[I’m still out traveling, but I have a new mini series to share! Believe it or not, I did a bit of traveling before blogging came in vogue. Over the next few days I’ll share posts about 3 trips I took pre-bloglife. The first is here and the second there.]
After finishing university, I was looking for my next big goal. It felt a little funny to not have something really obvious that I was working towards. One of my life goals is to visit all 7 continents, so I decided I should start working on that. I hadn’t been to South America yet and Peru had the cheapest airfare. I was going to Peru!
All I had to do was ask once and my good friend Shauna was ready to take the adventure with me. We took care to plan every little detail and had everything set weeks in advance. (This is a far cry as to how I travel now!)
My intrepid travel partner and me.
Our trip began in Cusco where we immediately hit the ground running and got a bit of the altitude sickness. Not a good feeling. I definitely recommend taking it easy your first day. The altitude is pretty intense.
The view from the train on our way to Aguas Calientes (the city nearest Machu Picchu).
Our first big site was the incredible Machu Picchu. We didn’t have time to trek in but we did wake up super early to watch the sunrise over the ancient city. Incredible.
Wowza.
Sitting in a window at Machu Picchu.
Next we dropped in at Casa de Milagros. It’s really hard to describe Casa de Milagros. “Orphanage” is close but not quite right. The couple who run the home consider each of the children living there to be their sons and daughters. It’s a giant family that welcomes volunteers and interns and does work in the greater community. We were there to drop off some very heavy school supplies we collected and brought with us.
A colorful sign at Casa de Milagros.
We traveled south to Lake Titicaca where we participated in a homestay on the island of Amantani. Our hosts had a lovely and very comfortable home. We felt very welcome even though there were a few awkward moments. (Shauna asking in Spanish: “Does the toilet function?”)
Before leaving we took a flight to Puetro Maldonado, a town in the middle of the Amazon. From there we ventured further into the rainforest for a stay at an eco-lodge. Ummm… this portion of the trip was half amazing and half awful. Let’s just say food poisoning in the middle of the night in a hut with thin walls is not pleasant…especially when I found out the entire guest list heard my retching.
We finished off our trip in Lima where we accidentally stayed in a… um… how do you say… hooker hotel? Shauna did a great job of documenting our confusion and horror when we realized those men and women coming in and out of rooms were there for a very different reason than us. The porno shoot we stumbled upon was the tip off. So yeah, I’d say skip Lima if you can… hehe.
I only mentioned the most memorable moments of the trip. There was much more adventure and silliness jam packed in those few weeks.
More photos are in my flickr set.
xo, jill
