Planes, trains, automobiles and a backpack

With adventure calling us, we traveled to South America for the first time flying to Cusco, Peru. At an elevation of 11,152 ft above sea level, altitude sickness was a real possibility. We made sure we were well hydrated and began our trip with Coca Tea.

The Plaza de Armas in the center of the historic district of Cusco. We gave ourselves a day to acclimate to the elevation and slowly explore Cusco.

We visited the Santa Domingo Basilica a spanish church that was built on top of the Incan Temple of the Sun and Qorikancha (the Incan site of gold).

Everyone got to hold an alpaca.

Inca Kola, a favorite among the Peruvians and the Gillelands.

We drove two hours into the Sacred Valley from Cusco to Ollantaytambo (hard to get more Peruvian than a potato truck with the Andes in the background). 

We boarded the train to Machu Picchu in Ollantaytambo.

View from the train ride.

Our Machu Picchu Day was upon us. We met for breakfast at 5:00am and got in line for the bus at 6:20am.

It was a bit foggy when we first arrived......

So we visited the llamas......

And then the fog began to lift.

It was truly spectacular!

After exploring the ruins, we hiked the 3,000+ steps to the top of Wayna Picchu.

It was quite a hike! We were not smiling like this the whole time.

The view from the top was definitely worth it.

Emma in the clouds.

Resting on our return to our basecamp.

We took the train back to Ollantaytambo and spent one night there.

There were ruins to climb there too.

We stopped at a textile shop on our travels back to Cusco. The local women showed us how they created their beautiful items, from spinning the thread, dyeing the thread and the weaving itself.

From Cusco, we flew to Lima to see the city of 10 million people.

We enjoyed the Parque del amor.....

and the ceviche.

We ate dinner and toured another archeology site in Lima, Huaca Pucllana. Emma took it all in. 

Until next time South America......it was a fabulous adventure.