**Our Trip & Itinerary**

We arrived to warmer weather, and tastier food, in Peru after spending the previous month criss-crossing Patagonia between Argentina and Chile. The first half of our trip to Peru was dedicated to visiting ancient ruins and unique cultures, but our trip began with a short two-day stopover in Lima. From there, we flew down to Cusco and based ourselves there for about ten days, taking short trips to explore Incan and pre-Incan ruins, including an overnight trip to the incredible Machu Picchu.

Lima

Our excitement for our arrival into Lima was tempered slightly by the maddening air journey to reach Peru. Even though our chosen route from Puerto Montt to Lima had a stopover in Santiago, we thought two hours would be more than enough time to switch planes, with a quick dip into the SkyTeam lounge for a snack and a cheeky drink. Suffice it to say, we were wildly incorrect. With our first flight delayed by fifteen minutes, we reached the international terminal with ninety minutes before our departure, but only 30 until our boarding time. At this point we were still feeling confident, but that changed as soon as we walked into the immigration hall. The line in front of us stretched for at least three hundred people, with only four immigration officers working at any one time. We watched the clock tick down, past our boarding time, closer and closer to the time our flight's doors would shut, threatening to strand us in Santiago. To make matters worse, when Jackson asked an immigration officer controlling the line if we could use the unoccupied priority line as it was already far past our boarding time, he simply replied “No, miss your flight then”. Great solution, pal! We finally made it through the enormous immigration queue with just five minutes until the doors were meant to close. Sprinting through the airport, we arrived at our gate to last boarding calls and wildly gesturing, gate agents shouting “Rapido, RAPIDO!” at us. We sprinted down the ramp and located our seats in a mostly empty plane, only to spend the next forty minutes sitting at the gate, watching as dozens of other passengers boarded from the immigration chaos. Turns out, all that running and high blood pressure hadn’t been needed in the end. Please forgive us then, if we weren’t in the best mood when we landed in Lima on empty stomachs, in desperate need of a shower.

Happily, Lima turned out to be a pretty terrific city. We had been unsure of what to expect here, after hearing mixed reviews of Peru’s capital from fellow travelers, many of whom had simply used it as a short stopover point on their way to Peru’s more interesting regions. We opted to stay in the city’s Miraflores neighborhood, a more upscale area full of interesting cafes, restaurants, and the city’s most interesting archeological site: Huaca Pucllana. We were lucky enough to be joined by one of Sarah’s closest friends from Europe on the first full day of our visit to Lima. While Jackson went off to get a haircut, Sarah spent the morning catching up with her, enjoying tasty pastries and a superb acai bowl from Galera Acai & Brunch. When we were all reunited at the Parque de Amor, we strolled down the cliff top walkway towards central Miraflores. Lima’s relationship with the ocean is unique for an oceanfront city, as the water is separated from the city by massive seventy meter tall cliffs, effectively cutting off city dwellers from the type of oceanfront lifestyle many coastal towns enjoy. In the center of Miraflores we stumbled upon Parque 7 de Junio, where we found a large art fair full of stunning paintings and photographs from local artists. Taking a few laps of the park, we each found pieces we really enjoyed, and some of us even bought them right then and there! New art in tow, we drove to Lima’s city center to learn about the city’s colonial past. Our first stop on this journey was at the Basilica y Convento de San Francisco. The basilica was first constructed in 1614 and still serves as an active convent today, although with a greatly reduced population of about 40 monks. Touring the convent wasn’t the primary reason we had decided to visit, instead we were focused on what lay beneath the floor: Lima’s old catacombs. To get there, our group descended along a narrow passageway and ducked through a door seemingly built for babies, before entering a large room with several repositories filled to the brim with femur bones. We moved through room after room, staring at huge piles of femur bones, only interrupted periodically by arrangements of skulls and rib bones, many of which apparently came from children (yikes). As we wound our way through this maze of bones, we could occasionally peek up through ventilation holes into the basilica above us and listened to the Sunday mass hymns pouring underground. This mix of historic and current rituals was abruptly halted in the final catacomb we entered, home to a single well, now filled with skulls, femurs, and rib bones all arranged in an ornate pattern. Resurfacing into the world of the living, we left the convent behind and rewarded ourselves for our courage with delicious churros from Churros Virgen del Carmen. The shop runs like a well-oiled machine with one person taking your order, another taking your newly acquired slip of paper to grab your treat, and another to take your change. The choices are limited to three churros, but each is warm and loaded with either chocolate, manjar blanco, or crema pastelera. Sweet goodness in hand, we walked through more of the old colonial center, past the Cathedral de Lima, Palace of Government, and Lima’s Plaza de Mayor. We found a spot to sit just off the plaza at the Museo de PIsco, and toasted to our upcoming trip together, confident that it would be an exciting, busy week. For dinner after our first full day in the city, we wanted to try Peru’s famous Japanese fusion cuisine - Nikkei. Nikkei is a culinary fusion unique to Peru, combining Peruvian flavors and ingredients with Japanese dishes and imported products, resulting in the deliciously unique Bao, Ramen, and beans we had at Sutorito Maketto that first night.

On our final morning in Cusco we decided to explore one of the country's lesser known archeological sites, Huaca Puccllana. Located just a short twenty minute walk from our Airbnb in Miraflores, this massive clay-brick pyramid was built over 1,500 years ago by the Lima society and later modified by the Wari people. It was primarily used as a temple and area for sacrifices to appease the gods, including some evidence of human offerings. The site was also an important burial ground for noble members of society, their families, and other individuals who were sacrificed and buried with them. Interestingly, the site wasn’t rediscovered until 1981, as it was completely covered with dirt and mud, appearing like a hill that was being used as a dirt bike racing area. Since then, continuous excavation work has been carried out, now exposing over half of the site which is what we were able to tour. Archeologists hope to continue excavating it over the next forty years, but more funding is needed to make that happen. After getting our minds blown by this huge pyramid complex in the middle of Lima, it was time to turn our attention towards the next great civilization that ruled this area and fly to the Incan capital of Cusco.

Cusco

Putting Lima in the rearview mirror for now, we boarded our plane for the short hop up to Cusco, the heart of Peru’s Incan history. Our plane climbed slowly to cruising altitude after take off, but seemed to only need a short descent as we flew into the Sacred Valley. Quickly, our views turned from clouds to mammoth mountains on either side, ruins sprinkled throughout the hills. Stepping off of the pressurized plane, we immediately felt the altitude's effects on our breathing and blood flow. Suddenly our backpacks felt heavier, every step seemed more difficult, and (at least to Jackson) it felt a little bit like we were drunk. After quickly depositing our bags at our accommodation for the next several nights, we set out with high expectations to explore this high-altitude, ancient capital city. Right away, Cusco did not disappoint. Walking up the Avenida el Sol towards the Plaza Mayor, we passed the Qorikancha archeological site and several other ancient Incan walls, still used in the construction of buildings today. The city’s main square was far more beautiful than we expected it to be, lined on two sides with imposing cathedrals and on the other two by endless food and drink spots with great balconies. For our first taste of traditional Peruvian food, we settled on KUSYKAY, a Peruvian restaurant just off the main square with a modern twist of traditional meals. Even though none of us tried the Guinea Pig (just a culinary step too far for us), we indulged on ceviche, lamb, squid, and traditional veggies instead. Feeling satisfied with our choice, we retired to our hotel feeling exhausted from our adjustment to the city’s elevation, and full from a (finally) flavorful meal.

As we awoke the next day, we decided to spend our first full day in the Andes getting to know Cusco, taking in its historic sights and unique neighborhoods. Cusco was the historical capital of the Incan Empire, and then transformed into an important strategic and religious city after the Spanish conquest in 1533. As the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru grew and eventually became an independent republic, the people here have continued to expand the city, including the rapid growth it has experienced in the past fifty years. This means that as you wind your way through the narrow streets and back alleys of the city’s center, you’ll encounter Incan walls made from huge, perfectly carved stones next to colonial religious structures, and modern concrete and brick apartment blocks. This diversity across eras gives the city a unique charm and appeal, particularly within the San Blas and San Pedro neighborhoods. We spent most of our morning meandering through these neighborhoods, popping into shops to inspect indigenous art or fine Alpaca and Vicuña goods for sale. We also had to stop into some cafes to find the best bean juice and pastries Cusco had on offer, which we can confidently say can be found at Cercania Pan Y Cafe. In the afternoon we interrupted our neighborhood exploration to visit Qorikancha, The Golden Temple. What visitors see of Qorikancha today is primarily the Convent of Santo Domingo, which was built on top of the Inca walls after the Spanish took over the city. However, the original temple was one of the world's most beautiful structures when the Inca built it, as they covered it almost entirely in gold. The temple was known as Intikancha at the time and was dedicated to the sun god, Inti. It was the most important in their entire empire, and served as the home for the Incan high priest, where he performed sacrifices and religious rites. The beauty of the temple was lost during the Spanish invasion when they demanded its gold as ransom for the Incan leader Atahualpa. Eventually the Spanish removed all the gold that once decorated this holiest of spaces, then reused the stones in the walls to build cathedrals and homes once the Inca had been removed. Although our visit primarily consisted of touring the colonial-era convent, we still saw a few of the original rooms and walls, doing our best to imagine what it would have looked like several hundred years ago.

We began our final full day in Cusco before our trip to Machu Picchu quite similarly to how we had started the others. We set off early to hunt down some refined caffeine, pick up a snack or two, and set off to explore some Incan ruins. Still adjusting to the altitude, we decided to keep things local still, so we walked up the big hill at the northern side of historic Cusco to Sacsayhuamán. This site, sitting just above Cusco, was built as the defensive citadel watching over the historic capital, nicknamed the “Fortress of the Royal Hawk”. The primary defensive stone walls here are constructed with megalithic stones, weighing up to 200 tons each and cut so precisely that even now, a piece of paper can’t be placed in between most of them. No one is really sure how the ancient Inca built this place so precisely, but because of their great care and excellent craftsmanship, the fort has survived through many earthquakes that damaged much of Spanish Cusco. In the middle of this fortress complex lies a massive flat field, so flat that even now it is sometimes used as a football pitch or to hold modern versions of historic Incan celebrations like Inti Raymi over the winter solstice. While walking to the far side of this field, we spotted a gaggle of fluffy alpacas, munching away on the tall grasses at the edge of the archeological park. After snapping a few more quick photos of these funny camelids, we walked across the field to Qochas Chincanas, an ancient water tank and burial ground. Ingeniously, the Incas used already existing channels in the porous rock to funnel water from this tank into ancient Cusco. Feeling brave, we crouched and crawled through the old, natural tunnels and emerged (nearly) unscathed on the other side, looking straight through the trees at Cusco’s version of Christ the Redeemer. Another full day in the books, we made our way back to Cusco and rewarded all of our hard work with another delicious Nikkei meal at KINTARO.

Aguas Calientes & Machu Picchu

After spending two full days in and around Cusco we started our third day early, boarding our PeruRail Expedition train towards Machu Picchu. The train ride from Cusco lasts just over four and a half hours, first winding its way over the hills surrounding Cusco and then following the course of the Urubamba River downstream towards Aguas Calientes. Even though we were in the most economical section of the train, we still had wide windows beside and above us, letting us absorb this region's natural beauty in stunning detail. As we neared the town of Ollantaytambo, we started to see evidence of Incan ruins, the odd terrace or old stone house lining the train tracks. These became more and more frequent over the final hour of our journey, causing us to frequently stop our conversations mid-sentence to snap a quick picture. Our train finally reached the small hamlet of Aguas Calientes in the early afternoon, as threatening clouds loomed overhead. We made a beeline for our hotel to drop off our packs, then retracted our steps to the massive crafts and souvenirs market in the center of town. While most of these small shops sell the same thing, we were able to find artisan made blankets and pillow-covers at hole in the wall shop run by a very helpful woman named Vilma. With our new belongings in hand, and Vilma’s recommendations fresh in our heads, we set out to try the local coffee and food options. As this town isn’t very big, it didn’t take us very long to walk past all of our options. We opted for a snack at Coffee Trotter before dinner & drinks at Chullos Restaurant. Even though it was dark by this time, our table at Chullos was set out over the river, adding a calming background track of water rushing over rocks to our delicious meal.

The next morning we awoke with plans to check out the hot springs the town derives its name from. However, when we arrived we were disappointed by the man-made feel of the whole place, and discouraged by the murky color of the water. Instead of taking a warming dip, we decided to make the short walk up to the town’s waterfalls in order to “connect with nature” as Vilma had put it. Even though we all would’ve loved to feel more connected to mother earth, none of us could bring ourselves to take a dip in the frigid waters at the base of the Cataratas. Sadly, none of us were that impressed by the falls, leading to a communal sense of disappointment as we returned down the steps, but that quickly changed. As we stopped to take pictures of a smaller cascading set of falls just above the hot springs, our friend spotted an Andean bear crossing just upstream of us! We all stood there in stunned silence from the sudden arrival of our furry visitor, one of the few bears still living in the area. The bear crossed the stream in just a matter of moments, hopping nimbly from stone to stone, only stopping to sniff the air for a moment. Suddenly our entire morning felt much more exciting! While we discovered that our fight or flight instincts seem to be non-existent, we were chuffed to know we were the few people to have seen the rare Andean bear that day.

Still buzzing from our unexpected bear encounter, we walked through town looking for the shuttle line up to Machu Picchu. We had read online that people can sometimes wait for up to three hours to find a seat on one of the buses up, but as we saw that they were seemingly constantly departing, we thought this surely couldn’t be the case. Oh boy, how wrong we were. We joined the queue just after 11, hoping to get up well before our timed entry at 1 pm, but somehow, even though there always seemed to be a bus pulling up, we just didn’t go anywhere. As the line grew longer and longer behind us, we watched in horror as the clock ticked higher and higher. To our disbelief, we ended up waiting for nearly ninety minutes before a bus finally pulled up with empty seats for us. As our bus left town, we embarked upon one of the most impressive roads ever built. This ribbon of tarmac turns and twists back and forth through endless switchbacks, seemingly straight up the side of a mountain, until riders are deposited at the new entrance facility. To control crowds and limit damage to the site, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture has introduced routes through Machu Picchu, each with an assigned entry area and marked inside by low rope barriers. We had elected to purchase tickets for route 2, the most complete course, but unfortunately lacked a visit to the Sun Gate. We entered the site at exactly 1 o’clock and took off immediately for the best photo spot to beat the crowds behind us. Yes, it’s a bit lame to prioritize this over stopping to take in our first view of this wonder of the world, but we wanted to ensure we had the perfect photos to last us the rest of our lives and that we could relax for the rest of the route. Once we had our photos in our back pockets, we stood there with dumb looks on our faces, struggling to comprehend what we were looking at. Of course we’d all read about Machu Picchu, but nothing really prepares you for the immense scale or unique location once you’re actually there. How did the ancient Incas build this whole complex up here, hundreds of meters above the canyon floor on a tiny strip of land between two mountain peaks? The truth is we don’t know exactly. There are many theories about why it was built exactly there or how they did it, but much remains a mystery because of the sheer size of the challenge to build this royal retreat high on the hills. We began our tour through the site, marvelling at each structure or terrace we passed, amazed by the perfect cuts of the stones and their sheer size. After an hour we realized we had barely made it 25% of the way through the course, and remembered we had a train to catch in the evening, so hurried up our pace a bit. Yet, it was impossible to rush through the site, every few steps the views drew us in, compelling us to stop, take pictures, and stand in awe of this magical place. To top it all off, as we rounded a corner into the sacred plaza, a pack of llamas suddenly appeared. Llamas inhabited Machu Picchu during Incan times, and we had heard they still roamed up there, but hadn’t spotted any during most of our walk. Cautiously dodging a potential spit attack, we all had a chance to actually bend down and grab selfies with these poofy animals, rounding off an amazing experience at the city in the clouds.

Sacred Valley

In the evening, after a crepe filled to the brim with cheese from Creperia de Paris, we boarded our PeruRail train back to Cusco. The train ride back was decidedly less interesting than our journey to Aguas Calientes had been, primarily because the ride was totally in the dark, but also because our train was completely full the entire way this time. Arriving back in Cusco, we checked into our strange new Airbnb, where the rooms weren’t quite as depicted and the entry involved a strenuous, high-altitude journey up multiple flights of stairs. We realized it was unfortunately too late for any food, but decided to plan out our last few days in Cusco instead. We did our best to convince our friend in corporate law not to go back to the US the following day, but she bravely made the decision to do the right thing and go back to face the realities of a 9 to 5. Left as just the unemployed traveling duo once again, we decided to spend our next few days taking short trips from Cusco to the most impressive destinations in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, beginning with Pisac.

Pisac is a short 45 minute drive away from Cusco, and proved to be our first encounter with the popular Peruvian mode of transportation - the colectivo. These small vans or minibuses generally run a route from one town to another, picking up and dropping off people along the way for a very low fare. In our case, the whole journey cost five Peruvian Sol each way, per person – about $1.25. All in all, the ride was everything we expected it to be: we got there in one piece, but were stiff from clenching our teeth and butt cheeks in terror along the way. After getting dropped off in the modern town of Pisac, we hailed a cab to take us up to the archeological park, but he was only willing to take us up to the ticket booth. That worked for us though, right? I mean how far from the ticket booth could the park entrance be?! As it turns out, very far. We had to walk a little over three kilometers, and gain over 200 meters of elevation on the way. In a normal world, this isn’t so bad, but when you’re already up 3,400 meters above sea level, it’s a bigger challenge. By the time we finally reached the entrance gates we were drenched in sweat from baking under the strong Andean sun, and in desperate need of the toilet, which can be quite tricky to take care of in Peruvian parks. After scrambling over some boulders to reach the sole unattended toilet in the whole park, we finally set our sights on exploring this huge park. The first thing we were presented with were the hundreds of huge terraces the Inca used for agriculture, allowing them to grow vastly more food that would otherwise have been possible here. Apart from the terraces, shockingly little is known about the true purpose of Pisac. It is clear to scholars that there were areas for religious ceremonies, communication, and observation, but no one is quite sure when it was built or what its primary purpose was. We spent hours climbing up to the highest part of the park, where the largest concentration of residential buildings was, past heaps of monumental terraces, and down to Pisaq’a, the elites’ residential center of the site. The most noticeable part of this section of the site is the perfectly curved wall with precisely shaped stones, similar to those we found in Qorikancha or Sacsayhuamán. We continued on the small trails away from the main tourist part of the site, back towards the modern town of Pisac and suddenly found ourselves descending thousands of steps, rather vertically off the side of the mountain, until we finally felt horizontal ground beneath our feet. We enjoyed a small lunch just off to the side of Pisac’s sleepy town square, then found another $1.25 ride back to Cusco.

After a day of rest in Cusco where our only chores were to find coffee, some tasty snacks, and get a bit of trip work done, we set off on another day trip, this time to Tipón. Heading the opposite direction from Cusco to where most Incan ruins can be found, it took us only about thirty minutes to reach this archeological park. This park is far less trafficked than many of the other Incan ruins, but should not be missed. After entering this site, visitors are once again immediately presented with incredibly impressive monumental terraces, but these are very different to the ones found in Pisac. While those terraces follow the natural curve of the mountains they’re on, the ones in Tipón are built in perfect right angles, constructing pointed agricultural shelves. Within this unique design are a series of canals that take water across the whole site, and feature grand fountains that demonstrate the Inca’s abilities to harness the natural world around them. As we began our walk around the site, the crack of nearby thunder sent us scrambling to the nearest shelter. Waiting for the storm to pass, we took the chance to reflect on the absolutely mind-blowing skill that these ancient peoples had in building these expansive sites without the use of modern machinery. As the pouring rain and thunder turned to a light mist, we continued our walk, up the ancient stairways and along endless aqueducts still carrying water year-round to each terrace and into the valley below. When so many of our modern structures get destroyed by a fire, storms, or negligence, it’s incredible that this site still functions and holds the same rhythm it did almost 500 years after it was built. Walking back to the modern town of Tipón, we caught an exhilarating local bus back to Cusco. It only cost us $0.70 per person for the hour trip back to the city center, but we would have gladly paid far more just for the experience of watching the driver and conductor hustle people on and off the bus on its seemingly random, but apparently specifically planned, route.

With only one day left in Peru’s Andes, we took one final day trip to the huge ruin complex of Ollantaytambo. Once again, the first thing we saw when approaching the town were the huge terraces on either side of the valley. Man, these Inca’s really loved their terraces, huh?! Our $2.50 colectivo dropped us in the town’s center, and we immediately stopped to top-up our caffeine at Latente. People refer to Ollantaytambo as a living Inca village, since so many of the modern buildings are built on top of Inca walls, and the town is still laid out in the original Incan grid system. No cars fit up these narrow roads, giving the town a unique feeling, as if you’re really stepping back in time to how it was when Hiram Bingham visited in 1911 in his search for Machu Picchu. Perhaps this area has survived so well because it was the site of the last meaningful Incan victory against the Spanish during their conquest of South America. In 1536, the Incan leader Manco Inca used the terraces to flood the valley and push the Spanish back to Cusco, but he retreated soon after to Vilcabamba where he would go on to found the Neo-Inca state. Once he left, the locals were enslaved by the Spanish, but the town was not significantly changed other than for the addition of churches. We began our explorations here by climbing up to the Incan storehouses across the valley from the main site. From here, we were able to get a bird’s eye view of the famous archeological park away from the crowds, as we were the only non-Peruvians up there. After spending an hour or so exploring the ruins on this side of the valley we made our way across to the primary site and up to its large religious area, Temple Hill. The hill is anchored by the wall of six monoliths, huge stones with Incan carvings, though apparently in an unfinished state. Similarly, much of the buildings are half-finished, indicating that the site was either still being built or undergoing a large renovation project when it was abandoned. Mixed among the tourists was a large group of Peruvians, all dressed in layers of brown and black, very unlike the typically vibrant attire we’d seen so far. It is unclear what the group trip was for, but it added to the atmosphere of our visit and felt like we were witnessing an important pilgrimage. Quechua people sat in groups, viewing the valley below in silence, gently touching the ancient walls, while some even wandered into roped-off areas, claiming back the land of their people. We continued to explore the site for another hour or so and found many elements we’ve come to associate with these grand ruins, terraces, fountains, and perfectly sculpted stones. Feeling a bit overwhelmed with the immense human capabilities of the Incas, we retreated to the main square for an ice-cold Coca Cola, then found another cheap ride back to Cusco. With our return that afternoon, our time in this part of Peru was coming to an end. The next day, we boarded a train to Puno and began exploring some of the different sides of Peru over the next ten days.