Peru Sneak Peek

I just got back from the most AMAZING trip to Peru.  And when I say amazing, that doesn't even begin to describe it.  I absolutely love this country, I love the scenery, the culture, the people, the food, the animals, the diversity, the architecture, the art the climate, EVERYTHING.  I can not wait to share my photos with all of you!  Unfortunately, the high altitude (or maybe something else I am not really sure) ruined my computer so I can't start posting all my photos for a little bit.  But I am just too excited, so I am posting a sneak peek with photos that I took with my phone!  So, here is an instagram review of the entire trip... hopefully it perks your interest enough to come back and see all the picture filled posts I will be posting throughout the next couple of weeks!

We traveled through this amazing country with a tour designed by Tauk.  They are the best to travel with, they really help you get a grasp on the culture, history and sights of the places you travel.  We have traveled with them a few times, I have been to the Canadian Rockies, Italy, Savannah and Charleston , New Orleans, and Michigan with this company, and every single one of those trips has been amazing.  (all those links are the first post of many for each trip, if you want to scroll through all the posts, just click Newer Post at the bottom of every page!)

We began in Lima.  We stayed at the Marriott that had a wonderful view of the beautiful coast.

While in Lima we had the opportunity to have a mini cooking class before lunch, it was a really fun experience.

From Lima we flew to Cusco then drove down to the Sacred Valley.  I loved our hotel here, it was so beautiful and serene.

Here we hiked up to the Temple of the Sun at Ollantaytambo.  It was breathtaking (figuratively AND literally) 

Then from the Sacred Valley we headed to the one and only ....

These cute little dudes are all over in Machu Picchu!  They are adorable

A few of us in the group went back the next day to watch the sunrise over the ruins, it was a once in a lifetime experience and it was gorgeous

I could have spent a whole other day at Machu Picchu and the Beautiful Inkaterra hotel, but we had to keep on moving, there is just so much to see there!  From Machu Picchu we headed to Cusco!

and it was in Cusco where my life changed forever, I got to hold baby llamas.  They were so, so cuddly.  I wanted one so bad.

After two great days in Cusco, we boarded the Andean Express, and took a blissful ten hour train ride to Lake Titicaca.

We stayed in a hotel that was on a peninsula in the middle of the Lake, so no matter what room you were staying in, you got wonderful views of the lake.  My room was on the side where I got to watch the sunrise each morning, it was glorious watching the sun light up the sky over the lake. 

Our first stop on the lake was to the floating reed islands.  This was one of my favorite experiences of the trip, the islands are beautiful and so unique and the people are so warm and welcoming.

Then we visited another, rocky island where it's tradition for all the men to be expert knitters.  It is a fascinating culture and we got to learn all about it and enjoy lunch with them.

Our last stop was La Paz, Boliva.  We happened to be visiting on the exact anniversary of their independence so we got to join in all the fun festivities and watch some of their parades, it was such a fun atmosphere.  (these photos I took from the screen of my SLR since I didn't have my phone with me at the time, thus they are a little blurry.  The original images look much better and will be coming up shortly!)

Curious as to why I am with a herd of Zebras in the middle of downtown La Paz...?  You'll just have to keep checking back to find out the answer!