Always More Than You Expect
PERU!
When I was arriving into Peru from Chile, our bus passed under a sign which said "Peru - Always more than you expect". I did not think too much of this at the time, just thinking we will see.
After arriving in Arequipa, and being offered a ride from a friend of a friend, I was already feeling pretty good. I joined a walking tour the next morning and met so many awesome people. I endedup staying with a few people from the tour for the rest of the day. We chatted and walked around town, got a great deal of local food for lunch (2 courses and drink for $2 CAD), we tried local smoothies (milk, beer, banana, raw egg, syrup, and sugar), had a drink on a rooftop above the plaza and also ate dinner together. I met a couple of them again that night at their hostel to play/watch in a peer pong tournament. First day? Pretty awesome Peru.
Arequipa went by fast, I spent another 1.5 days there walking the streets and meeting other travellers. We bought a few souvenirs and got lost on the way to dinner. I visited old churches and local markets, drank fruit smoothies and enjoyed my relaxing time. Next- CUSCO!
Upon arrival in Cusco I took a taxi to the hostel and spent a couple hours planning Peru and checking mesages my ipod. I asked someone (Selena) about her plans and instantly became friends. Another girl (Frankie) had heard our conversation and she easily joined in the group. The tree of us spent all our time together for the rest of our stays there. These girls really helped welcome me into Cusco! They also helped me decide to book my Machu Picchu train.
I took a taxi from Cusco to Ollantaytambo (Sacred Valley) and then a train to Aguas Calientes. On the train I met Julie who was also planning on hiking up the following morning. Its about a 2 hour walk to Machu Picchu from my hostel. You have to walk to a bridge, and then to the stairs - then decide to take the road up or the stairs up (2000 of them). Julie and I had already commited to climbing the stairs so this was the clear choice at 530am. She is a super athlete and made it up to the top at 555 - just before opening. I was about 15 mins behind, but still felt pretty accomplished!
We wandered around alone before finding each other again and touring around. She had booked a tour through her hostel, and I had not. I ended up haning around and joining her tour (without paying) and the guide was none the wiser! The tour was informative and we saw a bunch of the old town. I didnt have a great camera but lucky for us we met a group of Canadian/Americans who loved taking photos. Julie and I spent sometime looking around and taking photos with these guys before she went off to hikeup one of the trails. The guys and I took a different trailto a bridge on the side of a cliff. Where we took many more photos and then returned to the town. I caught my train back to Cusco that night. We all met up again for drinks and games that night which was a lot of fun. The next day I had my bus to Lima (21 hours).
As a conclusion, Peru has thus far, absolutely exceeded my expectations!