The Amazon & Machu Picchu

So, just a few weeks ago my mom was here in Peru :) She arrived on September 1st with her boyfriend, Tom, and it was so great to see her. Here's a rundown of our time together in Peru:

Lima. 
Mom & Tom only spent two nights in Lima so that they could spend the majority of their time in Cusco and in the Amazon. The first night I picked them up at the airport around 10pm and we took them to their hotel near Parque Kennedy. We only had time to get some juice at La Lucha before they wanted to go to bed.

Sunday, the next day, was jam-packed with all the things I wanted to show my mom about my life in Peru. We started the day by checking out Parque Kennedy, where we saw a zumba class going on outside. We then moved on to see LarcoMar (the outdoor shopping mall/restaurants located on a cliff in downtown Miraflores) and from there jumped on a "local" bus to get to Barranco. From there I took them to see the best views from my district and the main park. Luckily the sun came out and made Lima look a lot more beautiful than it normally is when it's grey and depressing... 

From there I showed them my apartment. After spending a few hours there, we took a taxi to Parque de Las Aguas, where we walked around and took a bunch of pictures with all the beautiful fountains. From there, we grabbed a pizza at Pizza Hut and called it a night (whew what a long day!)

The Amazon - Puerto Maldonado 
The very next morning, I woke up at 5:30am to get to mom & Tom's hotel by 6am to get a ride to the airport. We took a flight from Lima to Puerto Maldonado (with a stop in Cusco) and once we got off the flight it was scorching hot and SO humid. We were met by our tour guide, Jaime, who took us to the jungle office to drop off the luggage that would not be coming to the jungle lodge with us. From there, we took a 45 minute bus to the dock, and then a 2 hour boat ride down the river to our jungle lodge, Refugio Amazonas.On the boat, we were given lunch which was fried rice wrapped in a banana leaf :) oh and boxed peach juice, of course.

Our lodge was so cool. Our room only had three walls, and the third wall was open to the jungle. Our beds had mosquito nets over them, but at night the jungle was so loud that it felt like we were outside (well, we kind of were). The walls were made of bamboo and we had curtains for doors which was interesting. We also had a hammock right in our room which was awesome! We spent 4 days and 3 nights in the jungle doing a variety of tours such as observing clay licks (watching Macaws, parrots, wild pigs, etc eat the clay), night hikes, night watch to see the Caimans, swimming in the amazon, climbing a canopy tour to watch the sunrise of the tree tops, and a variety of other activities. 

We spent nights relaxing in the lodge, eating local food, and enjoying happy hour cocktails :) We were so exhausted from every-day activities provided at the lodge that we were passed out by 9pm and up at 5am in the mornings to begin the next day's activities. Although it was exhausting it was a cool experience and we saw a variety of animals including ant-eaters, sloths, monkeys, macaws, caimens, parrots, wild pigs, and a number of other animals. 

Cusco
After leaving Puerto Maldonado, we flew to Cusco. Getting off the plane in Cusco, I felt at home again. I really love that city and it has so much charm and culture it's hard to forget. The sun was shining when we landed, and the sky was bright blue. Upon arrival to our hotel, Casa San Blas, we all went up to the balcony to have some Cocoa tea and relax. That night, after relaxing a bit, we went to Papa Pacha for dinner which was nice. We also went out to Inkateam and danced some salsa. It brought back so many memories to be back in the same places that I spent so much time in two years ago when I lived in Cusco. It was great to see old friends and faces and catch up. 

Sacred Valley
The next day, we left in the morning to head off to the Sacred Valley. We stayed in Casa Andina Private Collection there, which had amazing scenery but was pretty remote and not near the down-town Urubamba area. Later on, we went downtown for some dinner (12 sol pollo y papas at a local place, not bad). We then came back to the hotel to drink some wine, and the hotel wanted to charge us 35 soles to open our wine so Tom somehow figured out how to open the wine with a nail clipper and a tooth brush... nevertheless, it worked and we had two bottles of wine and enjoyed conversation and looking up at the cloudless sky full of stars (living in Lima, its been a very long time since I've seen the stars). 

Machu Picchu
The next day, we woke up early to eat breakfast and catch our ride to the train station in Ollytaytambo. After an hour and a half train ride, we arrived to Aguas Calientes, and took the bus up to Machu Picchu. It was amazing being back there, but there were many more tourists this time around which I did not enjoy :( The last time I went with my mom it was not crowded at all and it felt more magical in a way. Nevertheless, our tour was great, and our tour guide Fabricio was phenomenal. After the tour we had lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge, explored the ruins a bit more, took about 200 photos, and then headed back down to Aguas Calientes to find our hotel and have dinner. 

Huayna Picchu
The next morning, we woke up around 5:30am to have breakfast and get up to Machu Picchu in time for our Huayna Picchu hike. Unfortunately it was raining pretty hard which was disheartening, especially since the rainy season doesn't usually begin so early in the Andes. Once we got up to Machu Picchu around 7:30am, the rain had stopped but the fog was still pretty thick which made Machu Picchu look pretty mystical. We did the hike up to the Huayna Picchu peak which took us around an hour. The view from the top was still breathtaking even though the fog made it hard to see the ruins. It is an incredible feeling to be sitting above the clouds :) When climbed down and it began to pour so we were grateful we had gotten the hike in beforehand. We still got completely soaked, but luckily had some dry clothes to change into once we got back down to Aguas Calientes. We then had lunch and took the train back to Cusco.

Cusco
Our last day in Cusco, we spent wandering around and enjoying the city. We had lunch with my good friend Jhon, which was nice :) In the evening, we all went out to dinner with my good friend from home, Emily, who I've known for years. From there, we all went out to InkaTeam to celebrate the last night. We didn't end up staying out too late though because we were all exhausted from all the travels we had done. 

The next morning we flew back to Lima and after dropping off my mom and Tom in Barranco, I had to go to work to answer about 200 emails in my inbox. They spent the afternoon in Barranco then took a cab back to the airport to get a flight out that night. All in all it was a fantastic trip together and we had a great time. While it was hard to say goodbye, I look forward to traveling more during my time here in Peru.

That's all for now, hasta luego :)