Perusing Peru

I did it! I went to Peru. I stood in the middle of one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I checked the ultimate check off my bucket list. And I'm SO glad I did!

So the back story:

I've wanted to travel to Peru for as long as I can remember. Peru and Italy are my top 2 "must-do's". I remember seeing pictures of Machu Picchu in the history books and just staring at the page in awe. Fast forward to the days of Instagram and I discovered Rainbow Mountain, also in Peru. I knew I would eventually book a trip and see these two amazing places. What I didn't know is the day after I got back from a vacation to the Bahamas last November I would see a post from one of my favorite outdoor/travel accounts on IG (@brookewillson) saying she was hosting a trip TO PERU!! I immediately asked for more info and the rest is history!

Sidenote: I could not be more pleased with Trova Trip. They are very reasonably priced and take ALL the hard work and frustrations of planning an international trip away. You book your trip through them, you buy your flights, and you're done! Shuttles = they handle it. Airport transfers = they handle it. Tickets in to all the sites = they handle it. Majority of meals = they handle it. Hotels = they handle it. Tour guides throughout the trip = they handle it. It's seriously the best. Check them out here: you never know, we may be on our next trip together!

Back to the trip: this was an 8-day guided vacation that included everything I mentioned above along with some free time throughout to explore, eat, shop local markets, etc. on your own. Let's just say my Fitbit was working overtime these days, which is good seeing the amount of potatoes and rice I ate.

So here's what we did! (Scroll to the bottom if you only want the condensed itinerary with no details of each day.

DAY 1:

1. Arrival Day! Fly in to Cusco, Peru.

Some of us got there a few days ahead of time to acclimate ourselves to the altitude and to explore some on our own. I arrived the night before and stayed at La'Bom, a Hostel and Creperia in Cusco, with a few of the girls. (Also, the crepes at La'Bom warrant a trip back all on their own!)

2. Bussed from Cusco to Pisac. Checked in to our first official hotel of the trip: Royal Inka Pisac Hotel. The cutest hotel with the coolest fireplaces. Great food. Sweetest workers. A perfect kick-off to the trip. Oh, and the cutest alpacas and baby goats!

3. Met the group for our Welcome Dinner to get to know everyone . (I booked without knowing a soul.) Brooke, our host, setup an IG group with all of us a few months before the trip, so we knew who was going ahead of time but of course hadn't met yet. We ended up with a total of 16 travelers (2 Trip Managers work for Trova Trip).

DAY 2:

1. Pisac Market and Sacred Valley Tour

There are markets everywhere! And each booth offers something just slightly different than the next. Besides farming and agriculture, tourism is a major resource for locals to make a living. We had a guide show us how they make silver jewelry and how to shop for the best alpaca sweaters.

Sacred Valley is in Urubamba but technically covers around 60 miles from Cusco to Pisac. Most famously in the area of Urubamba are the Pisac Ruins with stunning views of some ancient Incan ruins. This was basically a mini version of Machu Picchu but just as cool. I quickly learned there are ruins EVERYWHERE. It's amazing! The terraces they built for farming were equally as fascinating. I couldn't stop looking around and imagining stepping back into time when all of this was created. It's truly incredible.

2. Next, we traveled to Ollantaytambo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited dwellings in South America. We walked around taking in the sites and saw where people are still living in the same houses and palaces as 500 years ago. You could easily see the oldest stones at the bottom of the buildings and houses that are original, then stacked with smaller stones as you go up that they've remodeled. Again, incredible.

3. Next we visited another Incan archaeological site, still in Ollantaytambo/Sacred Valley. Built on one side of the mountain overlooking another mountain of ruins you could also hike to. Did I mention everywhere you turn you see old ruins? Again, incredible.

4. Checked in to our hotel for the night, Sol Natura.

DAY 3:

1. Early call time, 5:15am. Left our luggage at the hotel since we are only allowed a backpack on the train to Machu Picchu and will be staying the night in Aguas Calientes. The hotel provided an early breakfast for us. Most hotel breakfasts consisted of yogurt, fruit, quinoa, and bread with jam.

2. Inca Rail train ride (1.5 hours) to Aguas Calientes! Once we arrived we hopped on a bus (after a long line even early in the morning) that took us on a 30 minute ride up the mountain to Machu Picchu, the Holy City of Incas! Cue amazement here and I hadn't even seen it yet!

3. Had a guided tour throughout Machu Picchu that lasted around 3 hours. I took approximately 7,294 pictures. (Our tour guide throughout the entire trip was Yure Chavez and he's amazing! He manages his own tour company, Peru Trek 4 Good. Check him out here.

Timeout because Machu Picchu deserves another paragraph:

I'm telling you, this is absolutely one of the most amazing places you will ever see. I stopped. I stared. I took pictures. I took videos. I stared some more. I touched the amazing stones. I walked down the same amazing paths they walked down in the 1400s. I took some more pictures. I had a moment to myself in one area that was a small room at one point and it kind of just stopped me in my tracks. I was there. I was actually there. I was truly amazed! I'm a sucker for history but for whatever reason, I just can't describe my long-time fascination with Machu Picchu. It's just so wild to me. It was by far the highlight of the trip. One of the best highlights of my life.

4. Once we were done taking pictures, trying to find llamas, and spending 2 Sols to use the bathroom, we waited in the never-ending looong line for the bus back down the mountain. (Even though there were a lot of people there, it actually wasn't bad walking through the ruins. The most congested parts were at the base where the bathrooms, tickets, lines for buses, giftshop, food, etc. were.) Once we bussed back down the mountain to Aguas Calientes, we were ready for a shower! (And it was only noon!)

5. Checked into La Pequena Casita Hotel which was located in the main area of the city next to plenty of eating places and the market to find some great souvenirs.

6. Dinner was on our own today, but the group went to Treehouse for an early dinner/happy hour and the food was delicious! So were the Pisco Sours!

DAY 4:

1. Headed out by 6:00am to get back in line for the bus to take us to the base of Machu Picchu to hike the adjacent mountain, Huayna Picchu (Wayna Picchu), that has stunning views of Machu Picchu. You can see this mountain while you're walking through Machu Picchu (see middle picture above) and I have to say, it's a little intimidating. It almost looks impossible to hike, but it's just steep steps with some ropes to grab along the way. We did have to stop every few flights of stairs to catch our breath. My Fitbit was showing 15,000+ steps and 300+ flights of stairs by 10:30am! But that view.... W-O-W! It is, well, incredible. Be sure to book your tickets up this mountain months in advance. They only let a few hundred hike each day and the way up closes by 9:00am since there is only way up and one way down to avoid congestion.

2. After the hike down and bus ride back, we headed to the train to make our way back to Ollantaytambo. First we stopped at Mapacho to try their infamous alpaca burger.

3. Between the early morning call time, tough climb up the mountain, and a long train ride, the free afternoon was a lifesaver. I think everyone crashed for a nap back at Sol Natura. Dinner was at Gusteaus. They had the BEST guacamole!

DAY 5:

1. Left Ollantaytambo to head to the salt pools in Maras and Moray!

2. The Salt Pools have over 4,000 pools that are owned by different families. These pools were originally below sea level and date back to original Incan times (1400s). The coloring ranges from lighter grey to reddish brown depending on the skill of the worker extracting the salt.

3. Next we bussed to Moray which has three different areas of circular terraces and depressions of some ancient ruins said to be used like greenhouses for specific farming, more than likely corn or potatoes. This area was abandoned for years after the Spanish evasion because they were not interested in farming.

4. Next we traveled to Chinchero village where we had a class over Incan textiles and the process of turning alpaca fur into the beautiful blankets and ponchos that we see in all of the markets.

5. Drove to Cusco and checked into La Posada del Viajero where we would stay for the remainder of the trip.

DAY 6:

1. We got to sleep in! Had a traditional breakfast at the hotel then left for temple visits throughout the city of Cusco.

2. The pass that was purchased for us ahead of time included all of these temples. (You have to have tickets to enter each one.)

- Koricancha 'Temple of the Sun', Sacsayhuaman, Kenko, Puca-Pucara, and Tambomachay

Koricancha in right in the downtown area of Cusco and was built around 1500. You will be walking down the street and come up on this ancient ruin that has been built around it by modern day buildings. It's equally fascinating and sad. The Spanish takeover also brought in the use of cement and you will see arches on doorways in one area but the old incan stone with sharp lines in another area.

Sacsayhuaman was another sight to see! These ruins house some of the largest stones used in any of the ancient ruins, some being 80 tons. It also includes a water reservoir and was considered a fortress that overlooks the city of Cusco.

3. The rest of the day was on our own so we spent it touring more markets to buy souvenirs and hanging out in the main square watching another parade for Mother of Carmen which was being celebrated the week we were there.

DAY 7:

1. Our last full day! And it was a doozy! Woke up to the earliest call time of the trip to make it to Rainbow Mountain before the crowd got too crazy.

2. Left the hotel at 5:00am and made our 3 hour bus ride to Cusipata. We stopped halfway through for breakfast that was setup for us prior. On the menu this morning: pancakes! along with eggs, bread, and fruit.

3. The hike up to Rainbow Mountain starts at about 14,189 ft and goes to the highest view point of Rainbow Mountain - 17,060 ft. It takes about 1 1/2 hours gradually going uphill for 2.2 miles. Since the altitude is so high the oxygen levels are l-o-w. We'd have to take about 5 or 6 steps at a time and then stop to catch our breath. Was it worth it? YES! I had semi-low expectations of the mountain being as vibrant as it is on social media. I figured most pictures were photoshopped or the saturation was turned pretty far up. But it was everything I wanted it to be and more! The colors are vibrant and beautiful. You can do a 360 view around and it's equally as beautiful. The red mountains, the snow capped mountains, the horses, the llamas. It was, yes I'll say it again... incredible!

4. After making the trek back down the mountain, we were ready for lunch! We stopped at the same roadside restaurant as breakfast and had the best quinoa and potato soup, garlic bread, and buffet style entree with pasta and potatoes. They love their carbs there! And I'm not mad about it!

5. "The Last Supper". Although tired, everyone was eager to get to dinner and celebrate the trip, new friendships, our last night together, and plan our reunion trip. (We really are!) I ended the trip with the best and most popular Peruvian meal: Lomo Saltado with a Pisco Sour!

I could not be happier with this trip! From the ruins to the hikes to the friendships to the ease of the itinerary, it was all amazing! I highly recommend Trova Trip and I highly recommend Peru! This is one check off the bucket list you want to do!!

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Additional things to pack: (based on an 8 day trip)

- 2 jeans/3 leggings/3 casual tops/3 tanks/ jackets and long-sleeve layers

- Runners/sandals/casual shoes

- Body lotion (I say this because I forgot mine and out of the 10,470,375 shops and markets, no one carries lotion!!)

- Portable phone chargers

- Camera/lenses

- Kleenex (the fluctuation in temperature from one hour to the next will get ya)

- Altitude sickness medicine (take every morning for precaution)

- Benadryl/Cortisone cream

- Advil

- Emergen-C (sore throats are inevitable)

- Sunscreen

- Hand sanitizer/wipes

- Water bottle

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SHORTENED ITINERARY:

Day 1:

- Bussed from Cusco to Pisac

- Welcome Dinner

Day 2:

- Pisac Market

- Sacred Valley Tour

- Ollantaytambo

Day 3:

- Inca Rail

- Toured Machu Picchu

Day 4:

- Hiked Wayna Pichhu

- Final touring of Machu Picchu

- Back too Ollantaytambo

Day 5:

- Salt Pools/Maras

- Moray/Ruins

- Chinchero Village/Textile making tour

- Bussed to Cusco

Day 6:

- Koricancha 'Temple of the Sun', Sacsayhuaman, Kenko, Puca-Pucara, and Tambomachay

Day 7:

- Rainbow Mountain

- Farewell Dinner

Thank you for following along and reading this recap! I had fun looking back at pictures and reliving this wonderful trip. I hope this helps you plan yours or inspires you to book yours. You won't regret it!

- Jill