First part of my South America journey! Enjoy ♥

 From there, I flew to Fort Lauderdale, then to Lima, getting in around 9:45 pm. Saw the most amazing view above the clouds. It wasn’t very clear, you couldn’t see much, but all I knew is that it looked like the sun was slipping right over the end of the horizon, like we’d reached the edge of the earth. Beautiful. Shared an airport taxi to my hostel and fell fast asleep.

DAY 2. Friday July 15– *Miraflores & Lima*

 In the morning, I explored Miraflores. It was overcast and sprinkling a little, yet many were out running along the coast and the parks. I loved Parque del Amor (Love Park). It was adorable, and reminded me of Park Güell in Barcelona.

Later, I walked to Miraflores center, near Kennedy Park (a park with a ton of stray cats- over 100!).  Met a guy named Ben who was also doing a walking tour of Lima.  Our group took the bus into Lima and walked to Plaza de Armas, where we saw the changing of the guards.  During the tour, I also met Sydney, Samantha, and Justine, who were all from Canada and doing a trek. We began all walking together to the markets. We tried pisco sour (4 different cocktails- straight, with lime, with orange, and one coffee one).  After, we said goodbye to Ben and the four of us girls got ceviche and shared a pork dish and paella which was really delicious. Never thought I’d be saying this about fish, but ceviche is so refreshing!

We met two guys, Austin and Tommy, who are going sandboarding tomorrow also.

Ended up parting ways for the evening, and I walked to Larcomar (megacomplex shopping center) to get my PeruRail tickets, then returned to the hostel. I had to wake up very early for the bus for my full day of adventure!

6 am, got on the PeruHop bus. Drove along the coast- where you could really see the poverty of the country. About four hours later, we arrived in Paracas (Ica) and boarded the boat to the Ballestas Islands. Saw sea lions, penguins, crabs, starfish, and a ton of birds.

 It was seriously the most perfect thing I’ve ever witnessed. You could see the oasis and the town of Huacachina and these huge mountains all around and just nothing but these beautiful massive sand dunes. We sat on top of the buggy listening to music and watching the sun sink below the horizon. After the sun went down, then came the wild ride. I can’t even tell you how fast we were going. The speed (and crazy driving) wasn’t the issue- the problem was my seat belt flew off! And when you’re going that fast  over these massive dunes and steep hills it’s basically like a roller coaster.  I was coming up off the seat and really close to either hitting my head off the top of the buggy or being ejected out from the side where I was sitting. Luckily the new friends I’d made grabbed on to me quickly, and we got the driver to stop so I could buckle back up. BUT THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN. And yet again, they helped hold on to me and luckily when we stopped Tommy offered to switch seats with me which I gladly accepted. Despite that, with the adrenaline rush and views alone, I’d rate it 100/10. Got some more photos of this incredible oasis, and then headed back to Lima for the night.

DAY 4. Sunday July 17- *Cusco*

Today is where I feel like my journey truly begins. It’s the part of the trip I’m most worried about, doing Machu Picchu  and making sure I’ve coordinated things correctly, and also the altitude sickness especially.  I was up until 2 am getting my pack ready. My plan was to catch a flight from Lima to Cusco, then a collectivo (mini-bus) to Ollantaytambo, a smaller town outside of Cusco. I did this since Cusco is over 11,000 feet above sea level. Since I was on a shorter trip, I didn’t have time to give my body the chance to acclimate, so I wanted to get to shorter elevation ASAP to make it easier. Luckily, the altitude never ended up making me sick at all.

Unfortunately by the time I got off the plane and got my bag,  everyone was already gone. There was nobody to split a cab ride with. I knew to be smart enough to take taxis from inside the airport, because even though they were more expensive, they were safer. So I finally gave in. The man didn’t speak a lot of English, so we spoke in Spanish for the ride to Pavitos Street, where I’d get the collectivo to Ollantaytambo. At first we were having a fine conversation about food and drinks and sights to see in Cusco. Then he said I was beautiful. I said thanks and changed the subject. Started to feel weird.  He asked me if I wanted to go for a beer but I said no, I’ve got to go. Then he said again how beautiful I was and how much he liked me, right as he reached his hand back and slid it all the way up into my thighs and between my legs. Thankfully, we had just pulled up to Pavitos Street.  I quickly got out of the car and ran to the collectivo. I was in shock, but thankful that I removed myself from the situation and that it wasn’t much worse.

The ride to Ollantaytambo was beautiful from what I could stay awake for. We passed Urubamba and finally arrived at my hostel (Hostal Los Andenes).

The first thing you notice in Ollantaytambo is the massive ruin I’m sitting on in the picture below. I bought a tourist ticket for the ruins, and climbed up past the terraces of Pumatallis.

From there, I set out to explore more of the Sacred Valley. With a group, we drove down miles and miles of a wandering dirty and dusty road. I was having a lot of trouble breathing because it filled the car. The road was very dangerous and narrow. At the top, we got out and looked below at the salt flats- the size alone was overwhelming. Here they are up close:

We walked down into them, it’s such an intricate system! They all flow into one another and are owned by families that live in Maras. I got to touch the water (it was warm!) and taste the salt. Next, we went to the Moray ruins. It is believed that all these different terraces, which vary in design and orientation to the sun, were used to measure the effects of climate conditions on crops.

After a long drive, we arrived back to Ollantaytambo, where I was ecstatic to find that the hot water worked! It was so heavenly because it was freezing out at this point. Wrapped in thick wool blankets, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

DAY 5. Monday July 18- *Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes*

The next part of my journey was to take the train (PeruRail) to Aguas Calientes.This is the town that sits at the bottom of the valley of Machu Picchu. There are no roads into Aguas Calientes, you must either take the train or arrive on foot.

As my train wasn’t for another couple hours, I hiked the mountain on the other side of town and enjoyed fresh banana pancakes with maple syrup at Hearts Cafe. I don’t know if I’ve ever had anything better. It was the perfect morning dish. So good!

After about an hour and 45 minutes, I arrived!

 After a full day of hiking and that train ride, I was almost too exhausted to even eat dinner. I repacked my bag and checked to make sure I had everything I needed. I planned to get up early to hike Machu Picchu, and didn’t know what to expect. Just that it’d feel surreal to finally be there…

 Stay tuned for Machu Picchu, Copacabana, and Isla del Sol!