A Homestay like no other... LLACHON

Our next stop after Cuzco was Puno. Puno is the largest city on Lake Titicaca, which is the highest lake in the world (3,811m). Our time spent here was to get accustomed to a home stay set up and to see the lake...

We did however venture to a few fun places in Puno. One being the Coca museum. The coca leaf was, and still is, chewed almost universally by some indigenous communities. The remains of coca leaves have been found with ancient Peruvian mummies, and pottery from the time period depicts humans with bulged cheeks, indicating the presence of something on which they are chewing. Very interesting indeed.



The following day we set off by boat to Llachon. It is a small town on the mainland, but across the lake. Dropped off on the beach Erik and I looked at each other and were both thinking the same thing, where do we go now?? Luckily for us we ran into the nicest lady who was also roaming the beaches, she invited us for lunch and we ended up staying there for lunch, dinner, accommodation and breakfast. All for 40 soles each, which is about $16.
Such a lovely adventure, we walked to the highest peak and could see Bolivia, other islands on the lake and Puno. Our meals were so so good, Trout for lunch (a local specialty), quinoa soup and eggs for dinner, and pancakes for breakfast. We also had the best tea always, our home stay family would pick natural herbs and you just put them in hot water and Mmm Mmm good!

Loved Llachon, and I would recommend this small cute place for anyone looking for a great home stay.

MAPI

The time has come, 5am wake up in Aguas Caliente for Machu Picchu!

Located 120 km northwest of Cusco, the Inca city of Machu Picchu lay hidden from the world in dense jungle covered mountains until 1911. This 'Lost City' is one of the world's archaeological jewels and is one of South America's major travel destinations.

What an amazing drive up to the top, the valleys are filled with birds, diverse trees and plants, and an awe inspiring feeling of peace.

MAPI is definitely the most expensive portion of our trip thus far... 120 soles, which is about $45 CAD. (the bus up there an additional $7 and the train another additional $75)

BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT...




Coming up to that picture perfect spot was so unreal! Especially thinking that people once lived here... so far away from everything else, and we got to witness their ruins and picture their lives.
This being said, it was almost like a maze also, and me, loving to explore, it was a real heaven.
We started by walking around the ruins and taking loads of photos, then decided to do the trek UP the highest peak. It was a 3 hour adventure that was tougher than I thought. The elevation alone made every step hard to breath, and the fog-smog building up didn´t exactly help either. But once we reached the top, ahhhh what an amazing view! We were literally IN the clouds.. amazing. We then decided to go a different way down, not knowing that this different way was 10x more difficult (I´m talking steeper than steep parts... with the smallest ledge and looking down was not the best idea)... then we ended up in an almost rain forest like part, and wow did it ever feel like we were in the thick of a rain forest. It poured and poured, and we hiked and hiked.

Upon our return, freezing, sore, dehydrated, starving... but oh so rewarding.

LOVE MAPI !

oh and ps, llamas everywhere just roaming! haha so cool!

Cuzco & The Sacred Valley

Our time in Cuzco was filled with delicious restaurants, positive vibes cafes, coca tea everywhere, and people people people. This is one of the most bumping 3rd world coutries I have ever been to. Although it is a little too touristy for me, it´s still full of so much culture and life.

Our first day here was spent resting and relaxing in the Plaza de Armas, acclimatizing to the elevation. Which by the way really does feel different. I was having trouble breathing just walking up the stairs (and I´d like to think of myself as an athletic person), and both of our heads felt as though they would explode at any minute! The solution for this: COCA LEAVES. Now, many of you think of something ¨bad¨ when you hear the word coca... when in fact it is completely natural and very spìritual for the people here. It alleviated the headache and gave a new form of energy. Needless to say, I became fond of this plant for when I needed a boost.
Unfortunately for me, I decided to go off the beaten path and eat at a local restauran (away from all the touristy stuff) aaand got quite sick. I was in bed literally for 34 hours, ew.

The day after I was feeling a bit better so we decided to head to the Sacred Valley and then Aguas Calientes (base of Machu Picchu).

We first stopped in Pisac. A cute little town... AMAZING Market.. and that works well with me, loving to shop shop shop. We also went to the PIsac Ruins, very cool. The next stop before our train ride was Ollantaytambo, a town dominated by 2 massive Inca Ruins. It was cool to see how they planned their city those hundreds of years ago...

Adventuring aruond was really fun, and I was slowly starting to feel better... crossing my fingers I would be up to MAPI (Machu Picchu) the following morning...