Peru

We decided to go to Peru for our 6th Anniversary - it was on our wish list and the flight prices were a good deal so we thought it would be a great time to go.
We flew into Lima and stayed in this little B&B however our bags didn't make it until we left for Cuzco so we couldn't enjoy swimming in the pool. It was still lovely to dip my toes in the pool in the 75 degree weather!

We decided to take a taxi to the beach and take the short cut back up the hill - it was so fun but a little sticky in the heat.

This is when we finally got our bags back after a 2am phone call from the airport. This was literally 2 hours before we left again for the airport.

We flew into Cuzco and then had a 2 hour taxi ride to Ollantaytambo where we stayed the night and explored the town.

This is the back street to our B&B.

The next morning we had to catch a train up to Aguas Calientes at 5.30 in the morning.

After 2 hours on the train we arrived at Aguas which is directly below Machu Picchu.

We then took a bus up some really steep switch backs to get to Machu Picchu - this is the license we had to buy to get in....

It was absolutely stunning from the top and we were allowed to walk any where to find the best view

It was fun to see the Alpaca's roaming around

I had to spend some time reading up on the site because we didn't want to take a tour

Dusty mimicking the stone work!

It started raining so we had to bust out the ponchos

Every where we went there was an amazing view and something fun to discover

This was the temple in the middle of the complex - I can't believe how these structures survived over the hundreds of years

Once we had our fill of MP, we spent the rest of the day exploring Aguas - this was in the main square

The next day we had some time to kill before leaving so we found an old Inca trail to hike

This is the town from the trail - it is so isolated that you can only access it from the train - there are no roads in or out

Dusty then risked his neck climbing up this old ladder with most of the rungs missing - there was no way I was going up!

We got the high class train back to Ollantaytambo which had a great view, a meal and an alpaca clothing fashion show - I couldn't stop laughing!

After getting another taxi back to Cuzco, we had a great time exploring the town - even though it was raining.

There were so many beautiful churches and cathedrals

The streets were so unusual and we had fun walking around and finding interesting places like these stairs to the top of the town

We also found this huge market where you could buy anything - this was the fruit stand where this lady made us a freshly squeezed fruit juice drink

This was the square by our hotel - they had so many squares, all with churches and little shops

At night we had some amazing Tapas which was followed by a trip to the world's highest Irish Pub (11,100 feet)

The next day we flew back to Lima for the last two days and it was lovely to be back in the heat with the right clothes

We rented a couple of chairs to relax on the beach

Then we walked to an older part of town - Barranca

It was good to see a different part that was more traditional and less touristy

Then we visited the lovers park at sunset and love was definitely in the air with everyone smooching

And for the finale, we visited the fountain park which had 12 fountains - all amazing!

It was a really special way to finish the trip and we are so glad we had the opportunity to visit Peru!