Peru
Peru
If you are considering going to Peru, I would say you 100% need to go. I have traveled quite a bit and Peru has been one of my very top trips. There is so much culture and beauty all around— from the nature, to the cities, the people and so forth. AND if you’re dying to see quite a bit of llamas and alpacas, this is THE place. Peru is life.
Lima, Peru-
We started off by flying into the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima. (Side note: I love this airport quite a lot!) We didn’t have much time in Lima. From my experience and from hearing from other travelers, you either love or hate Lima. I did not find many people who were mild about it. I think just 2-3 days is plenty (but that varies from person to person). Our first experience, at the beginning of our trip, we were not abundantly impressed, but still would recommend some time in Lima to others. We stayed in the Barranco neighborhood, which is a must see neighborhood of Lima. There are vibrant colors and street art everywhere you go. We loved that!
It was a 60 sole taxi ride from the airport to Barranco (I would always recommended booking a taxi inside the airport. They won’t rip you off!) When we arrived late Thursday night, there were a multitude of people out and about— eating, walking around and being social! It felt very safe. We grabbed a bite to eat, as we were famished. We stayed at a hostel called, Kaminu. It was a very cute hostel, in a cute area. There was a shared bathroom right in the front of the hostel, always interesting. My bed was dirty, which was tragic. It was definitely not my favorite hostel… But good wifi, phenomenal location and a good terrace up top! The breakfast was just bread and jam, per usual.
We spent the next afternoon just walking around and drinking coffee at cafes (La Panaterria Barrancoare the two pictures below with the bike and the coffee mug.!!)
We headed to the airport to fly to Cusco, but there was some confusion on the time. Our flight said it was at 4:44 and I assumed it was in the afternoon…. FALSE. It was that morning and we missed our flight. My bad. We had to pay a bit to reschedule our flight. It wasn’t until the next morning, but we were too frugal and lazy to get another taxi and book another hostel. So we made ol’ Jorge Chávez Airport home. There was a Starbucks for wifi and chilling. We had a phenomenal salad and definitely some vino, with the kindest server (Jean Carlos!!!) at Pikeos. I also got the best massage, which was pretty cheap! We slept on the floor and actually really enjoyed our time in the airport. Jaja!
Other things in Lima…. We also stopped by the Lacomar Mall. It is pretty commercial, with many recognizable stores. Nothing spectacular, but why not go if you have time. It is right on the water! Next, the Miraflores area is just wonderful. We stayed here at the end of our trip. We stayed at the Pariwana Hostel, which might be our favorite hostel yet! There was a rooftop, with a restaurant and great vibes! It was a very social hostel. We only stayed one night, but it changed our view of Lima and we wished we had more time! The area it is in is cute, with many cafes. For some reason, I was DYING for some Pizza Hut and there was one directly next to it. Praise the Lord!
Lastly, there is a bus stop right by the Pariwana hostel. You look for someone in a yellow vest with the tickets. It was 1.5 soles and 25 minutes (unless there’s traffic) to the old part of Lima, where the Plaza De Armas is AND the Plaza San Martin is. The Plaza De Armas was anticlimactic, but the Plaza San Martin blew us away! All the buildings were white and full of history and romance. Just impeccable! We sat here for a bit and marveled… also, we were winded! Haha.
We walked past the Real Plaza and enjoyed ourselves there. A lot of commercial places again, but it was refreshing at the end of our trip! We stopped at Starbucks for wifi and I also got a boba tea in the plaza! There are so many beauitful streets and buildings in this area! We loved it. We didn’t make it in time, but I hear there’s the changing of the guards in the Plaza De Armas at 12pm everyday, which is awesome! I wish we had gone. I also heard there is exquisite ceviche in Lima, that you must try. I, unfortunately, did not try any here, because I was not feeling too adventurous in the food department, post food poisoning (which is another story for later!) Haha.
Cusco, Peru-
Okay. Wowzers. Cusco. I have some things to say about Cusco. I didn’t even like Lima that much and I had all that to say.. haha! Oh geez. Cusco is charming, quaint, interesting, beautiful and all things lovely. It may be one of my all time favorite cities I have been to. I am at a loss of words. Kidding. Every street we visited was interesting and made you want to explore. My advice is to just explore! I do have some places we LOVED. I think out of all your places you visit in Peru, you need the most time in Cusco. We flew from Lima to Cusco. Easy Breezy. (26 hours by alternative transportation!)
Obviously, you need time in the Plaza Del Armas. It is warm and sunny in the afternoons and it’s dreamy to walk through or take a seat and look around. Our first hostel we stayed at the was the VIP House Hostel. We didn’t love it. It was pretty chilly (I slept with a beanie over my literal face the first night. Haha!) The wifi didn’t work well in the rooms and (even though I don’t love to shower all the time) the showers were SO lame and freezing. Otherwise, the lobby was cozy and the people were SO kind. It was a few blocks from the Plaza, so fairly good location. I would not recommend this one. The second hostel we stayed in was the Ecopackers Hostel. We did enjoy our time here! It was very close to the Plaza and there were good vibes here! Hot showers and good wifi in the main area. None in the room. There were also ping pong tables! Amen.
First, let’s talk food and cafes! Our all time favorite place of the trip was a place called, Jack’s Cafe! They had all kinds of food and it felt a bit like home. I had the BEST Huevos Rancheros of my life here. Also, my flat white was to die for. We went here twice and the next time, I had the Gordo— bacon, sausage, beans, toast, eggs, potatoes!!! Come on. Fabulous. 100% have to come here.
All our favorite places were in one area. It was right near the Plaza de San Blas on Calle Carmen Alto. If you walk up the hill and you come upon the San Blas Temple in front of you, our favorite little places were on that street to the left. There was a place with some great pressed juice (Qura) and cafes with coffee and pastries everywhere. Heaven. The Eva’s Cafeteria place , “Coffee To Go” was wonderful and quaint. The coffee was fairly good and they had the most majestic looking Nutella cinnamon rolls there… that I notably regret not getting. We thought about that cinnamon roll for the remainder of our trip, jaja! It was so nice to have a warm coffee to explore the streets with. Go here! Also, Eusebio & Manoi was SO cute and had great coffee and a super good breakfast deal! (All pictured here!!)
Also, near the Plaza De San Blas is a place calledKm0!!! You can see it as you are walking up the hill and the San Blas Temple is on your right! Km0 is life. My friend recommended it from his travels for the live music! We ended up going here 3 different nights, haha… They had great wine. We shared a bottle! (Which, speaking of vino, we for some reason had quite a difficult time finding wine in restaurants.. one night it truly became a voyage to find some vino! It was treacherous.) Anyways, we had some lovely vino at Km0! Km0 has such a trendy and fun vibe to it! We LOVED the live music. It provided such a lively scene. This is a must go!! On Saturday’s there is theMercado de San Blas. It is small, but I would suggest stopping by! One of my other tremendous regrets, suggested by a friend as the “best sandwich with soooo much avocado” is at this market! I would check it out. I have some serious regret, lol. In the San Blas area, we got a hair wrapped and it made our trip! Such a good decision. There was a place that did hair wraps, but the lady was never there! We ended up being referred to a bunch of people and had to ask around on the street and this guy ended up being our guy!
One of the cutest coffee shops, with a view, is on this same, magnificent street. It is called, L’atelier By Grid, and is Parisian (which is a dream and pictured below!) They played spunky, French music! I adored it. This is a must go!
Oh wow, I am genuinely in love with Cusco. So back to the Plaza De Armas. This is such a central area and you must spend time here! The buildings are insane! I would say to sit around and soak it all in. Also, there is the Plaza Cafe (on top of a hotel) that is super cute and has good coffee, with a good view of the plaza. The Starbucks there also has a beautiful view!!
Make sure to take some photos with alpacas and goats, jaja! Also, if you see some cute niños, they love photos! One of our favorite things were all the cute kiddos— we are both such teachers!! I usually just said I had one sole. I wasn’t going to pay a bunch for a photo and they usually didn’t mind. So haggle that price down! Warning: as a tourist, they are ALWAYS trying to sell you something. At first we were so kind and were like “ohhhhh nooooo gracias. Have a wonderful day! *SMILE*” and by the end… I either wouldn’t even look at them or do the “I am not amused” face and say, “No.” Haha! You will get fed up, but it’s part of life there….. Well, EAT HELADO!! Ice cream is always a good idea.
Last Cusco-y things! I went bungee jumping. It was fun! I went at Action Valley. (Pretty near the Plaza De Armas!) It was about $70 (plus $20 for photos and a video) and super easy. You scheduled a time and they had a taxi come pick you up at the office and take you to the location. This was my second time bungee jumping and about 70 meters shorter than my last jump, but still thrilling nonetheless! This jump was 122 meters and had pretty scenery of mountains around! I enjoyed my time. You can trust it!
On Sundays there are a couple markets around. Locally, there is the San Pedro Market. There is food and flowers here! There is so much culture here! I think it is worth walking by. But the real MVP of markets is the Pisac Market!! Ask you hostel for more directions if you need, but you will need to take a taxi to the bus location (technically a stalker van) and then take the van to Pisac. It is a little town. The ride is super cheap and such a scenic route! You go up the mountain and get to see so much life on the way up. We could have spent the entire day in Pisac, but had to get back to Cusco to bungee jump. The town was quaint and seemed very local! The market was fabulous with everything you would ever want. My friend bought some spunky, Peruvian shoes! I bought a painting and an alpaca scarf! This was the best market for goods! There was food too, of course!
Puno, Peru-
We took a bus from Cusco to Puno. It was a morning ride and took about 7 hours. The bus was a bit hot, but had plugs and wifi for our phones, comfortable seats, had beverages for you and we made a stop at a “gas station” with the best chicken sandwich and coffee! We booked it in the Plaza De Armas of Cusco. We did the Turismo Merebus!! I would recommend this one for sure! It’s a big lime green bus. The drive is interesting, as you go through poorer parts of Peru! I love to see all different kinds of life. So, Puno… is more grungy and has far less tourist! We stayed at a marvelous hostel here called, Marlon’s House Puno! We probably loved it so much because we had a private room and a HOT shower. It felt like straight luxury! STAY HERE. It also is perfectly located. You walk down (away from the arch) and you are on Calle Lima. This is where all the shops, cafes and restaurants are! You also run straight into Parque Pino on your left— with bright buildings and so much sun! Grab some helado! We had our favorite helado here! And you will run straight into the Plaza De Armason your right. This is nothing extravagant, but always worth checking out! There were so many marches and music! One night a bunch of the policeman were out in the plaza playing music with all their instruments like a marching band! It was awesome. I definitely think Puno was worth the stop! Way different than Cusco.
We were only in Puno for about 24 hours and that was sufficient! We woke up early in search for a cute cafe before our daily excursion to Lago Titicaca. We stumbled upon an adorable cafe, called Café- Restaurant Buho! It is attached to Hotel El Buho!!! Perfect. And buffet breakfast with cereal!!
We booked a tour with our hostel to visit Los Uros Islands on Lago Titicaca! So fascinating! It was inexpensive, easy to book and the taxi took us to and from the lake from our hostel! We took a motorized boat to the islands. It let us off and we hung out on the island and learned about it! You have the option to take the traditional straw boats for and extra 10 soles! Worth it. We then got dropped off at the 2nd island and got some water (it was toasty outside!) and a surprisingly delicious cheese and bread sandwich! ALSO, you can get your passport stamped here for one sole. Amen. I also bought a llama pen here. There are many places to get one, but I felt like I couldn’t deny it any longer here, haha! This was a 3 hour excursion! Not too lengthy.
Right before we left Puno…. We were hungry for some food and we stopped for a place real quick by the plaza….. long story short. We loved the place, total hole in the wall and we went upstairs and felt like we had join a meeting with members from the mafia… Lol. The server was the kindest person of all time and we ate life-giving soup! Anyways….. the main course came and I think it was the chicken that gave me FOOD POISONING. Haha. This was tragic but also a good and humbling experience for me. Ultimately, I am thankful. During the midst of the food poisoning, I thought I was dying. Well….. ***this is graphic*** I threw up 20 times. 12 times in the bathroom on the BUS. 3 times on myself on the bus. And 5 times at the hostel after. This is real and this was my life. HAHA. Obviously, this made our bus ride from Puno to Arequipa a disaster… but on top of that the bus was the opposite of luxury. No wifi or plugs (wahhh) 6 hours, we went out of the way to pick people up in Juliaca, no stop. Just not great! This bus is called Transzela….. Aside from me being the vomit-master, this bus was the WORST. I would recommend it, never. Pretty views on the way down south though. I did appreciate this and the sunset in the midst of my misery. Lol.
Arequipa, Peru-
We loved Arequipa. It is arguably the most beautiful city in Peru. My first night here and the next day, I was recovering from my food poisoning experience (descriptive recall above). We stayed at the MB Backpackers Hostel. SO AWESOME. The older guy working at the hostel was so kind. He gave be water and Gatorade, said he would call the doctor if I needed and let me cry on the step in the reception.. jaja! Love him! This hostel is in the most perfect location. A 1-2 minute walk to the Plaza De Armas. I would consider this to be the prettiest one in Peru! All white building everywhere. Historic, intricate and romantic. I was in love! There was also a Starbucks 30 seconds away with killer wifi! This hostel had good, social but chill vibes with a terrace that will knock your socks off! The view is breathtaking— you can see part of the plaza, the tops of buildings that scream “South America” and gorgeous mountains! All this plus a sunset and some live music and everything is perfect. We also had some fabulous chicken quesadillas here! There is a place called La Lucha with one tasty burger there!! We ate it in about 5 seconds! It is right across from the hostel.
These (above) are some views from the hostel! I didn’t take any of the mountains, but they are breathtaking! I would encourage you to walk around and explore the streets. We love the streets. Some other things to see here are:
The Iglesia de la Compañía. Magnificent.
Mundo Alpaca (10 min. walk from Plaza)
Monasterio de Santa Catalina
Mercado San Camilo
Mundo Alpaca is a store and it has an assortment of different kind of llamas and alpacas. I am obsessed and they were hilarious. I was seriously so joyous here!! The Monasterio de Santa Catalina was SO colorful and super interesting to see how people used to live here (40 soles. We thought it was worth it!) and it is very close to the Plaza. Mercado San Camilo is a food market and it is vibrant and one of the best food market we saw! We are super into markets. I had a juice, that was uber cheap! Mango, apple, orange and strawberry!!!!
Aguas Calientes y Machu Picchu, Peru-
Aguas Calientes is the town you have to stay in for Machu Picchu! We really loved it here. It is small and you feel like you can explore and see the whole place! We took a taxi to the train station in Cusco and took a very early morning train, on IncaRail, to AG! It was a beautiful train ride, with beverages and a snack! It was the bumpiest train ride of my life, which was hilarious! I also had zero sleep…. Haha! Our train was at like 5 something in the morning! It was a bit pricey, like $120 I think. But it must be done, because Machu Picchu is life- changing! And it is the quickest route from Cusco! We stayed at Eco Machu Picchu Puebo Hostel and it changed our lives. This was our first (of two times total) of a private room and it was after a night of zero sleep for me and my first shower of the trip….. Lol. It was magical!! We napped too. Also, the guy who worked here may have been the kindest person we encountered the entire trip. So accommodating. He switched our room when there was no hot water, which is comical because we were in Aquas Calientes! He packed us a lunch for Machu Picchu and when I needed to print my tickets, he walked me a couple blocks over to the internet cafe to print them!!!! SO KIND! I’m thankful. A couple of things about Aguas Calientes: First, I had the best Loma Saltado of my life at Julian Restaurant. Second, DO NOT GO TO THE HOT SPRINGS. It’s like a giant jacuzzi, doesn’t feel or look fresh, there’s a million people and kids in there and you just feel downright gross in there! We are passionately against it. Do not waste 20 soles, plus 3 soles on a towel. Also, there were bathing suits for…. RENT. That should have been a sign. Don’t trust it. Haha!! On a different note, you should try some of the Peruvian grapefruit, Granadilla!
The best for last, Machu Picchu!! We bought tickets in advance for the basic Machu Picchu, which was perfect for us! This is one with a classic view of Machu Picchu that you see in most the pictures! We didn’t do the multiple day trek (maybe another time, but we were always traveling for a little under 2 weeks)! You can also hike Huayna Picchu, which we also heard was super amazing! We were completely content with the basic one! We bought our tickets for a self-guided tour fro a little under $100. We didn’t initially account for some other costs, but we had to pay for a bus ticket up to Machu Picchu and we decided to get a tour guide (worth it!!). We did the morning one to see Machu Picchu and I think that is the way to go, but you have to get up EARLY. You
want to be there no later than 4am, with already purchased bus tickets. So you will have a PRINTED Machu Picchu ticket and bus ticket! We did it all wrong and ended up waiting in line for like 3 hours…….. Anyways, Machu Picchu is majestic. You mentally prepare yourself for the classic scene of the ruins, that you see in all the photos, but I was not prepared for the beauty of the mountains all around. It was like a watercolor of deep blues of mountains. I was truly taken back and in awe of our Creator who designed all this! God is truly insane and creative. I love Him and thankful for His nature. I would for sure suggest a tour guide. Abel showed us the best spots for photos AND told us of the fascinating history of Machu Picchu and the Incas! We loved the history a lot. Don’t forget to get your passport stamped here!!!!
Peru was a trip of a life time!! I am so thankful for Haley and I to have traveled together. Our lives are so similarly paralleled!… She lives in Tennessee and I, in Texas. We met 5 years ago working at a Young Life camp in Georgia. She was a life guard and I was a bike wrangler (leading mountain bike tours)! The last time we hung out was 4 years ago. I came to visit and she drove me to North Carolina to another Young Life camp. This trip to Peru was spontaneously planned, as we are both are about to move out of the country! So fun to have this experience together!
If we went back to Peru, there are some things we would do: Spend more time in Cusco! We would probably go to Rainbow Mountain. We would go to Humantay Lake!! Sacred Valley! We would go back to the Mercado Pisac! We would go back to Arequipa and explore. I would like to walk the river and explore more of the Yanahuara area!! I heard it’s super cool. We would definitely go to Colca Canyon (we didn’t because I was recovering from being sick) and go to the hot springs there! We would also for sure make a stop in the desert city of Huacachina!!!! And probably explore the Amazon jungle! Just some other things to think about! There is so much to do here.
And, honestly, don’t forget to get some llama/ alpaca souvenirs….. jaja! Ciao!
