Nestor and Ana

This is the family we stayed with. They gave us a little room with an amazing view of the lake, and in their front yard they were growing potatoes and other sorts of plants. Nestor´s brother also lives in the house but wasn´t in the picture, and the kid was really shy. Ana also cooked pretty well and she did it from an open fire. Fortunately, they were also Adventists and it was great to hear that 40% of the island were Adventists, due to the missionaries and the influence of Ana Stahl. Pretty cool

Amantani Island

We stayed overnight on the Amantani island. A very quiet island inhabited by simple farmers with no roads, no cars, and even no dogs. We were fortunate to stay with a Seventh-Day Adventist family that were so hospitable and kind. It was an awesome experience living how the islanders did. They still carry out their way of life similar to their ancestors centuries ago. We were also able to visit some Inca ruins on the top of the islands called Pachamama (Mother earth in Quechua). This picture we´re on the peak of the island, also called Pachamama

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca-

Lake Titicaca is the world´s highest navigable lake and South America´s biggest lake. So when I first saw Lake Titicaca, I wasn´t surprised at it´s ginormous size. I was amazied by the beauty of the lake and as a result of the high altitude, the air is unusually clear, making the horizon seem limitless as well as the lumisescent sunlight reflecting off the lake to make almost perfect views of the lake. Brinja and I were able to see the rural Peruvian life and visit the peaceful lakeside communities where Aymara and Quechua are still first languages. This was the start of Peru´s ancient civilizations, and to the Incas, the birthplace of the first Inca Manca Capac.

Macchu Picchu

Machu Picchu- The highlight of our trip, and probably the highlight of almost every traveller in South America, this exceeded our expectations. It was awe-inspiring to see this ancient city that wasn´t revealed to the conquering Spaniards and wasn´t found until only about 90 years ago. Macchu Picchu is set in a spectacular location set amongst mountains, overlooking the jungle and occasionally getting the mist that only makes it more mysterious. Brinja and I spent about a full day here with almost perfect weather, until when we were about to leave the clouds started coming and it started to rain. Other than that, and a few weird insect bites that I got on my hand, the Macchu Picchu trip was all that I thought it would be and more.

Cusco

Cusco- What I thought was just known for Machu Picchu, it now might be my favorite city I have visited so far. The first city of the great empire, now the undisputed archaeological capital of the Americas, is quickly becoming a modern town due to the influx of tourists. However, the historical past still retains a powerful grip on the present, and you can see that by the culture and traditions of the people. No wonder Cusco ithe continent´s oldest continuously inhabited city. In Cusco, we stayed at Casa Elena, a friend of Paul Opps who was almost motherly like. She took great care of us, gave us a great room, and offered help to us whenever we needed it. When we were in the city not visiting archaeological sites, museums, we were just hanging out in cafes, the Plaza de Armas, and just checking out the shops. Also, when we were hungry we were eating at this awesome restaurant called Jacks and this other vegetarian restaurant that Brinja thinks might have served the best veggie burgers she has tried..and only for like 3 bucks!

1st day of travel

1st day of travel- Here´s a little snippet of what I wrote in my hand-written journal while I was travelling.
¨We arrived at the Lima airport and had our driver meet us. He was holding a sign that said Eden Yoon and it made me feel pretty important. Ha ha. Anyways, we drove to our hostel Family House which took about 30 minutes from the airport. My first initial thoughts of Lima was it was a dirty section of LA. We arrived at our hostel and Christian, the owner, was really nice. He gave us amap, showed us around, and we got settled in our shabby, yet comfortable hostel. We then set off and ate a sandwich fast food chain which was pretty good. Then we went and headed to the coast. This was when I started warming up to Lima because it was a lot cleaner with nice seaside views. There were a lot of parks barely on the edge of the cliffs which had magnificent views. There was this one park called Parque de Amor which resembled Gaudi´s Park in Barcelona with the architecture. There was a nice cool ocean breeze and a lot of couples making out there. The paragliders were awesome, only $40 to paraglide! We walked along the cliffs to Larco Mall, which was a mall situated on a seaside cliff with great views of the ocean. We shopped around and then relaxed with a cinnamon roll, diet coke, and a latte enjoying views of the ocean. We then walked to Mercado India where Brinja was checking ot some souvenirs. After that we ate at this vegetarian restaurant called Govinda. It wasn´t that great, partly because it really didn´t have it´s own identity cuz it tried being Thai-ish which got us pretty excited but it ended up being some Peruvian guy attempting to cook what he thought was Pad Thai, but it was just oily spaghetti with vegetables. Quite disappointing. Throughout the walks, I took a few pictures of crafts, shops, people, and some nice colonial buildings and mansions

Some of the foods

This was Alpaca, very mm mm good. only about 3 dollars..yayah

Food and Drink

Ahhh, if I had to pick one country for it´s ´fusion´ of foods, it´d have to be Peru. The concept of fusion must have started in Peru after I tasted thedeliciously implemented Peruvian cooking. Andean stews mingled with Asian stir-fry techniques, Spanish rice dishes with exotic flavours from the Amazon, and of course the coastline provides seafood concoctions from sushi to Lima´s famous ceviche. ( Brinja, I tried the raw fish!) haha To make things better, the average meal costs only about $4, and that´s including a drink and dessert. If you really want to go to top high-end restaurant, then dinner for one would at max cost you like $20.00, but I never went that high. Peruvian breakfasts were mostly just bread and jam, eggs, and of course the famous coca tea (Yes, they´re made out of real coca leaves, the same plant cocaine is derived from.) A few of my favorite dishes are cebiche, lomo saltado (Beef-stir fry with vegetables), and their soups are great. I also tried Alpaca, a member of the Llama family which tasted great. It´s sort of like beef, but I thought more tender. MmmmM. If you´re also wanting some international flavours, it wouldn´t be too hard to find a Chinese restaurant called a Chifa, and once in awhile you´ll find a Japanese sushi restaurant or an Italian restaurant like Chez Maggy that does pizza justice in South America. Well, after writing so much about the food here you probably think I´m just a little fatty, but hey, food is a big part of my life. Well, it was a big part of our lives while Brinja and I were travelling. When we were bored and had nothing to do, we´d go out to get something to eat, or a nice cup of coffee or tea with a warm pastry. MMmmm

i´m back

Wow, I´m back. Well, not back at home, back in Iquitos and settled alter 21 days of traveling all over Peru. What an adventure. After experiencing the amazing Amazonian rainforest, the world´s highest tropical mountains, and an endless desert coastline one can say Peru has it all. Diverse and welcoming people, from cheap accommodations to beautifully converted colonial mansions, to some of the continent´s tastiest food I can my trip was packed filled with adventures.
As I was travelling, I had a little journal that I would write in every day, or at least every other day that could help me remind me of the things I did, the people I met, and the places I visited. Throughout my next entries I will talk about Peru and my adventures. Unfortunately, I´m not going to add in every adventure because I´ll save that for when we talk in person to whomever is reading this, but I will share a few highlights and pictures of my trip. Peru was so diverse, it honestly felt like I wasn´t travelling in the same country, but that I was visiting different countries at each place. Well, Enjoy!