Wow it's been a while! Basically my entire time in Peru will be compiled into this email...I guess it's a good sign that I haven't had the time or energy to write. I've been living in the moment, traveling all over the place to different climates, tasting incredible food, meeting new people and having an incredible time in Peru. Truly incredible! It seems appropriate to write my email now that I have crossed the border into Ecuador, so here comes a long one....
Andahuaylas, Peru: my first stop after cusco was andahuaylas. A very small town in the mountains with not much to do but the drive from cusco is breathtaking, stunning, whatever word you want to use to describe it, its that! Before coming here i read up a little bit on the town/ region and discovered that andahuaylas has very high levels of extreme poverty. When i got here i thought about volunteering at a french ngo nut couldnt understand the website bc it is only in French. So my day in Andahuaylas was spent exploring the huuuuge Sunday market, tasting new foods, enjoying the warm climate after days of rain in cusco and strolling around the large and beautiful lagoon before having a fresh trout lunch lagoon- side. I would say the best part of Andahuaylas was he drive from cusco there. It was enjoyable and nice to take it really easy bc I was still feeling a little low energy and recovering from the parasite incident.
Ayacucho, Peru: my next journey was to Ayacucho! I really really enjoyed ayacucho. My bus ride here from Andahuaylas was a total disaster, but the end result was great. We were stopped twice in two different towns bc they are paving the highway and had to wait for 3 hours in each town, basically unable to leave the bus bc it was raining. Instead of taking 8 hours the bus ride took 14! I was more than glad to finally get off the bus, find a hostal and pass out! In ayacucho i mde lota of new friends, watched a lot of tv while suffering from a sinus infection in bed, tried some new foods, and got to witness independence day celebrations. I stayed at an awesome hotel for only 8 dollars a night with my own bathroom, tv and terrace overlooking the neighbors rooster and laundry. I was the best! I felt like a queen as I lay in bed eating puffed hominy covered in honey and watching episode after episode of friends. The owners Carlos and Alicia are some of the nicest people I have met on my trip so far. They took me and some friends I made out to lunch one day, taught my friends how to eat prickly pear and were there for anything I needed at any time of the day. If you are ever in Ayacucho, Peru you must stay at their hotel! When I was having lunch a the vegetarian restaurant I made friends with Hilda and then Julie. Hilda is Peruvian and Julie is from the USA. Hilda and I chatted up a storm and then agreed to meet the next day to have lunch together again. The second day we met julie! She was having lunch alone anD I invited her to join us at our table. She's great! We met up a few days later to go on a hike with her boyfriend who is a medical student and doing an internship in Peru along with his friend from school. The next few days were spent eating puca picante ( a potato dish from the region), ceviche, tortilla de verdura, delicious cakes, visiting the museo de memoria ( ayacucho was the strongest hit region of Peru during the sendero luminoso terrorism reign) and watching fireworks in the main plaza for the independence day celebrations. I think I mainly enjoyed Ayacucho so much because of the friends I made and the adventures we had. It was also nice to just have a few couch potato days and lounge around the plaza meeting new people. Oh! Before I forget! I visited a neighborhood of Ayacucho called Santa Anna and while I was sitting near the elementary school in the plaza a group of 12 little girls came running over to me practicing their English, pushing and asking turns to sit on my lap, playing games and drowning me in hugs and kisses. They were SO adorable! I lent them my camera to take pictures of themselves before they had to go back to class. I really had a great experience in Ayacucho; almost everyone I met was warm and friendly and helpful and open!
Paracas, Peru: From Ayacucho I decided, last minute, to head to Paracas on the coast. There is a national reserve there with incredible beaches, birds and sea life. That's basically all there is to do in Paracas besides chill near the beach and relax. So that's what I did! I'm glad I went and it was a nice first taste of the Peruvian coast!
Lima, Peru: in Paracas I met a really nice argentine guy who was traveling to Lima the same morning as me so we decided to head out together. I am so glad we did bc if I had gotten to Lima alone I would have been so lost! The city is ginormous! He brought me to the hostal that he has stayed at before in Lima, they lowered the price for me and I settled in to what wold be my home for the next week. The hostal is located in the miraflores neighborhood of lima, one of about 3 neighborhoods that is safe enough to stay in. Basically miraflores is the soho of Lima, very posh and upscale and pretentious but also safe to walk around in and run small errands alone at night. The hostal is also only 4 blocks from the beach! While in lima i wandered around miraflores, barranco which is the more bohemian and artsy neighborhood, went to the central market, chica town, ate incredible incredible incredible sushi, learned how coffee is roasted at the first " fine" coffee shop in Lima- kind of like the inteligencia of Lima- ate some ceviche, fresh and warm and gooey churros filled with dulce de leche, lounged on the beach with a new friend Anton who is from Chico, ca and got a good feel for the city. I also as lucky enough to meet up with julie and jake in lima ( the friends i had made in ayacucho) and we had lunch together! I really liked Lima! For a big city i could totally see myself living there. It's kind of like they look downtown Los Angeles and put it where Santa Monica is. There is a California incline type thing going on. The city is above and the beach is down below. It's beautiful! Anyway, after about 7 days in Lima I decided it was time to move onto the cordillera Blanca, which is said to be the Swiss alps of Peru. Anton decided to come with me!
Huaraz, Peru: we arrived I huaraz, the jumping off point for visiting the cordillera Blanca very early in the morning and set out to find a hostal. Basically huaraz is the worst city I have visited on my trip. Writing about it puts me in a bad mood. It was cold, the town is ugly, full of smog, full of cars honking at nothing, you can't see the mountains unless you pay to go on a three day tour/ hike. We went to visit some pre Inca ruins for the 21 st of dec which were beautiful and saw a really beautiful lagoon. Then we decided we needed to get out of huaraz ASAP and head to the beach. The night our bus was leaving I checked my Facebook and saw a message from Javier ( the Chilean guy I traveled through Bolivia with, my new best friend for life!) saying that he had come to find me in huaraz. His previous email was breaking the news to me that we probably wouldn't see each other again in our journeys because he had chosen a different path. When I read his message that he had come to huaraz in search of me my heart melted with joy! We met up, gave each other huge hugs got on the bus and all three of us headed to the beach together for Christmas and my birthday! Javier is the best, I truly can't imagine my trip without him.
Andahuaylas, Peru: my first stop after cusco was andahuaylas. A very small town in the mountains with not much to do but the drive from cusco is breathtaking, stunning, whatever word you want to use to describe it, its that! Before coming here i read up a little bit on the town/ region and discovered that andahuaylas has very high levels of extreme poverty. When i got here i thought about volunteering at a french ngo nut couldnt understand the website bc it is only in French. So my day in Andahuaylas was spent exploring the huuuuge Sunday market, tasting new foods, enjoying the warm climate after days of rain in cusco and strolling around the large and beautiful lagoon before having a fresh trout lunch lagoon- side. I would say the best part of Andahuaylas was he drive from cusco there. It was enjoyable and nice to take it really easy bc I was still feeling a little low energy and recovering from the parasite incident.
Ayacucho, Peru: my next journey was to Ayacucho! I really really enjoyed ayacucho. My bus ride here from Andahuaylas was a total disaster, but the end result was great. We were stopped twice in two different towns bc they are paving the highway and had to wait for 3 hours in each town, basically unable to leave the bus bc it was raining. Instead of taking 8 hours the bus ride took 14! I was more than glad to finally get off the bus, find a hostal and pass out! In ayacucho i mde lota of new friends, watched a lot of tv while suffering from a sinus infection in bed, tried some new foods, and got to witness independence day celebrations. I stayed at an awesome hotel for only 8 dollars a night with my own bathroom, tv and terrace overlooking the neighbors rooster and laundry. I was the best! I felt like a queen as I lay in bed eating puffed hominy covered in honey and watching episode after episode of friends. The owners Carlos and Alicia are some of the nicest people I have met on my trip so far. They took me and some friends I made out to lunch one day, taught my friends how to eat prickly pear and were there for anything I needed at any time of the day. If you are ever in Ayacucho, Peru you must stay at their hotel! When I was having lunch a the vegetarian restaurant I made friends with Hilda and then Julie. Hilda is Peruvian and Julie is from the USA. Hilda and I chatted up a storm and then agreed to meet the next day to have lunch together again. The second day we met julie! She was having lunch alone anD I invited her to join us at our table. She's great! We met up a few days later to go on a hike with her boyfriend who is a medical student and doing an internship in Peru along with his friend from school. The next few days were spent eating puca picante ( a potato dish from the region), ceviche, tortilla de verdura, delicious cakes, visiting the museo de memoria ( ayacucho was the strongest hit region of Peru during the sendero luminoso terrorism reign) and watching fireworks in the main plaza for the independence day celebrations. I think I mainly enjoyed Ayacucho so much because of the friends I made and the adventures we had. It was also nice to just have a few couch potato days and lounge around the plaza meeting new people. Oh! Before I forget! I visited a neighborhood of Ayacucho called Santa Anna and while I was sitting near the elementary school in the plaza a group of 12 little girls came running over to me practicing their English, pushing and asking turns to sit on my lap, playing games and drowning me in hugs and kisses. They were SO adorable! I lent them my camera to take pictures of themselves before they had to go back to class. I really had a great experience in Ayacucho; almost everyone I met was warm and friendly and helpful and open!
Paracas, Peru: From Ayacucho I decided, last minute, to head to Paracas on the coast. There is a national reserve there with incredible beaches, birds and sea life. That's basically all there is to do in Paracas besides chill near the beach and relax. So that's what I did! I'm glad I went and it was a nice first taste of the Peruvian coast!
Lima, Peru: in Paracas I met a really nice argentine guy who was traveling to Lima the same morning as me so we decided to head out together. I am so glad we did bc if I had gotten to Lima alone I would have been so lost! The city is ginormous! He brought me to the hostal that he has stayed at before in Lima, they lowered the price for me and I settled in to what wold be my home for the next week. The hostal is located in the miraflores neighborhood of lima, one of about 3 neighborhoods that is safe enough to stay in. Basically miraflores is the soho of Lima, very posh and upscale and pretentious but also safe to walk around in and run small errands alone at night. The hostal is also only 4 blocks from the beach! While in lima i wandered around miraflores, barranco which is the more bohemian and artsy neighborhood, went to the central market, chica town, ate incredible incredible incredible sushi, learned how coffee is roasted at the first " fine" coffee shop in Lima- kind of like the inteligencia of Lima- ate some ceviche, fresh and warm and gooey churros filled with dulce de leche, lounged on the beach with a new friend Anton who is from Chico, ca and got a good feel for the city. I also as lucky enough to meet up with julie and jake in lima ( the friends i had made in ayacucho) and we had lunch together! I really liked Lima! For a big city i could totally see myself living there. It's kind of like they look downtown Los Angeles and put it where Santa Monica is. There is a California incline type thing going on. The city is above and the beach is down below. It's beautiful! Anyway, after about 7 days in Lima I decided it was time to move onto the cordillera Blanca, which is said to be the Swiss alps of Peru. Anton decided to come with me!
Huaraz, Peru: we arrived I huaraz, the jumping off point for visiting the cordillera Blanca very early in the morning and set out to find a hostal. Basically huaraz is the worst city I have visited on my trip. Writing about it puts me in a bad mood. It was cold, the town is ugly, full of smog, full of cars honking at nothing, you can't see the mountains unless you pay to go on a three day tour/ hike. We went to visit some pre Inca ruins for the 21 st of dec which were beautiful and saw a really beautiful lagoon. Then we decided we needed to get out of huaraz ASAP and head to the beach. The night our bus was leaving I checked my Facebook and saw a message from Javier ( the Chilean guy I traveled through Bolivia with, my new best friend for life!) saying that he had come to find me in huaraz. His previous email was breaking the news to me that we probably wouldn't see each other again in our journeys because he had chosen a different path. When I read his message that he had come to huaraz in search of me my heart melted with joy! We met up, gave each other huge hugs got on the bus and all three of us headed to the beach together for Christmas and my birthday! Javier is the best, I truly can't imagine my trip without him.
Ok, that's enough for now! But I'm missing the best part! The northern coast of Peru. It's magical. Its beautiful. I never wanted to leave. The next email will contain all the gory details!
I hope you are all doing well! Long live ceviche! Long live mangos for .25 cents!
I hope you are all doing well! Long live ceviche! Long live mangos for .25 cents!
