Lima - El Centro

Here again with your last update from Lima...

We made our way over to the El Centro district of Lima this morning. Our first stop was the Iglesia de San Francisco. This church houses the city of Lima's first public cemetery. There were 75,000 people buried under the church and their bones are all laid out for you to see. The other great thing about this place was their extensive library. We weren't allowed to take pics inside but we got one for your viewing pleasure...we didn't use a flash... These books go all the way back to the 17th century.

After this we went to the Cathedral, built in 1625 although it had to be rebuilt after earthquakes in 1746 & 1940. This was a beautiful building with massive paintings, intricately carved choir stalls, and many religious artifacts. Francisco Pizarro (who dictated the layout) is entombed here and there were more bones. Luckily we  were allowed to take pics here. The Cathedral is right off of the Plaza de Armas and is surrounded by beautiful buildings and it's gorgeous fountain.

After these tours we went shopping and went back to the bike tour office because we saw a store called Christie's Antiques! Crazy! So of course we had to get a pic!

We had dinner at Huaca Pucllana. Manuel made us a reservation yesterday (he is back in Houston now so he won't be joining us). This restaurant faces ruins of a 1,500 year old pyramid and they give you a tour after you're finished eating.  The food was delicious- although it was by far our most expensive meal!   But we have to go out in style! :)

Biking in Lima

Today was our first full day in Lima and we had so much fun.

We had breakfast at the Country Club Hotel with another new friend, Manuel, that was also up in the Amazon. He travels to Peru a lot for work out of Houston. This hotel was built in 1927 and is regarded as the most elegant hotel in all of Lima. It certainly was gorgeous! Manuel had a table ready for us on the patio and the food was great!  He also brought us to some nice stores in the San Isidro district and then had his driver drop us off at Larco Mar mall in our district. This is a beautiful mall because it's cut into the cliffside right along the ocean.

After shopping we went to our urban bike tour! So much fun. There were about 8 people in our tour and our guide was great. He pointed out a few sites and we rode through a bunch of cute parks and along the cliff. It was about 4 hours long and we didn't get hit by any cars (although one of the girls crashed into someone else and our very own Mesa hit a garbage can)!

After that we got ready to meet up with some local Peruvian friends. For those of you who don't know, my best friend Christa studied in Lima for a semester in college and has been back here many times. She set us up with a bunch of her friends and we went out for dinner and drinks with them. These people are soooo nice, welcoming, and truly hilarious! We had so much fun with them.

Barrrraaannco!

Amazon School & Pool

Well today was our last day in the Amazon jungle. After breakfast we went to the river village of San Luis. When we got off the boat the kids were all so excited to show us their school. They sang us a few songs and had us point out where we from on their map. These kids were just adorable. Every time we took their picture they wanted us to show them the image.

From here we stopped at the main village, Indiana. These two villages are not terribly far from eachother but are vastly different.

The rest of our time was spent hanging out at the pool and eating lunch before we went back to Iquitos where we had to catch our flight. Our guide, Renilo, was so sad to see us leave that he got teary-eyed saying goodbye.

Now that we're back in Lima we got to our hostel and went out to meet our new friends from Ireland (from the Amazon lodge) at a bar nearby. It was another good day!

Piranhas and Monkeys

Today was a very fun day. We didn't have an early morning activity so we only had to get up for breakfast!

After that we went fishing! Both Mesa & I hadn't been fishing in years but it wouldn't have mattered if we had. Our poles were sticks with a line tied to them with raw meat for bait. Both of us caught catfish! Sadly no piraña! Our guide caught one though so we kept it to eat for lunch. We threw the catfish back.

On our way back to the lodge we went looking for the fresh water dolphins. The Amazon has both gray and pink, and we saw both! Hard to capture by camera though.

When we got back we went on a hike to collect seeds that we're going to bring back & make bracelets with. We certainly got our hands dirty.

After lunch we went to monkey island. It's actually a reserve where they are protected. There are 8 diff kinds and they jumped all over us. Very cool. We then went swimming in the Amazon River (and didn't get eaten by pirañas)! The water actually felt clean even though it looks kind of brown.

It's been a very fun day!
Til mañana!

Canoeing, Canopies, and Tattoos.

Another really early start for us today. We had to meet our guide, Renilo, at 5:30! 
We traveled about 2 hours down the Amazon to where the Napo and Amazon rivers meet. They have another lodge there where we had breakfast and then took a hike through the primary jungle to the canopy walkways. 

Here we reached heights over 110 feet where we were mostly above the jungle tree line. It was amazing. These walkways were narrow but had netting around them so you couldn't fall out.

We then hiked back to the lodge for a little canoeing and lunch.  Then walked over to visit the local Shaman. He told us all about the different roots and their medicinal qualities.  He also did a blessing on Mesa & I where he blew smoke on us and hit us with a bushel of leaves. This is also where we got tattoos. Yes you heard right. I got my name, and Mesa got "love" in the tribal language.

We came back to our lodge and had plenty of relaxation time before dinner.

Until tomorrow....
Oh and btw, the tattoos only last about 10 days. :)

Bird Watching and Blowdarts!

Today was a fun day. It started bright and early with bird watching down the Amazon river. We saw toucans, ring kingfishers, oriole blackbirds, and others. 

We then had a fabulous breakfast and then went off to visit a local clinic and the yaguma village where we saw (and participated in) their local dancing and blow dart gun shooting. Mesa & I each hit the target about 20 feet away! 

We had lunch at the other lodge, the one with no AC or pool, and then hiked over to a sugarcane rum distillery. We sampled the product - but it was pretty interesting. 

We had time to enjoy the pool when we got back and before dinner we went on a night hike in the jungle. I have a lot of pictures of all the gross insects we saw. Centipedes, a giant sized bug that I don't know the name of, and tarantulas. 

It was kind of cool to be out there in the dark and our guide is very smart when it comes to everything in the jungle. 

Dinner was great and they had a show prepared for us afterwards with a group of kids from a neighboring village that are in a dance group. 

Another early morning tomorrow. 

Arrived in the Amazon

We are in the Amazon jungle right now and it is so hot!

It was a quick flight to Iquitos and then we took a bus to the port before our 25 mile journey down the Amazon river. 

We were joined by a couple from Ireland and a man from Houston. The jungle is amazing. It rains like the rain forest should but is hot and sunny shortly after. We have our own private guide and he took us on an hour hike through the jungle this afternoon. We saw butterflies, frogs, small deer, plenty of spiders, and even a monkey! Then were back with enough time to enjoy the pool and water slide. So much fun already and we have only just started our time here!

Lima!

We made it back to Lima! I think we are all finished with our buses now! 

We are staying in a really nice area in Miraflores and after we checked into our room we made sure to check in for our flight to Iquitos in the morning. 

From there we went to the Parque del Agua, which is this amazing park that has about 15 different large fountains! We had time to walk around for a bit before the sun went down, but that is when everything started to look amazing.  All of the fountains had a different set of lights under them to illuminate the water with different colors.  BUT - the best part was their impressive water show.  Now, the Belagio in Vegas has nothing on this place.  Theirs was synced to music, with lasers, and videos that they projected onto the water.  It was amazing.  They had flowers that would bloom and open, hummingbirds that looked as if they were flying, and different dances from the Peruvian culture.  Absolutely amazing. 

We then went to eat at Norkys - a chain that Scott Flom recommended we try.  It was pretty good, and worth a try because we keep seeing them all over Lima! 

Off to the Amazon tomorrow!

Ciao!

Isla Ballestas

Today was another fun day in Peru! We are still in Ica and this morning we left to go on a half day tour to Islas Ballestas.  There are these spectacular rocks and cliffs that have THOUSANDS of marine birds and sea lions.  We rode in a little boat that brought us up close to the rocks so we could see the wildlife.  I thought for sure we were going to get pooped on, but we never did!

You'll see in the picture that we had our hoods tied up so we didn't get any droppings in our hair.  Also, look over Mesa's head - you'll see some of the sea lions.  We also saw penguins, pelicans, and a baby sea lion in the water yelling out for it's mom, and as we rounded the rock we saw the mom yelling out looking for the baby!

After we got back from this trip we went into the Plaza area of Ica and ate at a restaurant recommended in our guide book.  We shared the Pollo a la Iquena - chicken in a peacan, pisco, and spinach sauce served with rice! This was probably the best meal I (can't speak for Mes, but she might agree) I've had in Peru! They also served a delicious Pisco Sour!

We've had a really great evening talking with Felicity (who manages our hostel with her Peruvian husband Luis).  She's Australian and her parents are here visiting and they just got back from the same lodge we will be staying at in the Amazon.  They've also been great in giving us information about Lima too!

More to come later!

Pisco & Sand-boarding

Today has been such an awesome day! We started with a Pisco Vineyard tour where we stopped at 3 different bodegas and sampled their different wines and Pisco.  All before LUNCH!! 

We ate at a place near our hostel that the managers recommended. It was very good and very cheap. Seriously, the food in Peru has been fantastic! 

From here we made our way to the sand dunes and went Sand buggying and Sand boarding.  I can not even describe how awesome this was!! The buggies were amazing, and sand-boarding is something I've never experienced.  It was so much fun.  Although I may come home with sand still on me somewhere!  The sand buggies would fly over the dunes, and it felt like I was going to go right out of my seat!

We stayed up on the sand dunes for sunset, which was spectacular.  It was so beautiful, the colors were amazing. 

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Bus day to Ica

Today wasn't the most exciting of days, so I don't have much to write about.  We had a bus pick us up at the hostel around 6 a.m to go to Arequipa and from there we took a bus to Ica. 

The bus rides weren't bad.  We saw some lakes and flamingos and volcanoes along the way.  Didn't get to do much in Arequipa but the city was beautiful and all WHITE! 

It was a long day of traveling, but we should have a very exciting couple of days coming up.

More to follow!

Lake Titicaca

Today started early and cold.  Our night bus that we took from Cusco to Puno arrived at 5 am and our tour of Lake Titicaca didn't start until 7!  We had time in the bus station for a little bit, and it was so cold once we arrived in Puno that I had to dig my socks and shoes out of my bag. 

The guy at tour agency office asked us if this was the warmest thing we had to wear, and when we said yes- he lent us some big winter jackets.  Which was really nice, and we quickly found out that we needed.  

Our tour stopped at 2 floating islands made of reeds, which were pretty cool.  They tried to show us about each of their individual islands, but it sort of felt a little contrived.  We still had a good time though.   We also went to Taquile Island which was awesome because they were having their festival so we had an opportunity to see them sing and dance.  Taquile Island gave us a beautiful view of the mountains across Lake Titicaca into Bolivia. 

The tour was a full day and when we got back to Puno we caught a cab to take us to our hostel.  The driver had some issues finding where we had to be, but we made it there. 

Machu Picchu

Hi everyone! 

We got up this morning at 4:30 to get in line for the buses to take us up the mountain to Machu Picchu. The 1st bus doesn't leave until 5:30 but the lines get long. 

I was really happy that we already had our bus tickets, but while we were waiting in line the person ahead of us commented that if we didn't have tickets for the main gate - we weren't going to get in anyway.  We didn't have those tickets.  All of my research said you didn't need those, and you could just buy them at the top.  Unfortunately, that had changed just about 2 weeks earlier.  I let Mesa hold our spot in line while I ran over to town to get the tickets.  I started to panic a little because that office didn't open until 5, and I didn't know how long it would take.  Luckily, we got it all sorted out just in time.  I got the two tickets, just as the line was moving and we made it safely onto the 3rd bus. 

The road going up to the gate was so full of twists and turns, and we kept passing people that decided to hike to the gate overnight.  It was still dark out but everyone was so awake and excited.  Since we were in one of the first few buses, there weren't that many people in line ahead of us.  Many of the people were those that had hiked the Inca Trail and they looked just exhausted.  I couldn't help but be a little jealous since I had wanted to hike the trail so badly.  

We made friends with the girl in front of us in line (Kirstine from London) and she asked if she could join us when we got inside. So we had a lot of fun and made a new friend!

This ancient Inca site is so spectacular. There's this beautiful misty fog in the morning and it almost doesn't seem real. Truly magical. We took lots of great pics, especially some fun ones of the llamas. We spent the whole day here. 

After we left Machu Picchu we hung out with Kirstine and ate before we took our trains back to Cusco.

What a wonderful day!

Sacred Valley Tour

Today we did a tour to the Sacred Valley – mainly through Pisac and Ollantaytambo.  Many of the tours start in Cusco and would return you there, but since we plan to get on the train at Ollantaytambo to bring us into Aguas Calientes we weren’t returning and had to bring all of our things.

This day was quite a nerve racking day for me.

We had no problems with visiting the ruins at Pisac and their main market.  We had a great time walking around the ruins and looking out over all of the terraces.  They actually used them for agriculture, which is sort of crazy to think of since this terrain is so mountainous and the altitude is so high – but it worked.  We even had time to do a little shopping in the Pisac market!

We had lunch on our way to Ollantaytambo – where we had our first taste of Inca Cola.  We decided to share a bottle and ended up giving it away to one of the kids on our trip because neither of us liked it. 

Now here is where it gets stressful – we had to take a different bus to bring us to town or our guide thought we would miss our train.  So she flagged down a different tour bus and we hopped aboard with all of our things.  There were no seats, so we sat on the steps of the bus right next to the driver.  They also only spoke Spanish.  When we were getting into town – traffic was crazy and the bus was never going to make it in time.  So one of the guys took us off the bus with our bags and ran us through traffic into town to get us to the train station.  Luckily we just made the train in time. 

Our seats were amazing, and the scenery was beautiful our whole way to Aguas Calientes.  We could even see some of the spots where the train tracks were washed away in the mudslides from the previous year. 

Aguas Calientes is a quaint little town, but it’s only busy because of the people going to Machu Picchu.  We made sure to get our bus tickets for tomorrow morning that would take us up to the Machu Picchu gate.  It’s going to be an early morning!

Hola desde Perú

Hola everyone!

Mesa & I have safely made it to Peru. We didn't send an update yesterday because we basically sat in airports and that's nothing interesting to write home about.

We are currently in the city of Cusco, and have had quite the day!

We took a quick nap and a cup of some Coca Leaf Tea we ventured out of the hostel to go out and conquer the day. 

We spent time in the Plaza de Armas and enjoyed the beautiful fountains and benches. You could sit there and 20 people will come up and offer to sell you things from hats, paintings, & seeds for the pigeons. This area is basically the heart of Cusco and seemed to be where all of the locals spent their day.

We also walked into the Cathedral. But there was a wedding going on! We actually saw about 6 different sets of wedding couples taking pictures throughout the Plaza de Armas!

After this we decided to hike all the way up to the ruins at Sacsayhuamon! These are ruins that tower over the city of Cusco and are probably Peru's 2nd most important Inca monument, after Machu Picchu of course. This was a difficult hike because of the altitude- but totally worth it. Cusco is at an elevation of about 3,300 m (10,800 ft for you people back home) and since we had only been in the city for a few hours, we were not accustomed to it and had to stop and catch our breath every few steps.

The ruins had huge stones (the largest is said to be around 361 tons).  But the view was just as spectacular! Also up near the ruins was this large White Jesus statue that overlooks the city which we also hiked to.

The morning and evening have been cool but the day was perfect. Food is good, hostel is amazing and so far we are having a fabulous time.

The pictures are us with our Coca Leaf tea, from our hike to the ruins (we were only about halfway there), and us with a llama that we met on our path! 

From beautiful South America, Xoxo!