Peru 2016 | FindPenguins

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Trip start
September 3, 2016
Peru 2016 fannypakit
Sacsayhuaman, Cusco
September 2, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Welcome to Cusco! I flew from LAX to MEX to LIM to CUS and I'm finally here!

Took things easy on our first day by hiking up Sacsayhuaman, the northern Cusco citadel. I guess we hiked it backwards because when we got to the end, it looked like the entrance with hoards of people departing from buses. The huge stone walls are pretty well protected and still very much in tact. It's crazy that the stones are arranged so close together that you can't even slip a piece of paper through the lines as there are no cracks! The Incan Empire was no joke.

Our dinner for the night included the famous Peruvian dish Lomo Saltado and fried guinea pig. Is it weird that I actually like the Lomo Saltado from Lonzo's in LA more than in Peru? And guinea pig, it's definitely one of those "for the experience" dishes--nothing to write home about.Read more
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Peru 2016 fannypakit
Pisac, Peru
September 3, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Day 2 consisted of going to Pisac Market since this was one of the 2 days it's open when we were there. The public transportation here is pretty much vans that don't take off at a specific time, but whenever they get enough people to fill the bus. My Spanish ability is shit and we didn't realize we had actually missed the Pisac stop and nearly went on ahead to I don't even know what city. This Brazilian couple ended up helping us out and we caught an opposing bus back to Pisac.

We browsed the markets and honestly there wasn't anything that really piqued my interest to buy. Alpaca wool is famous and known to be very soft and warm. Well, I had no idea how to tell real from fake alpaca and I wasn't in love with anything I saw. I did end up getting a scarf, but it's bulky and wouldn't be a daily wear scarf.Read more
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Peru 2016 fannypakit
Chinceros, Peru
September 4, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We had a busy day full of excursions today. We hired a driver to take us to Chinceros, Maras, and Moray of Sacred Valley before finally ending up in Ollantaytambo to take the Peru Rail to Machu Picchu Pueblo. Chinceros was a small church citadel and very serene since we went pretty early. There was not much to do here, but the church itself was beautiful.

We then went to Maras, the salt mines, and it was seriously such a sight. You can walk to the nearest salt pools and actually see the salt formations. It's a gorgeous white and pink hue and there are several stalls selling salt you can bring back with you. Just watch out as security in Mexico gave me a hard time about the salt I brought back...

Moray is home of the famous agricultural terraces and the temperature fluctuates as you from high to low to high elevation. While you cannot go into the middle of the terraces, you can walk around and see the ruins. It is pretty damaged though from rainfall and we went when there were any greenery. It was very nice though, but windy af.

We finally ended in Ollantaytambo and briefly checked out the Ollantaytambo Ruins before we took the train to Aguas Calientes, the city closest to Machu Picchu. We have MP tomorrow!Read more
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Peru 2016 fannypakit
Machu Picchu, Peru
September 5, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C
We're here! Machu Picchu! We had to wake up pretty early to get to MP since we had our Huayna Picchu hike at 7am (have to start the hike by 8am).

It was overcast and rainy in the beginning, so that really sucked. You could barely see anything with the clouds! We took a long ass detour to see the Inca Bridge and it was so foggy that we did not even see it. Turns out it was just this one plank. Yeah, that was not really worth it. Then we had to haul ass to get to Huayna Picchu to start our hike. Holy shit, that hike was tough because it was nonstop stairs. Once we got to the top, I was pretty winded that I did not even believe I was on top of Huayna Picchu. when deciding whether we wanted to hike Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Montana, we opted for Huayna since that was the more popular hike and gave you a nice view of Machu Picchu. Well, it was insane how high we were and that we were looking thousands of feet below to where we started. We then checked out the rest of Machu Picchu after our hike before we had to go back to Aguas Calientes to catch our train back to Ollantaytambo and then go back to Cusco. Busy day!

P.S. I hate how they make you go one way throughout Machu Picchu. I get it as security reasons, but wow, that was a lot of walking just to get around the ruins.Read more
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Peru 2016 fannypakit
Rainbow Mountain, Peru
September 7, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
Another all day excursion that began pretty early with a couple hours drive south to where we eventually end up to hike Rainbow Mountain. It was a small group of us, probably no more than 8, and we had a ton of fun seeing the gorgeous gradients of the 7-colored mountain.

Raul, our tour guide, was so great and he made sure we all felt comfortable and well taken care as we were ascending up high altitudes. Today was the first day I really felt the altitude hitting me. I had a throbbing headache and I felt like my head was under pressure the entire time we were hiking. Coca and chlorophyll really helped me and I made sure to stay super hydrated. We had lunch towards the end of our hike before hiking up one mountain peak. It was pretty damn high and I was scared as af to climb down. Hint: don't think too much and just walk normally!

This was such a treat and cost us like what $40 to do? I don't remember, but it was a steal compared to the $100 plus tour packages English companies will charge you. i would say this was more majestic that Machu Picchu. I was pretty worried about this hike since it was a much higher altitude and we had heard another couple talking about Rainbow Mountain and how tired they were and had to hire horses to help them finish the course. We took a few stops, but made it all the way! We also did not even have the option to hire horses, but we had a woman who did not finish the hike and chilled midway until the group finished and picked her up along the way back to the van.

Super exhausted, but so so so worth it!Read more
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Peru 2016 fannypakit
Lima, Peru
September 8, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Last day in Cusco! I walked around Plaza de Armas one last time and had a crepe for lunch before heading to the airport to go to Lima. By the time I arrived to Lima and my hostel, I was starving, so decided to go to Larcomar shopping mall. I ate at Tanta, a famous restaurant for its oceanside view. I enjoyed a great meal here while I read my Kindle before taking off to Kennedy Park, a park literally full of stray cats, and checked out the stores in the areas. I did not want to stay out too long today, so spent the majority of the night at the hostel reading and watching tennis. Taking it easy for my last couple of days in Peru!Read more
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Peru 2016 fannypakit
Miraflores, Lima
September 9, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Today I nearly died.

All I did today was have lunch at Maido, a renowned Japanese Peruvian fusion restaurant known for its nikkei experience.

Well, it was fucking delicious, but I ate something that I was allergic to and do not know what it was. So I spent the last few hours before my flight panicking about whether I needed to go the hospital/ER and finally decided to go to the pharmacy to get some allergy meds and fight it through. I somehow fought through it and was actually on the way to the airport when I noticed my symptoms started to go away. Good. I boarded the flight and ktfo'd. I survived! But wasted my last day in Lima essentially. Well then.Read more
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Trip end
September 10, 2016