Will and a local Peruvian woman.  She was trying to pour him more Chicha (home-made beer) and Will was trying to politely decline.  Well, let me give you a tip -- if you are ever offered any Chicha in Peru, by anyone, accept it with gratitude!  She gave him a look that scared both of us so we left!  Our hotel was in the San Blas neighborhood of Cusco and was called Casa Andina,  It had a beautiful view of the Andes Mountains. 

Drinking Chicha at a local Peruvian party

Sacsayhuamán (sexy woman)

Cusco, Peru

DAY FOUR: Sacred Valley

We took a  day-long guided excursion to the legendary Sacred Valley of the Incas. Along the way, we saw lots of Inca farming terraces and ended in Pisac.  After touring the Pisac ruins, we went to the local market and bought a few things to take home. 

History tidbit:  The Incas used to bury their people in a fetal position and put them in a little box with all their earthly belongings and bury the box in a hole on the side of the mountain.  They believed there were three worlds - the living world, the world below (which is just another world, not like 'hell') and the world of the spirits.  They treated water and glacial mountains holy because they believed they were from the gods and the source of life. (Hopefully I didn't butcher that too much).

Pisac Farming Terraces

Everyone say LLAMA!  On the way to Pisac, we went to a llama and alpaca farm. They are so cute!  We got to pet them and feed them and then see how they dye and weave their beautiful tapestries.  It was one of my favorite things on the trip - the little alpacas are so soft.

At the llama and alpaca farm

Traditional Peruvian weaver

History tidbit:  The women weavers come from all different villages from the Highlands of Peru to weave their tapestries for a few weeks at a time to earn money for their home villages.  It's a way for their tradition not to get lost, too.  You can tell where a woman is from based on the design on her hat.

DAY FIVE:  Ollantaytambo

We headed off, with Juan of course, to Ollantaytambo (which Will called 'The Big O') and saw some amazing Incan ruins.  On the drive to 'The Big O' we passed a man tilling his fields the old-fashioned way. Talk about hard work!

Oxen tilling a field

In the late afternoon, we decided we were feeling adventurous and went on a hike to the grainery (where Incan's used to store their harvests).  Juan wasn't with us at this point, so we were trying to find the trail head up to the grainery and instead of a trail, this is what Will found:

Not a trail head

A BIG PIG!!! It was snorting and making all sorts of scary noises, turns out we were basically in someones back yard and that was their 'guard dog'!  Eventually, we found the trail head and climbed up to the grainery. The views were magnificant from there - totally worth the small climb.

Incan grainery

Hike to the grainery, overlooking 'The Big O'

DAY SIX & SEVEN: Machu Picchu - Chincheros Artisian Market - Cusco

To get to Machu Picchu is no small feat (even if you aren't hiking the Inca trail there!).  We took a two hour train ride to the town of Aguas Calientes and then the next morning, we took a bus up to MP.  Once you finally get there, you get it.  It's the most incredible place I've seen in my life.  The elevation is about 12,000 feet, and it is suprisingly warm (it's in the mountains almost in the jungle area of Peru).  I could write a hundred pages to try to describe the natural beauty of the location and wouldn't even come close. You just have to go see it!  Our afternoon started off with a hike up the Machu Picchu Mountain (which, is not the one that is always in the MP pictures you see -- that's Huayna Picchu.  Machu Picchu is acutally behind the ruins and is much taller than Huayna Picchu.  We, well I, decided we should do the hike up MP mtn.  It was a grueling climb up to about 14,000 SF and there were no 'guard rails' or anything. Let me just say that it was steep!  Once we got to the top, it was like we were in the sky.  You could stand on the tip top of the mountain and turn 360 degrees and see nothing but other mountain tops. There were even some snow-capped mountains.  By far my favorite moment on the trip and the most beautiful location I've ever been to in my life.

Top of MP Mountain

We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking around Machu Picchu, learning about how the Incas lived and farmed there.  It was extremely interesting and the stone work was incredible.  Every building had a particular purpose, and each stone was placed exactly-so.  The Incas were very talented architects.

Machu Picchu

Even though we were at Machu Picchu for almost an entire day, I could have spent much more time there.  The location alone was gorgeous, not to mention the structures that they built there.  I briefly described the route we took to get up to MP, now imagine carrying huge stones up to the site, hundreds of years ago to build it. Pretty impressive, huh?  My last thoughts on MP - GO.  It's a trip that you'll never forget and something that no pictures or words will ever do justice.

So maybe you're thinking 'this must be the end of their trip.' Nope!  After visiting Machu Picchu, we took a train ride back to 'The Big O' and then were picked up by a driver and taken to the Chincheros artisian market.  This is where many of the traditional weavings are sold.  We visited their town square (where the market is held) a cathedral built on Incan ruins, and saw more Incan farming terraces.  We also saw some local farming women who were 'freeze-drying' (for lack of a better word) potatoes.  Juan explained to us that they bury their potatoes and the let them freeze, then bury them, then freeze them, and this process makes them hard as little rocks so they can store them for years.  When they want to eat the potatoes, all they have to do is take them out of storage and let them sit out in the sun to 'unfreeze.'

Chincheros Artisian Market area

On the trip to the Chincheros market, we stopped a local watering hole. Seriously, we wanted to go to a 'bar' where the locals get Chicha.  Plus, I wanted to see guinea pigs and most of the 'bars' have a guinea pig farm, too.  Remember, they eat GP's.

Cuy! Guinea Pigs

Will and Juan drinking Chicha

DAY EIGHT: Cusco Countryside Tour

We decided to extend our vacation just a little longer and went on a countryside tour of Cusco.  It was very interesting because we got to get a glimpse into traditional Andean life.  Juan took us to a roof tile factory where they make all of the tiles for the roofs of Cusco.  We thought it would be an actual factory, well it turned out to be a village, Pinipampa, where all the families make clay roof tiles one-by-one.  Will even got to make one (it took him three tries and the Peruvians thought it was pretty funny that he wanted to make one!).  It costs about $0.30 to buy one tile.

Only photo I have (ever) of Will doing manual labor

Another stop on our trip was Oropesa, famous for its sweet bread baked in enormous ovens.  We sampled hot bread, straight from the oven.

Fresh, hot bread (pan)

The next stop was at the Incan gates - these were the only entrance into the Sacred Valley/Cusco area when the Incans ruled.  We climed up the floating steps to the top and got a great view of the valley.

Sacred Valley/Cusco Incan City Gates

The last stop on our countryside tour was an unforgettable one, at least for Will.  We went to Tipon, a town that specialized in Chicharrón.  Anyone know what that is? I bet you don't.  It is fried pork skin and pork! Needless to say, I did not partake in that meal.

Yum, fried pork!

I forgot to mention that we stopped at another Incan site on our countryside tour to see the water structures that the Incan's built. They create an intricate channeling system for spring water high up on a mountain. And yes, we hiked again.

Three-level Incan water structure

DAY NINE: Cusco - Lima

The trip is winding down -- flight back to Lima.  We spent one and a half more days in Lima, just 'bumming around.'  There is not a whole lot to do in Lima, especially when the weather is cold.  We mostly walked around town, walked around town, and did some more walking around town.  We both ate ceviche and got sick (but it tasted good!).  A food that I found out that I love are caramel-filled churros! So delicious and readily available on street corners for about $0.30 each.  I would be a fat Peruvian if I lived there!

At the Huaca Pucullana Dig

Hairless dog - SUPER UGLY - but the National dog of Peru

Surfers on the Pacific Coast - Lima, Peru

DAY TEN: Back to America

All good things must come to an end.  Sadly, we packed up our backpacks (which we carried on this time instead of checking) and headed to the airport for our journey home.  Our overnight flight back to the States went from Lima - Miami - Atlanta - DFW.  Although, it didn't feel like we were in America until we got to Atlanta, Miami seems to be pretty much like Cuba to me, at least, the airport did.

See you later, llama

Our trip was fantastic and I hope this helped you feel like you went to Peru.  The country and the people have so much to offer and they are all very friendly.  We have a lot more countries to explore, but I'm sure that we will go back to Peru to see parts that we missed this trip.  If you are thinking "Wow! I didn't get enough about their trip to Peru in these ten pages," don't worry.  I have 700 photos I can send you a link to :)