Peru - The Mother Land

In February 2016 I decided to head to the mother land-partly because there was a huge family reunion in Lima, and I also because wanted to visit the wonderful and magical Machu Picchu.

I'd like to explain the picture above.

I went to Lima because there was a huge family reunion in my father's hometown of Callao. My family is fun so I had lots of pisco sours and Peruvian wine, and I DO NOT RECOMMEND DRINKING BEFORE CUZCO. The morning after our fun family reunion we booked a trip to the land of Machu Picchu. Great idea right ? HA

Cuzco's elevation is 11,152 feet above sea level-which causes altitude sickness. Lets just say, I felt like I fucking died in Cuzco and resurrected in Ollantaytambo, which is where I am pictured above. I was smiling because after throwing up for 2 hours I was finally feeling human again and I was finally able to get food into my system...along with mate de coca (tea made from the coca plant aka cocaine leaves.)

Ollantaytambo

The beautiful little town of Ollantaytambo is in the heart of the sacred valley about an hour away from Cuzco. Here is where we took the Vistadome train to Aguas Calientes, where the elevation was 6,693 feet above sea level. I recommend staying here the night before Machu Picchu. It helps with acclimating with the altitude.
Ollantaytambo is an extensive archaeological site located on the hillside overlooking the town, containing structures such as the Temple of the Sun, and the Manacaray or Royal Hall, the Incahuatana and the Banos de la Princesa. We ate at El Olivio, which was a cute little restaurant that had good lomo and wifi. There was also this really beautiful llama dog that sat next to us. The scenery was breathtaking, I couldn't wait to see what Machu Picchu was like.

The Vistadome provided comfortable seating with a panoramic view of the Sacred Valley. We were served tea and snacks,and it was lovely hour and a half ride.

Aguas Calientes-

The town of Machu Picchu

Aguas Calientes was very interesting. We loved the hotel we stayed in (Casa Andina Classic Machu Picchu). I wanted to love the town, but it seems to me that it's sadly becoming a tourist trap. After walking around trying to see what restaurant we want to eat at, we stumbled into an alley where an aroma of food was coming from. El Antojito seemed to be where the locals ate because it was packed with everyone but tourist. The pollo la brasa was amazing, I highly recommend eating here, we didnt really love the food at the other restaurants on the strip and they also included a 25% gratuity for themselves-and the service was shitty so again I felt like it was a major tourist trap.

The next morning we had to wake up at 5am to meet our tour guide Rolan. We used Intense Peru for booking our tour and they were great!
I highly reccomend packing the following before the trek:

Comfy bag/back pack to hold your items.
Water
COCA LEAVES
Comfy shoes for climbing and hiking
A poncho- we went in February which is rainy season.
Bug spray-I swear the bugs up there are prehistoric and huge!
Pack a light biodegradable snack like a banana

Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu
So the guided tour was about 2 and a half hours and it was filled with tons of history and information on Machu Picchu. Rolan, our tour guide even taught me how to chew the coca leaf properly because I was doing it all wrong. After that my nausea went away -THANK GOD because there are no bathrooms in Machu Picchu. You must go before entering the park.
After parting ways with Rolan we headed for the 2 hour hike up Huayna Picchu . I honestly couldn't have done it without the massive amounts of coca leaves I chewed. Going up that vertical mountain we passed many people who gave up but we kept pushing and it was all worth it. You must sign a waiver to acknowledge the Peruvian government is not responsible for you if you get hurt or fall off the trek so be careful!