When I booked two weeks in Peru last September, it was definitely last minute. I'd had a shit month at work and recently diagnosed with depression, and was 100% not feeling myself. One of the few things that can cure this lass is travel, adventure, culture, a new taste of life. It's kind of like a shock to my soul. Feeling down having been dealt my last straw at work, I said "fuck it, I need to get out of here"...my friends kept suggesting tropical locales, like the Caribbean, and as tempting as the beach is, it's not meant for solo travelin' depressed females. Seeing a bunch of honeymooners? That would make things worse. Waaaaaay worse. I decided it needed to be somewhere adventurous, where I could meet fellow adventure travelers and realized that Peru and Machu Picchu had been on my list for over a decade. I found some cheap flights and within two weeks I was a jet setter.
Now, I'm not much of a planner of trips, I like to keep things somewhat spontaneous, but I generally have a list of places and people I want to see. With Peru, the goal was Cuzco and Machu Picchu. How I got there, that was up in the air. I also knew I wanted to do a jungle trek in the Amazon - when I was a kid, it was my dream to live in a bamboo hut in the Amazon...befriend singing bears like Mowgli, eat grubbs like Simba. I'm pretty sure I would die if I tried that now, but with a guide, I'd have a better chance at survival.
Lima > Huacachina
Since you can only fly international into Lima, I booked a room for two nights at an Air BnB, with absolutely no idea of what to do in Lima besides attempt to figure out my next two weeks. Through my job, I met a National Parks volunteer one afternoon, who recommended I stay in the bohemian, art-esque Barranco District of Lima. She also highly recommended a visit to an oasis called Huacachina. Before I left, I booked my two nights in Barranco and booked a few night's hotel stay in Cuzco for the following week. I had a week to get from point A to point B, somehow, someway.
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| Plaza de Armas, Lima |
With the Huacachina recommendation in my head, upon arrival in Lima, I booked a couple hostel nights stay in that little town...not knowing what it was about. Now to figure out how to get there. There were many buses from Lima to the city of Ica, which is about an additional 25 minutes from Huacachina, with only one bus I found that went direct from Lima to Huacachina: PeruHop.
PeruHop ended up being ideal for my situation of having no plans or knowledge of what to do and it was safe. It's a tourist company that works like the hop-on/hop-off bus tours you see in London, Dublin, or basically every tourist city spot, but on a much larger scale - city to city. I saw more than I expected, as on our way to Huacachina, we stopped at the Paracas National reserve for the afternoon...a place I never would have seen otherwise. You're also provided with friendly and knowledgeable tour guides to assist and give solid recommendations.
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| Views from Paracas National Reserve, a structure called the Cathedral. I don't know why it's called that. |
When we arrived in Huacachina, I was thoroughly disappointed. It was cheesy AF, with sand-boarding the dunes as the only activity to do. Realizing with my ankle I couldn't even walk in the sand, I was insanely bored. The restaurants had disgusting over-priced Americanized food. I absolutely did NOT want to stay for the the three nights I booked. Unfortunately, the PeruHop bus leaving the next day was fully booked, so I was stuck. I had booked my PeruHop to go directly from Huacachina to Cuzco, but decided I didn't want to stay in Huacachina for three boring days with nothing to do, so decided I wanted to visit Arequipa instead. Since PeruHop was fully booked, I asked them if I booked a different overnight service from Ica to Arequipa, could I hop back on PeruHop from Arequipa to Cuzco a few days later. They were incredibly accommodating and said that would be fine.
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| Huacachina. An oasis. I prefer Oasis, the band. |
Huacachina > Arequipa
Thank GOD I went to Arequipa...such a charming colonial city in the Andes! Plus, it was at altitude, so all the fit folks were huffing and puffing walking up the stairs had me like "This altitude-living fatty got you beat!!" (I was suffering in Lima...waaaaaay too much oxygen at sea level had me choking). I spent the day exploring the city and trying new foods.
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| Plaza de Armas, Arequipa |
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| View of the Andes from a monastery in Arequipa |
The next day, I planned a day tour of the Colca Canyon, which was incredible to see how Peruvians live and cultivate. The Colca Canyon is lined with agricultural terraces in a beautiful valley with our final stop being at the Peruvian Condor overlook, where you can watch these massive condors gliding through the canyon.
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| On our way to the Colca Canyon, two little girls play while their mom sells her fare |
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| Condor overlook, Colca Canyon |
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| A little boy plays while his mom sells her fare at the Condor overlook |
Arequipa > Cuzco
The next day, I hopped back on PeruHop for the 12 hour ride from Arequipa to Cuzco. We made a few short stops along the way to eat and sight see, which was a nice time to meet some of my fellow nomads along the same journey. We arrived in Cuzco after dark and were sorted out taxis to take us to our hostels or hotels (the taxi service included with PeruHop). I booked a hotel via recommendation of a travel tribe I'm a member of. The hotel was called El Balcon, and probably one of the nicest hotels I've stayed in. It was charming. And beautiful. Delicious food and extraordinary service. I was like, girl TREAT YO'SELF...especially after staying in grimy hostels and sleeping on buses.
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| View of Cuzco from El Balcon |
Cuzco is magic. At night, it looks like it's tucked in by a blanket of twinkling stars. Damn, I fell in love with that city. El Balcon has a sister hotel in Ollantaytambo, the city most stop at on their way to Machu Picchu. I ended up booking a night there (and ended up staying 2 nights) after I had a taste of that El Balcon lux.
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| View of Cuzco from El Balcon |
Cuzco > Machu Picchu, via the Sacred Valley
I ended up booking my way to Machu Picchu on my own, not using PeruHop (I'm not even sure if they go there...if they did, it was a part of a 'stop', and travel has taught me to take time at the places I need to see). I found an English-speaking tour booking company to help me. They were incredibly kind, and convinced me to tour the Sacred Valley on my way to Ollantaytambo where I was to catch the train to MP.
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| Chincero in the Sacred Valley, being shown a demonstration of dying and weaving alpaca wool |
Ticket in hand (and barely able to control my excitement), I boarded the tour bus the next morning...only to find out I was put on a Spanish speaking tour o_O I was the ONLY English speaker on the tour. The guide would explain things in Spanish, then in broken English tell me what was going on. It was exhausting for both of us. I felt awful for him, and frustrated for myself. My 8th grade spanish is quite basic..."Uno mas cervesa, por favor". I know the important things.
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| Sacred Valley: Ruins of Pisac |
Through miscommunication, I didn't know we were in Ollantaytambo when we were in Ollantaytambo, and came to that realization at our last stop of Pisac - when we were an hour and a half away from Ollantaytambo. That's when I broke down. Now, 95% of the time, I'm calm, collected and cool while traveling alone...not this time. I was on the brink of motion sickness, frustrated about the Spanish speaking tour and anxious to get back to Ollantaytambo to rest up before Machu Picchu the next morning. My tour guide helped me get a taxi from town that was headed back that way anyways, and stopped to pick up/drop off other riders along the route. Finally, I made it to my destination: hotel El Albergue...which conviently enough is at the train station, so I didn't have to go far to catch my MP train the next morning.
The staff at El Albergue were lovely and accommodating. When I decided to book another night, they were all booked up in their regular guest rooms, they let me stay in one they don't advertise. The food was phenomenal, as well...all in all, I highly recommend a stay there.
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| Early morning bedroom balcony views from El Albergue and the train to Machu Picchu |
El Albergue was the beginning of Machu Picchu, which will be saved for a later blog (or you can check out the Photo of the Month MP blog).
Lastly, after heading back to Cuzco, I did a tour of Sacsayhuaman (pronounced "Sexy Woman"), which was a nice day trip learning about the Inca. When I headed back to Lima, I booked a night at this AMAZING bed and breakfast in the Barranco District called Casa Nuestra...I wish I would have know about that place when I first arrived, but now I know for next time ;)
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| Views from the beautiful Casa Nuestra...don't miss the terrace! |
P.S. There will be a next time...that jungle tour I wanted to go on? In my spontaneity, I didn't realize vaccinations were needed and didn't feel like getting malaria.
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| Machu Picchu |
Links to my Peruvian recommendations:
Happy Trails!
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