Peru

Hey everybody!

Time for a new story about yet another amazing country: Peru!

At the end of our stay in Lima I was able to welcome a couple of new
travelbuddies, my parents! We were supposed to meet one week later in
Arequipa, but I wanted to surprise my mom at the airport. She was very
surprised and had no idea that I would be there, it was very funny to see
but most of all it was nice to hug and see them again. We spend the evening
together and it quickly felt like old times, except that my brother wasn't
there. It was kind of strange to say goodbye to them for one week, knowing
that you're in the same country but doing different things.

After spending some time in Lima recovering from recent events and chasing
chargers (small tip, guard your samsung charger with your life in Peru,
because you will not find a new one) we took the overnight bus to Arequipa.
The bus was great but the hight played some tricks on us, so the first 2
days we were a bit whoozie and not feeling great. The rest of the time in
Arequipa we spend horseriding (Fleur is really warming up for it and she is
good! Even galloping on full speed is not a problem), visiting a beautiful
monastery with my parents (showing of our spanish skills by reading the
wall paintings), doing a city tour which was really good and having nice
dinners. What a difference in restaurants when parents are there, yum!

We joined my parents on their tour through Peru after Arequipa, going first
to Chevay. On the way to Chevay we stopped at different landscapes to watch
volcanoes and lama's, drink mate de coca (the local drink that reduces
altitude sickness) and buy proper lama jumpers. At Chevay we visited
thermal baths, experiencing for the first time what altitude does to your
body when climbing lots of stairs. Trust me, it needs some getting used to.
Unfortunatly, that night my body apparently thought that now my mom was
here it had permission to get sick, so I developed the highest fever I've
had so far...bummer! The next day we went to the condor valley to see these
amazing birds. No better way to forget your illness than watching 25
condors flying right next to you in a magnificent mountain landscape. It
was an incredible experience! From there we were dropped off in Puno, a
city next to the Titikaka lake. We went on a 2 day tour to the islands
(feeling way better, thank god) and experienced the way those people live.
The floating islands are made of reed and feel kind of funny to walk on.
The people who live there have a harsh live, creating rheumatism at an
early age and getting no exercise what so ever, they have a life expectancy
of 50... We stayed the night at a guest family on one of the 'normal'
islands, watching a beautifull sunset and attending a fiesta wearing
traditional clothes. It was really nice to talk to our host and hear more
about his life on this island.  After Puno we took the 8 hour bus to Cusco,
which was no problem for Fleur and me but my parents thought it was quite a
challenge. Welcome to the world of travelling, haha. In Cusco we walked
around, did some shopping, had good coffee (thank you Starbucks!) and went
on another great city tour, this time by bus.

And then it was time for the grand finale: the Lares trail to Machu Picchu!
Me and my parents left on a 3 day hike, Fleur would join us afterwards at
Ollantaytambo. The Lares trail was amazing. The landscapes were beautiful
and our guide knew paths that nobody else took, so it felt like you were a
discoverer. Of course there were difficulties as well, because of the hight
(4700meter) it was a bigger challenge to get up, but the feeling of
accomplishment was greater. On the last day the guide thought we were good
enough to go to a special viewpoint. It was tough, but definitely worth it!
Only downside was that the way down was horrible, because the original path
had been washed away by a landslide. So we had to take a path that hadn't
been used in 5 years...oops. But hè, it was a new experience. The camping
during the trekking had a whole new level of luxury: own tents, cup of tea
with the wake-up, crazy food like teqeños and pizza and the luggage was
transported by horse...wauw. At the end of the trail (Ollantaytambo) we met
up with Fleur and from there we took a train to Machu Picchu Pueblo. The
village has a very funny build up in the middle of the mountains and the
train goes straight through the center of it! We took the first bus up
to Machu Picchu and after a small climbe we could finally see it....oh
wait...no, that´s fog...ah yes, there it...oh no, still
not...wait....yes, there it is, Machu Picchu! The feeling was amazing,
you hear so much about it and then to finally look down on it...wauw.
We spend a good 2 hours taking in the moment and then went on a tour
with a guide who showed and told us the most interesting and
important things about this magical place. While we walked you could
really see the impressive architecture and also the surroundings
slowly revealed themselves. After the tour we walked up to the temple
of the sun, which is so high that Machu Picchu seems like a small and
tiny thing. After this fantastic day we were tired but culture wise
very satisfied. Another world wonder crossed of the list! We went back
to Cusco and spend our last days together enjoying each others company
and relaxing a little bit.

And then it was time to say goodbye. Never easy, but knowing that I
would see them relatively soon and thinking about the wonderfull
things we had done together in the last couple weeks made it a little
less difficult. Mom, Dad, I speak for both Fleur and me when I say
that we had such a good time! Thank you for this amazing graduation
gift, we have loved every second of it!

From Cusco we traveled to La Paz in Bolivia, the country where we
actually still are. So believe it or not, we are getting up to date!
Fleur will tell you more about the crazy things we did in Bolivia, but
that is for next time. Stay tuned!

Besos,
Janneke