Peru - The Land of Adventure

We arrived at around 5 pm. The hotel was close to the beach. There was a roof top swimming pool and a mini bar. Our room had a soothing city view. Overall the service and accommodation were excellent.

This was one of the top reviewed restaurants right next to our hotel. Our hotel manager suggested this place and it was all worth it. We tried famous ceviche which was absolutely delicious 😋

We started the day with Lima Main Square which is one of the most important touristic destinations, located in heart of the Historic Centre of Lima. It is surrounded by architectural buildings like the Government Palace, Cathedral, the Archbishop’s Palace, and the Municipal Palace. Almost all the city tour starts from here, because it leads to the principal attractions of Lima center.

We had our lunch at Huaca Pucllana restaurant which is a clear example of how you can join gastronomy and archaeology in one place. It is located inside the archaeological centre Huaca Pucllana. We enjoyed the lunch with archaeological views of the museum.

After our delicious lunch, we took a slow walk in the love park. It has a breathtaking view of the ocean. We kept roaming around the city and finally ended in the cat park. What a charming experience it was!

In the cat park (next to Kennedy Park) we tried famous Picarones. It is a traditional Peruvian donut. For dinner we picked fried chicken from Papas Queen's. It was really good.

We early checked in at around 10 am. The manager was so caring and helpful. He was giving us all those helpful information about how to acclimate with the high altitude. If you are in Cusco, make sure to take it easy on your first day. It was recommended to eat light food and take plenty of rest.

We slept for about 3 hours after check-in and once felt comfortable, decided to go to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Luckily, our hotel was only 5 minutes away from the Plaza De Armas. We took some lovely evening shots on our way to the restaurant.

For our dinner we picked Morena. They had so many options including special meals for altitude sickness. The restaurant was packed. However we were able to manage a table for us. The food, atmosphere, and service were topnotch. Highly recommend.

We started the day early to cover Sacred Valley and other famous attractions. Our first stop was at Saqsaywaman, a citadel on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco, Peru, the historic capital of the Inca Empire. The complex was built by the Inca in the 15th century, particularly under Pachacuti and successors. Then we covered Chinchero, Maras, and Moray, one after another. Each of these places was fascinating.

As we covered a lot of places and slowed down to take pictures, we had a late lunch. It was El Fogon Restaurant. Unfortunately, the food was not good. Based on the quality and service, we will rank this towards the bottom of our list. Also, they don't accept credit cards.

This was our last stop of the day before catching the train to Machu Picchu. Make sure you arrive there at least 2 hours before the closing time, else they won't let you climb the steps. There is a nearby local market and you can buy souvenirs from there.

We checked in around 9 pm. You have to take a walk to reach the hotel. Keep in mind that the station is not accessible with ramps. Construction was going on, so was a little chaotic. However, hotel sent someone to help with the luggage. The hotel location was quite good. We were right next to a big mountain. The service and breakfast were excellent.

We bought our Machu-Picchu ticket for 9 am. However you have to start a little early for that. You can buy bus tickets from a nearby designated station. Buses are every 10-15 minutes. We picked circuit 2, but you can pick 1, 3, or 4 while purchasing the tickets. Machu-Pichu tickets gets sold out quickly, so keep that in mind for planning your trip. You have to take moderate hike just so you know. We loved Machu-Pichu so much and want to go back again. You probably have seen so many attractions, visited many places and countries. But if you never been to Machu-Pichu, you missed one of the best places in the earth. So, what's holding you back?

After our Machu-Picchu hike, we stopped by this local restaurant. The food, drinks, and service were excellent. We enjoyed the view over lunch.

After Machu-Picchu, we traveled to Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake (also the largest high-altitude lake), located in the Andes Mountains right on the Peruvian and Bolivian border and home to many communities. This is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ⭐️The Bolivian part occupies 40% of the Lake, while the Peruvian part occupies 60%. We took a boat ride to: 🏝 Uros Floating Islands - man-made floating reed islands, a place like no other. The Uros are believed to be direct descendants of the first inhabitants of Lake Titicaca. The community has lived on the floating islands for decades. According to history, the pre-Inca community of the Uros was forced to build their floating houses when the Inca Empire expanded their lands and expelled them. 🌴Taquile Island - Island community until recently isolated from the world. We also hiked to the top point of this island which was more than 4050m (13287 feet) above sea level. So far, our highest hike. ⛰️🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️🥾 There are different Puno boat tours that you can take to the Uros islands and others around. Ours was included with Peru Hop bus tour.

For our dinner, we picked this restaurant which was near Puno Plaza De Armas. We had some amazing options to choose from the menu. The food was delicious and price was reasonable. Highly recommend.

Our flight was delayed from Puno, so we reached really late. But we still enjoyed it. We stayed in the same hotel and had some good food.

Finally and sadly we left beautiful Peru to come back home. The trip, food, people, and experience all were amazing. We are looking forward to go back there again. ❤️