Ok so I'm a little late posting on Peru, but better late than never, right? Sharleen, Michelle and I had an amazing trip to Peru. It was definitely one of the highlights of living in South America so far. We spent about 2 days in Lima and spent 3 1/2 days in Cusco, including 1 day at Machu Piccu. I took a mountain of pictures which you can see here, but I figured I would keep this post relatively short. Shar, you're going to have to fact check me here to make sure I named all of the places correctly!
First thing Sunday morning, we took a tour of Lima. It was really interesting to travel through the city as it's very different from Buenos Aires. I was struck by the amount and quality of European architecture in Lima. I'd always heard that Buenos Aires is the most "European" city in South America, but from an architecture perspective, I think Lima takes the cake.
This is La Catedral de Lima. Apparently it's the second largest in Latin America, second to the National Cathedral in Mexico DF.
Us in the Plaza de Armas in front of La Catedral de Lima.
Such cool architecture! This is the Museum and Church of San Francisco. We toured the church and then went down into the catacombs! This is the second time in a year that I've been able to see catacombs. They are so cool, but with the earthquake that happened about a month ago in Peru, there were one to many "final resting place" jokes for my liking while we were down there.
So after our city tour, we headed back to the hotel because we had a veeery early flight to Cusco the next morning. Now I was a little terrified about getting to Cusco because it's a city that sits 11,500 feet above sea level. And for all of you who remember my experience at Sundance Film Festival two years ago, I was really afraid I was going to get altitude sickness. In the end, we all suffered from some headaches and Shar and I did not sleep the first night, but other than that, it was ok. This is thanks, in large part, to mate de coca!
This is a delicious tea brewed from leaves of the coca plant. No, it is not liquid cocaine by any stretch. I was told that you would have to drink 700 cups of mate de coca to even get a little bit of the effect of cocaine. Coca tea does, however, keep you hydrated which is the number one way to avoid altitude sickness.
Our beautiful hotel in Cusco, Hotel Munay Wasi.
Cusco is a beautiful town filled with different cultural and religious influences. You can easily identify Jesuit and Franciscan churches, but many of them were actually constructed on Inca holy sites. There are subtle Inca references in a lot of the religious art in Cusco as well.
Main square in Cusco-- you can see the mountains in the background.
Basilica of Cusco-- apparently it's the third largest in Latin America, to Lima and Mexico DF.
Me and Shar Shar in the main square.
Yes, it's touristy, but I couldn't help myself!
We spent a lot of time in a neighborhood called San Blas, which is the artistic/cultural heart of the city. It actually reminded me of Bellagio in Italy a little bit because of the steep, cobble stoned streets, and the impressive views. Needless to say, Cusco is not nearly as clean as Italy, but it did have some similarities.
View of the main square in San Blas.
The next day, we took a tour of Cusco and the surrounding ruins. This is us at the Saqsaywaman site, the Inca House of the Sun.
View from the ruins. They had a giant condor standing on a rock in the center of the ruins, and I did take some pictures of it. The whole thing seemed a little off to me, so I decided not to post the pictures of the condor here. You can see them in my Picasa web album if you want.
After seeing the House of the Sun, we headed to see Q'enqo, the Inca temple dedicated to Mother Earth, a site where the Inca performed religious sacrifices. It's mostly a natural rock formation and Shar and I took a picture on the path actually toward the ritual site.
Finally, we hiked our way up to 13,100 feet to see Tambomachay, the baths where the Inca worshiped water.
For more information on ruins around Cusco, check out this site.
Cusco at night. I thought this was such a beautiful picture. The next day, we were off super early to catch the Peru Rail train to Machu Piccu.
The train had these great skylights which made it even easier to see the incredible landscape outside of Cusco.
I took about a billion pictures of the countryside, which you can see in my web album.
After the 4-hour train ride and a 25-minute bus ride of switchbacks, we made it to Machu Piccu. This place is truly one of the most spiritual and breathtaking sites I have ever seen.
We were immediately picked up by a tour which took us around the ruins for two hours.
I took about a million pictures of the ruins as well, which you can see in the web album.
After we'd finished with the tour, the three of us felt like we needed a little more time, so we sat down on the terraced steps and just took the place in. We must have spent about a half an hour just talking and reflecting. That was my single most favorite moment of the trip.
The black and white feature, one of the many things Shar taught me about my camera :)
Final thoughts on Peru:
Alright, so much for my short post, but there was so much to talk about. I'm heading to Rio de Janeiro on Saturday so look for new pictures soon!
First thing Sunday morning, we took a tour of Lima. It was really interesting to travel through the city as it's very different from Buenos Aires. I was struck by the amount and quality of European architecture in Lima. I'd always heard that Buenos Aires is the most "European" city in South America, but from an architecture perspective, I think Lima takes the cake.
This is La Catedral de Lima. Apparently it's the second largest in Latin America, second to the National Cathedral in Mexico DF.
Us in the Plaza de Armas in front of La Catedral de Lima.
Such cool architecture! This is the Museum and Church of San Francisco. We toured the church and then went down into the catacombs! This is the second time in a year that I've been able to see catacombs. They are so cool, but with the earthquake that happened about a month ago in Peru, there were one to many "final resting place" jokes for my liking while we were down there.
So after our city tour, we headed back to the hotel because we had a veeery early flight to Cusco the next morning. Now I was a little terrified about getting to Cusco because it's a city that sits 11,500 feet above sea level. And for all of you who remember my experience at Sundance Film Festival two years ago, I was really afraid I was going to get altitude sickness. In the end, we all suffered from some headaches and Shar and I did not sleep the first night, but other than that, it was ok. This is thanks, in large part, to mate de coca!
This is a delicious tea brewed from leaves of the coca plant. No, it is not liquid cocaine by any stretch. I was told that you would have to drink 700 cups of mate de coca to even get a little bit of the effect of cocaine. Coca tea does, however, keep you hydrated which is the number one way to avoid altitude sickness.
Our beautiful hotel in Cusco, Hotel Munay Wasi.
Cusco is a beautiful town filled with different cultural and religious influences. You can easily identify Jesuit and Franciscan churches, but many of them were actually constructed on Inca holy sites. There are subtle Inca references in a lot of the religious art in Cusco as well.
Main square in Cusco-- you can see the mountains in the background.
Basilica of Cusco-- apparently it's the third largest in Latin America, to Lima and Mexico DF.
Me and Shar Shar in the main square.
Yes, it's touristy, but I couldn't help myself!
We spent a lot of time in a neighborhood called San Blas, which is the artistic/cultural heart of the city. It actually reminded me of Bellagio in Italy a little bit because of the steep, cobble stoned streets, and the impressive views. Needless to say, Cusco is not nearly as clean as Italy, but it did have some similarities.
View of the main square in San Blas.
The next day, we took a tour of Cusco and the surrounding ruins. This is us at the Saqsaywaman site, the Inca House of the Sun.
View from the ruins. They had a giant condor standing on a rock in the center of the ruins, and I did take some pictures of it. The whole thing seemed a little off to me, so I decided not to post the pictures of the condor here. You can see them in my Picasa web album if you want.
After seeing the House of the Sun, we headed to see Q'enqo, the Inca temple dedicated to Mother Earth, a site where the Inca performed religious sacrifices. It's mostly a natural rock formation and Shar and I took a picture on the path actually toward the ritual site.
Finally, we hiked our way up to 13,100 feet to see Tambomachay, the baths where the Inca worshiped water.
For more information on ruins around Cusco, check out this site.
Cusco at night. I thought this was such a beautiful picture. The next day, we were off super early to catch the Peru Rail train to Machu Piccu.
The train had these great skylights which made it even easier to see the incredible landscape outside of Cusco.
I took about a billion pictures of the countryside, which you can see in my web album.
After the 4-hour train ride and a 25-minute bus ride of switchbacks, we made it to Machu Piccu. This place is truly one of the most spiritual and breathtaking sites I have ever seen.
We were immediately picked up by a tour which took us around the ruins for two hours.
I took about a million pictures of the ruins as well, which you can see in the web album.
After we'd finished with the tour, the three of us felt like we needed a little more time, so we sat down on the terraced steps and just took the place in. We must have spent about a half an hour just talking and reflecting. That was my single most favorite moment of the trip.
The black and white feature, one of the many things Shar taught me about my camera :)
Final thoughts on Peru:
1) The food is absolutely amazing! We had most of our meals in little hole-in-the-wall places that cost 50 cents for a two-course meal and a drink. It was one of the best ways that we connected with the local culture. As Sharleen is ever the culinary adventurer, I even tried llama meat, guinea pig, and octopus.
2) Peru is a stunning country, and I feel like I only hit the tip of the iceberg. There are so many other places I want to go-- Lake Titicaca, the Amazon jungle, the coast, etc.
3) Machu Piccu is seriously worth the trip. They're having issues with the number of tourists traveling into the park each day, so they might be cracking down on admission in the future. However, if you can find a way to go, as long as it is officially and responsibly, it is SO worth the trip :)
2) Peru is a stunning country, and I feel like I only hit the tip of the iceberg. There are so many other places I want to go-- Lake Titicaca, the Amazon jungle, the coast, etc.
3) Machu Piccu is seriously worth the trip. They're having issues with the number of tourists traveling into the park each day, so they might be cracking down on admission in the future. However, if you can find a way to go, as long as it is officially and responsibly, it is SO worth the trip :)
Alright, so much for my short post, but there was so much to talk about. I'm heading to Rio de Janeiro on Saturday so look for new pictures soon!
