Ugh, You Threw Off My Groove- Peru 2019

Nestled high in the Andes Mountains sits the 15th century symbol of the Incan Empire. The abandoned site of Machu Picchu, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Join me as I walk you through the time I spent in Peru in June of 2019.

Machu Picchu

Dates: June 16th-25th 2019

Locations: Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, Ollantaytambo, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Taquile Island, Floating Islands

Currency: Peruvian Sol (1 Sol= about $0.30 USD)

Language: Spanish by the vast majority, Quecha & Aymara in rural areas, English is spoken by most guides

Disclaimers: This trip was taken in June of 2019, I am writing about my experience at that time. Any changes because of COVID-19 or other reasons will not be covered. This trip was taken through EF Tours but was paid for out of my own pocket, I am in no way affiliated with EF or being paid to write this article.

June 16th

The journey starts in Fargo, North Dakota. However, its about a two hour drive away. We start the day early around 7 a.m. stopping to pick up my best friend, Sydney, and her parents. We make the drive to Fargo and meet up with the rest of the group. Once everyone arrives, we check our bags and head through security. We get lunch at the only restaurant in the tiny airport, Subway. We then settle in and wait for our flight. Due to our more remote location and having multiple flights we will be arriving in Lima, that capital city of Peru, a whole day earlier than the rest of the group and will have more time to explore. There is a storm is hitting Dallas causing our flight to be delayed two hours. We board the plane only to sit on the runway for another two hours before we are deplaned because Dallas is experiencing flash flooding. Both our Dallas flight and Lima flights get cancelled. Suddenly our group of 15 is stranded in the Fargo airport. We spend a few hours in the airport trying to figure out how to get to Lima as soon as possible. We eventually give up and start to find lodging until we can fly out in two days. Most of the group gets a hotel. While Syd and I go to stay with her aunt who treats us to milkshakes, which after spending all day in the airport is a nice treat.

June 17th

The next day we meet up with the group at the hotel before going to the Red River Zoo. We kill as much time as physically possible at the zoo before we head back to the hotel and get ready for another early morning flight the next day.

June 18th

We finally fly out of Fargo and land in Dallas just in time to grab breakfast before our next flight. We drop our bags at the gate and for some reason nobody stays with them. I pick up breakfast at Chick-Fil-A with Sydney. Our next flight is to Miami International Airport (one of my favorite airports). When we arrive in Miami it is early afternoon, and we don’t fly out for a few hours. While we are waiting for our flight to start boarding it starts storming, the flight gets postponed, and our luggage gets left out in the rain (it was soaking wet when we got to Lima). We board our overnight flight to Lima where I get maybe like two hours of sleep total.

June 19th

We land in Lima around one a.m. We get through customs and pick up our soaked luggage. We meet up with our main tour guide for the week. We then head to the bathroom. Did you know you can’t flush toilet paper in Peru because their sewer system can’t handle it? That fact is very confusing after only two hours of terrible sleep on a plane. We stay at hotel MiraMar in the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima. Our guide tells us not to unpack because we will be flying out to Cusco in a few hours. Because all our stuff is wet from the rainstorm, I am in the bathroom at 2:30 a.m. blow-drying socks. After another two-hour stint of sleep, we meet the rest of the people on the tour, a group from Ohio and one from California, and then set off to Cusco. We head to Sacsayhuaman, a complex built by the Inca in the 15th century, where the walls are constructed of huge stones fit so closely together that there is no need for mortar. We then head to Incanto for lunch, where I experienced my first glass bottled coke and tried some alpaca steak. The next stop is Iglesia De Santo Domingo which was originally an Inca monument then turned Catholic Church by the Spanish. The Spanish used the Inca’s foundations and built the church on top.

After a short time at the church, we head to the Willka Rumi Lodge where we will stay for the next two nights while we explore Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo. We arrive after the sun has set and have to walk to the hotel in the dark. As this is my first time in the Southern Hemisphere, I marvel at how different the stars and constellations are. We are served a nice supper of Peruvian noodle soup.

June 20th

We wake up bright and early to catch the Machu Picchu train that will take us to Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu. We are able to explore the town for a few hours before our bus leaves for one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu. We split up into various busses that will take us up to mountain (you can walk but it will take longer). As we come around a bend in the road the 15th century abandoned Inca city comes into view. Once entering Machu Picchu, you have four hours in the park area. We make the most of it with our expert guide who tells us all about the history and knows special spots where we can get great photos and beat the crowds.

We continue to explore the abandoned city, taking in the sites and absorbing the history. I get to see my first llama on the way which is a dream come true. Exiting the historical site, you can get your passport stamped with a special stamp, have a drink or snack at the café, or pay two Sols to use the bathroom. A small amount of us decide that we want to hike down the mountain back to Aguas Calientes, the last leg of the famous Machu Picchu trail. We hike down the mountain in the light rain through beautiful mist covered trees and mountains and try not to fall down slippery stone steps.

We cross a river and near the town. We end up smelling “poison” flowers according to a local but were totally fine. We are able to explore the town of Aguas Calientes more before dinner. Syd and I get a snack at a local restaurant, and we find a market nestled in the heart of the city. It once again starts to rain and instead of hiding we make the most of it sitting in our jackets watching the rain come down. We have dinner at another local restaurant that night before heading back to Willka Rumi Lodge where I buy a painting from a local artist.

June 21st

We finally get to see the Willka Rumi Lodge in the daylight as we had previously left and returned in the dark the day before. We then board the bus and head to Ollantaytambo, a hillside Inca fortress that was used as a hideaway from Spanish attacks. We explore the city carved onto the mountainside and learn about its history from an expert local guide. Leaving Ollantaytambo we make our way back to Cusco. Along the way we stop at the Iqha Wasi Bar where we learn how Inca beer is made from a lady who only speaks Quecha (our guide translates for us, and we even learn some on our own). We explore around the bar before heading to the Pizca Market where we have free rein to shop for all of our souvenir needs. Some others and I have a quick lunch at the Blue Llama before we board the bus back to Cusco. After dinner at our hotel, Villa Hermoza in Cusco, we head across the street to eat a Peruvian delicacy, Guinea pig. Guinea pig is a must try if you are in Peru, and it honestly tastes like chicken.

June 22nd

The day started out early again to make the long bus ride to Puno. We stopped at the Raqchi archaeological site along the way. Outside the site there is a small market with tons of hand painted pottery, and I pick up a few gifts for people back home. Exploring the site, we learn about history on Incan farming and learn that their methods do not differ that much from our own. We learn about the temple and how it has evidence of columns being used for one of the first times. We continue on our journey to Puno taking in the Peruvian countryside surrounded by mountains. We pull off to see the highest peak in Peru. Almost to Puno we stop at a gas station and Sydney and I accidently grab sparkling water because the labels are in Spanish. We shake our water to flatten them and arrive at our hotel, Casona Plaza Puno Centro.

June 23rd

I wake up to Sydney throwing up in the bathroom. She hadn’t been feeling well the day before and I’m starting to worry about her. She feels better so we go back to bed. The next morning, I go downstairs to get her water from the front desk. When I come back up, she has me go get the chaperone because she doesn’t feel good. She ends up going to the hospital with one of the chaperones as the rest of the group goes to see Lake Titicaca. While we are exploring the lake, Sydney is in the hospital with and iv and oxygen.

We take bikes peddled by locals with a basket in front for us to sit to get to the dock as it is downhill from the hotel. We take the Edgar Adventures tour boat to the islands, and our local guide brings a chicken as a gift to one of the boys on the island. We dock at Taquile Island and explore around. We meet some of the locals and they show us how the weave hats and other souvenirs out of wool from the sheep they raise on the island. I buy two bracelets for Syd and myself. After the tour we walk down the beach back to the boat. I take off my boots and venture into the glacier fed lake. We all enjoy the water and the beach before leaving for another island for lunch. There they cook us an authentic stone cooked lunch. Consisting of a huge pit in the ground, and they layer the dishes in with hot rocks separating them. After the delicious stone cooked lunch, we head to what Lake Titikaka is most famous for, the floating islands. The Uros, or floating islands, are made entirely out of reeds every part is used some way on the island. We learn about life on the floating islands and how they are made. We get to go into one of the homes and the owner tells us that he lives there with his wife and four kids. The whole house is probably the size of my bedroom back home. We learn that the community on the islands is very tight knit, cooking and eating their meals together. We also get a ride on a boat made from the reeds that make up the island. We head back to the hotel after a full day on the lake and a group of us plays cards together. I fall asleep that night to Spanish Animal Planet.

June 24th

We slowly make our way to the Juliaca airport and meet back up with Sydney, now a little better but still sick. We stop at a site along the way, but I stay and take a nap on the bus. We also stop at a farm where they raise Llamas and Guinea pigs. We fly from Juliaca back to Lima. The is a long layover before we fly back to the states, so we go to the Lima mall. We walk around looking at the different stores and end up deciding to eat at the Longhorn Steakhouse. We head back to the airport and take our overnight flight to Dallas.

June 25th

We arrive in Dallas early in the morning and we go through customs we then catch our flight to Fargo, and we arrive home, somewhat. My parents pick me up and we go to an Indian restaurant. The first thing I do is order a glass of ice water because the water was unsafe to drink in Peru. Over the next week I try to get rid of the cold that everyone on the trip seemed to get.

This was my first semi-solo trip and it helped kick off my love for travel. I think that this trip is a perfect example that not everything will go smoothly and that’s okay, you should still make the best of it. Peru is a beautiful country and I hope that one day I get to go back and explore it even more. All the tours, transportation, hotels, and the majority of the meals were organized by EF Tours. I have included names of these services that I remember but there where many more great tours and meals that I did not learn the names of. If you are visiting Peru in June, bring a rain jacket and umbrella, as it is the rainy season. I also recommend a pair of hiking boots; you can get by without them, but much of the terrain is uneven and rocky. Pack light, I wore the same pair of leggings until they got muddy and the same sweatshirt for the whole trip. I recommend packing in a backpack as none of the hotels we stayed in had elevators. Bring sunscreen as the majority of Peru is in high altitudes and the country is relatively close to the equator. Bring bug spray as mosquitos in Peru can cause Malaria.

I got vaccinated for both Malaria and Yellow Fever before I went. Learn some simple phrases in Spanish and Quechua. While most tour guides and people in Peru speak some English it is still nice and respectable to be able to thank them in their native language. Most people selling souvenirs are willing to barter but know your exchange rates of USD and Sol, so you know if something is a good deal or not. Do not sleep on using coco leaves to help with altitude sickness. Everyone in our group got altitude sickness but one who used the coco leaves. Try the Guinea pig, it’s a one in a lifetime experience which makes a great conversation starter. Legal drinking age in Peru is 16.

Link to the EF Tour I went on: https://www.eftours.com/educational-tour/peru?query=Peru

Adios,

Ann