Peru Thus Far

I have been in Peru for about a week and a half now. It took some getting used to the South American backpacker lifestyle, but I think I am getting the hang of it now. Still not so sure if I love dorm rooms, but when traveling alone, it is definitely the easiest way to meet people.

I started in the big bustling city of Lima. Right away I met some cool Aussie girls who I hung out with my first couple days there. Our hostel organized a big club outing, so right away I got to experience Lima´s night life. Insane! We went to a bar that probably had 2000 people in it, and did not get back to the hostel until after sunrise. I decided the next day (or rather the same day) that I needed to go to a smaller, more laid-back town. I took a bus to a small town called Lunahuana. Lunahuana was very chill, very beautiful, but I was the only gringo and English speaker there. After one night, I left to find a town that was not as huge as Lima, but not as small as Lunahuana. I ended up in Huacachina, a little tourist town surrounding a man-made lagoon in the middle of the desert. Here, I got my own room at a cute little guest house with a pool. That evening I wondered the town until I found three Canadian girls to hang out with. The next day I went dune-buggy riding and sandboarding in the dunes then ended up busing to Cusco with the Canadian girls.

Cusco is a cool city. It is about 3500m above sea level and holds a lot of the history of the Inka people. I booked into a huge ¨party¨ hostel with the girls, and after another big night partying, I again decided I needed something a little less intense. I booked a 5 day trekking trip to Salkantay Pass and onwards to Machu Picchu. The trekking group was huge - 16 people! The group ranged in age from 23 (me) to almost 50. It was a great group of people, and I made some good friends on the trip. The first three days were in the mountains, reaching 4600m and the last two days we trekked back into the low lands and to Machu Picchu. We camped all but the last night, made it to a hot springs, and even to a disco along the way. One of the most interesting treks I have been on. Machu Picchu was awesome. We started hiking up to it at 4am so we could be one of the first 400 people to enter and be able to also hike Wuanapicchu, a higher peak that looks onto Machu Picchu. We spent the entire day at the site, and hiking around all of the Inka ruins and trails.