Paso de la frontera - Aguas Verdes


Trujillo

Lima

Cusco

Inca Trail

Puno

Trujillo
After the not so comfy night bus from Tumbes we arrived in Trujillo. We didnt really know much about the place as we hadnt been planning on going there. It was the only available bus leaving Tumbes the night before so we jumped on it to get away from there and our stalking taxi driver! From a first glance it looked better than Tumbes anyway, although that wouldnt be hard! The whole coast of Peru is dry desert so Trujillo was warm and dusty, just a flat city surrounded by desert. Walking from the bus station into town we passed another bus station which offered a big comfy bed night bus to Lima that same night. Although we were wrecked we decided to go for it and not even spent a night in Trujillo. We dumped our bags in the station, headed for some breakfast and wandering to pass the day until the bus again that night. Spending the day there turned out to be quite fun as we met two guys from Lima who invited us for some beers with them. They were sound enough so we had a laugh with them for the afternoon. Then when we said our goodbyes we still had 6 hours to spare so we went to cinema before brushing our teeth in the bus station and getting ready for bed on a bus for the second night in a row! 

Lima
After not sleeping in a proper bed for two nights our main aim in Lima was to find a nice hostel and rest. We had been told that Lima was dangerous and dirty so we werent expecting much from it. However we were well surprised when we got there and actually liked it. It has two really nice areas called Miraflores and Barranco, we stayed in Miraflores at a woman called Marias house. We had our own rooftop little apartment with kitchen and all so we were in heaven there resting for a few days. We did normal things like going to the supermarket and cooking and it felt good! Staying at Marias house was like staying with a relative, she was always popping her head around the corner to see if we were okay and feeding us cakes! We were not complaining! We also got in some sightseeing though and wandered along the coast one day and around Lima center another day. I dont know why everyone is so against Lima, Id def go back, although I did forget to mention that the first thing I saw when I arrived in Lima city was a grown man doing his business (yes no. 2!!!) on the sidewalk!

Cusco 
Cusco was a very welcome sight after 21 hours, yes 21 hours in the bus! Eventhough it was a long time we were well entertained with a game of bus bingo, tons of films (all pretty crap mind you) and the sound of half the bus gettting sick into plastic bags due to the altitude! Thankfully we were okay eventhough we did go from sea level to 3330m. Cusco is a fabulous city, yes its touristy but it still has kept its charm. Its full of gorgeous squares, colourfully dressed local people with their llamas and loads of cute places to eat and drink. We are so happy to have spent Christmas there and its one of the first places which we have left saying we will DEFINITELY be back.  On Christmas Eve we booked into a nice hotel for two nights, we had the biggest bed ever, tv, a bath and buffet breakfast! What a treat after almost three months of hostels! Then after wandering through the Christmas markets we celebrated with Christmas dinner overlooking the main square (Plaza de Armas) and tried the local cocktail Pisco Sour. I kinda liked it after I got over the fact that there was a raw egg in it! The whole city was alive with fireworks all night. Since in Ireland we celebrate Christmas on Christmas day, we had a second Christmas dinner on the 25th...not as traditional as the turkey we had on Christmas Eve though as we had a huge pizza! Around Cusco there are loads of things to do as well, we visited the Sacred Valley and climbed up a huge hill behind a small town called Pisac to see some ruins. Unfortunately it was a bit too much activity for Antoine as he suffered some altitude sickness that night. Everywhere you go in Cusco they give you free coca tea to help with the altitude so after that we kept drinking tons of it and had no more problems. (lots of trips to the toilet mind you!)