Cuzco & Machu Picchu

Cuzco was both the my best and worst time in Peru.  Everything was amazing, except for when I was sick.  The first day, altitude sickness really hit me and I couldn't enjoy much of anything.  That being said, we saw some pretty awesome ruins that first day.  The city of Cuzco itself is beautiful.  I like it a lot more than Lima.  It's still a big city, but it has more of a small town feel.  The history of the city is so interesting too.  Cuzco was the capital of the Incan empire.  Some of the modern buildings were built using some of the old Incan stone walls as a foundation.  I struggle-bused through that day and went to bed at like 7pm.

Day 2 was Machu Picchu!  It was so beautiful.  Photos don't do it justice.  The entire landscape, with the mountains all around, the mist, and the ancient buildings...amazing!  The history of the city was really interesting as well.  It was much smaller than I thought it would be population-wise, only about 400-500 people.  Machu Picchu was one of the only cities not to be discovered by the Spanish in their conquest of the Incan empire.  We ate lunch at a restaurant at the entrance to Machu Picchu.  Some natives played live music there.  It was nice to relax a bit there and head back down to the city to do some souvenir shopping.

Day 3 was the Sacred Valley.  By this time, I was pretty exhausted.  Almost a full week of traveling and days full of activities.  The Sacred Valley was pretty cool.  We saw some more ruins and ended our trip with a visit to where they make clothes and other goods out of sheep and alpaca wool.  I bought myself an alpaca sweater for just 40 soles (~$15).  Best money I ever spent.  I also got to take a picture with this guy that was dressed as Manco Capac, the founder of Cuzco City.

We travelled back to Lima on day 4.  I am really glad to be back in Lima and have some time to relax and not be hiking through some jungle or climbing a mountain.  But this week in the Amazon and Cuzco was probably the best week of my life.

The Amazon

The trip to Iquitos was amazing!  The days were super packed and very tiring, but we definitely got our money's worth.  We did so much in only 3 days.  Our fearless tour guide, Neil, showed us around the city of Iquitos and the Amazon.  Our first stop when we arrived to Iquitos was a market where we tried some new foods.  First up...a grub.  In a moment of weakness, I ate half of one.  It actually didn't taste too bad, but I kinda wanted to puke at the thought of it.  Then we tried a nut natural to the area and a blue, slimy fruit.  The nut was awesome!  The fruit tasted good but the texture was a little freaky...like alien brains.

After all that, we hopped on a boat and went to our lodge, which was right on the Amazon River.  It was luxurious.  Definitely more resort-like that I was imagining.  All the food was fantastic.  Everything we ate was all natural and organic.  The fish was especially good!  We also had fresh fruit juices with each meal.  Delicious!

Our first outing was to go piranha fishing.  I caught a fish!  It was a tetra instead of a piranha but still. We also saw some pink dolphins!  It was crazy to see.  We saw glimpse of a pair of them right by where we were fishing.  That night, we did a night hike though the jungle.  I'd rather not remember it...way to many tarantulas.

The next day, we hiked again through the jungle.  It was way more enjoyable in the daytime.  Neil and his machete kept us safe!  My favorite part was seeing some monkeys!  We saw a small troop (12-15) jumping through the trees ahead of us.  It was awesome seeing monkeys in their natural habitat.  We also saw a bunch of different trees and plant species.  Next, we went to a village near the lodge.  We were greeted by 4 children holding a sloth, monkey, turtle, and little bird.  Holding a sloth is part of the reason I came to Peru, so this was the moment I had been waiting for!  Luis the sloth was a dream come true...  Then some of the villagers dressed up in their old, traditional dress and danced and played music for us.  It was really cool!

The third day was also our last.  We went to Neil's parent's house and saw how they made rum and molasses out of sugar cane.  There was also a pond full of gigantic lily pads.  After those 3 packed days, I was happy to return to Lima for a bit before flying out to Cuzco!