Vacaciones en Perú!

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OK-OK! Finally done! You would be surprised how long this blog stuff takes! 😊 After returning from Peru on June 14th, I have finished uploading the photos! Be warned--there are a ton!

I am going to let the pictures tell the story this time! We went from Antofagasta on a night bus to Arica, Chile (about 10 hours). We then took a taxi across the border into Tacna, Peru--that took about 3 hours. We hung out there with some other friends all day, then took a bus to Arequipa, Peru. We split from our pals and hung out in Peru for a few days. We met up with Kelly and Priscila again, watched a cool soccer game, took a cool cooking class, then took another (terrifying) night bus to Cusco (about another 10 hours). We hung out in Cusco for a few days solo, then took a train to Aguas Calientes. We spent a day and night there and then took a short bus to Machu Picchu. Amazing experience! Then we took a train back to Cusco for a few more days. Kurt had to leave to come home for work, so I met back up with Kelly and Priscila to head on another night bus to Puno/Lake Titikaka. We hopped on a boat for a couple of days and did a night stay on one of the islands. It was super cool! After that, we took a night bus back to Tacna (another 10 hours or so)--and then a long 12 hour day bus back home. It was a pretty ride, though, as it was along the coast!

Hope you can all come visit and check out Peru!

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Photos

Arrival in Arica!
We all left on the same bus...after leaving school at 5 on Friday (June 2). We took a 10:00pm bus and arrived in Arica, the northern most city in Chile, at around 6:30 am. Kurt and I were on the bottom floor of the bus, which is called "cama." Much more space in the seats for only 10 more U.S. dollars was well worth it. Plus, Kurt can't really fit in the semi-cama seats! This was us getting a coffee and snack before beginning the next leg of our journey!

Our crew arriving in Tacna, Peru after our 10-hour bus ride and 3 hour taxi ride to cross the border
Pre-shopping and Pisco sours!

Tacna!
After arriving in Arica, we took a taxi across the border to Tacna, Peru. This was on our way to the amazingly cheap shopping markets!

Pisco wars!
Lunch in Tacna--comparison between pisco sours in Peru vs. Chile!

Arequipa night 1
After Being in Tacna for a day, we took a bus for about 6 hours to our first real destination to Arequipa, Peru. At this point, we separated from the group. This was a cool room in which we stayed that was a former monastery converted into a hostel. The walls were constructed of volcanic ash. I was checking e-mail! :)

Protesters!
Alive and well everywhere in the world!
This was on the Plaza de Armas square on Sunday after the military parade. I later found out that every main square in Peru is called the "Plaza de Armas." (Where they kept the arms in the old days!)

Chopped chicken
Gross, I know, but this is what was on the counter when we went into a small store to buy water and cigs. We saw this at many other places as well. Amazing I was able to eat at all...oh, but I did! :)

Watching Peru play soccer in the World Cup qualifiers
This was a pretty cool experience!
We ended up getting seats in the VIP section, which only about 50 people got--out of at least 1000 (ran the figure by Kurt to be sure:).
They set up a huge screen in the Plaza de Armas and everyone came to watch in full force.

Let's go, Peru!
They--Peru lost that night, but we were still happy because Chile won (our real team in S.A. :).

One of many delicious dinners
We met back up with Kelly and Priscila...we told them about what we were doing the following day and they changed their bus tickets to stay for an extra day to join is at the market tour/cooking class that we were signed up to do! We celebrated with a delicious Peruvian dinner that required clothing shielding because the meat was sizzling!

The first time I ever willingly wore a bib at dinner!
But it was quite necessary! And worth it! We had alpaca, poke, beef, salmon, quinoa con queso! Muy delicioso!