I follow my own star and my own inner compass.

~Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I was amazed by my trip to Peru’s beautiful places. Along with many other places I will talk about, I got to camp in the Amazons for three nights, climb to Kuelap, and boat down rivers. I loved how every day was a new adventure. It was a great way to start my love of traveling. Since I was younger when I went on this trip, one of my main goals was to party. So, I stayed at a lot of hotels and met lots of new people. Today I’m going to tell you about my experiences and some of the beautiful places I saw in Peru.

Experience my Journey

This is one of the most beautiful places in Peru. I saw it in Yurimaguas, which is near the Amazons. Everyone is so friendly and opens their arms wide. And I learned that my pale skin makes people here find me interesting. Oh, lucky me!

I’m slowly learning Spanish on my trip because not many people in this town speak English. But when it comes to Spanish, my thoughts are all over the place. This trip began in Lima, Peru, on December 30th. That’s a huge city! Ten million people, ten million people walking around. It’s making me choke! All of these places and people.

I’ve never liked living in cities. The whole time I lived in Denver, Colorado. I’m not interested in it. I can’t live without being outside. It makes me feel at ease and at home all over.

I enjoy nature a lot, which could be because I care more about animals than people. Now, allow me to explain. From my point of view, animals are good before people came along. Because we are greedy and selfish, we have ruined so much. I’m truly sorry, but I care more about animals that can’t defend themselves.

It’s stalker time

I had a little trouble in Lima, Peru. I was on my way back to my hostel by foot. I have no idea where I’m going now. It might look like I know where I’m going because I’m sure of myself, but I don’t!

He began to talk to me. He was from Peru. He asked me for my name and number over and over. Even though I only speak a little Spanish, I told him no over and over, and he kept driving next to me. It went on for ten minutes. Today was my good day! I saw a police officer on the path up ahead. The guy in the car must have seen him at the same time I did. He ran away so quickly. There was no more trouble. But it scared me. He planned to take me, right?

That thought left my mind, and I pulled out my map to show the officer. I believe this was the first time seeing a police officer made me feel better. It’s funny how life can throw you curve balls. He showed me the way to my hostel, and I got there without getting lost.

Travel to the Unknown

I got together with my friend, who is now my husband. We started the trip by going out to party in Lima because he was the only reason I went on this trip. I became interested in being drunk, and I got hit on. The next morning, I woke up to people who were still having a good time. There were still a lot of people at the hotel. After I got up and moved around, a guy talked to me for about 15 minutes about how pretty my eyes are.Wow…¨ I thought, “Oh, please…” Getting through that was the real start of our journey with my friend.

We stayed in each city or town for one or two days before moving on to the next one. We saw a lot when we went together. Our trip took us to see Chan Chan and the Moche temples (Huanaco del Sol y de la Luna). We also saw Kuelap, which was AMAZING! It was built by the Chachapoya people, who were warriors of the Cloud, on the side of a rock with a great view.

It poured rain when we went to see the Gocta Waterfall the next day. But there was a rock slide that stopped us from getting closer. The hike was great! It was hard, but great, and the first of many more to come on this trip for me.

Unspoken Words on the Journey

This trip has been full of silence. My friend doesn’t talk much. Since you’ve only known him for a few months, going on a trip with him in a different country is a big step. What did I think… So far so good…

A lot of nights, we had fun. We had a lot in common as friends. We couldn’t keep our hands off of each other when it was time to lay down.

There’s this feeling that won’t go away. When I’m near him, my heart beats faster. Although I don’t want to say it, I believe I feel something for him. We talked about how we’re just friends, which I get, but who decides when someone starts to like someone? I have to do it.

Chan Chan

Over 600 years old, this is one of the most beautiful places in Peru. It was one of the largest cities in the Americas at its height. There wasn’t a lot of water here, which made it hard to deal with the hot days and grow crops. But now Chan Chan has the opposite problem: he has too much water. The city that used to be thriving is slowly being washed away.

La Libertad Region is 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) west of Trujillo in the northern part of Peru. This archaeological site is there. The people of Chan Chan worshiped the sea and the ocean. As a result, you will see fish and other patterns that show this. When I saw this beautiful place, my eyes got even bigger. You could see random pieces of art on the walls in every direction. The sun’s light made the art stand out even more.

Chan Chan

For example, in the Quingnam language, “Jiang” or “Chang” would be the words for “Chan Chan.” These words mean sun. This leads us to believe that Chan Chan means “sun-sun.” It covered more than 20 km² when it was a city. There were ciudadelas in this area. They were amazing works of architecture. These had plazas, storage rooms, and a place for the royal family to be buried. People from lower classes were known to have small rooms that were often used for work. This was because a lot of people from the lower classes were craftsmen who worked for the royal family.

Read their website (in Spanish) before you go. It has the most up-to-date information on the weather and anything else you might need to know.

Moche Temples

The Moche people built this before the Incas. They covered adobe bricks with statues, paintings, and other works of art. People think this was built around 500 AD and it sits near the Moche River Valley. Visit Huaca del Sol, which means “temple of the sun.” It is a small temple that has been well taken care of. It’s called Huaca de la Luna, which means “temple of the moon,” but it’s not kept up as well as the other one. They are still 41 meters (135 feet) tall after being broken and stolen from.

Gocta Cataracts

Things were going well at first, but then it started to pour down rain. No matter what, we still tried to climb to Gocta cataract (Gocta waterfall). As soon as we got closer, we were told that the rest of the trail was off limits because of a rock slide. At least we could see the beautiful falls from afar. It was easy to see the beautiful waterfall from this height of 771 meters (2,530 ft). That makes it the third-tallest free-leaping waterfall in the world.

Gocta Waterfall

Before 2006, no one from outside the area knew about this magical waterfall because the people who live there say there is a curse on it. They think that a beautiful mermaid with blonde hair lived there and that the waterfall kept her safe. They would be cursed if they told anyone where she was. But Gocta waterfall is now a tourist spot, and I’m sure the tracks are much better now than they were when I was there.

Peru for Less has information on the background of the place and how to get there.

Kuelap

As we climbed the stairs to this one-of-a-kind, beautiful Peruvian spot, the wind picked up. When we got to Kuelap, I was amazed by how beautiful it was, how intricate the stonework was, and how beautiful the view of the clouds and mountains close was. Seeing the huge stone walls and impressive ruins brings to mind a wonderful society that is no longer around. A lot of people say that Kuelap is like Machu Picchu, but I think it’s better because it makes you feel like you’re in a different time and place.

At about 10,000 feet above sea level, it’s on the side of the Andes in northern Peru. The Chachapoyas did this to get closer to the sky. This was both a military move and a religious one. In the end, the Incas took over this area.

People thought the Chachapoyas were really Vikings because they were said to have light skin and blonde hair. However, the facts show that they are like native people.

I’m on the left, in the middle are girls we met, and my friend is on the right. This is at Kuelap.

The Amazons Camp out!

A German began talking to me while my friend was away, before my friend and I even thought about the Amazons. He took me to a cool place to eat tasty street food and asked me to go on an adventure with him in the Amazons. I was so thrilled that I decided that would be an adventure! It was so much easier to move because the German spoke Spanish so well. The German led my friend and me to a ferry that took us to a small town that wasn’t used to having tourists. We felt at home in the tour guide’s shack, so it was time to go outside and enjoy nature.

3 Nights and 4 Days in the Amazons

Our trip didn’t quite go as planned because it was rainy season. We woke up one night in the Amazons to the sound of water slowly flooding the area. We had to move quickly and pack everything up. We had to deal with ants that night. But the best night was the last one. We had two tour guides who spoke only Spanish with us while we were in the Amazon. We started our trip on a boat and kept going to new places in it the whole time.

Over 4 days, we hiked in the amazons, tried maggots, learned how to hunt fish with machetes (we caught 8) and how to cut down trees with one as well. Everyday was an adventure! One of the days, our tour guide found a sloth that we got to see up close and even touch. Another day close to night, one of our tour guides got us a baby caiman alligator. That was wild!

It was pitch dark and the three of us along with the guides went on a canoe ride. All I hear is a splash and then silence. After what felt like forever, one of our tour guides came back and brought us a baby caiman! I thought where’s its’ mother!? But all went well. We even swam in the water and we didn’t have to worry about piranhas since it was flooding season.

Many Years Later…

This post was the very first thing I ever wrote for this blog. This is when I first went on trips outside of the US and into a whole new world. It opened my eyes a lot, and I fell in love with moving right away.

My hubby and I had a winter trip on quads to a frozen lake in Sweden!

I got married to this strange guy I had only known for a short time. Even though we have a two-year-old together, we still enjoy being with each other after eight years. Traveling is still a part of our lives, and Sweden is where we live because I’m from there.

We finally told each other we liked each other. Not long ago, he told the truth about Bolivia! We went on different trips in Bolivia, but he made an extra effort to meet up with me. I hadn’t even thought of that at the time! There was too much to do and see! “Oh cool, he’s in the same area as me,” I kept telling myself. (more than once). But I’m glad we told each other how we felt because I can’t think of anyone better to share my life trips with than him!

Prepare to Travel

Did this make you want to plan your next trip? Check out my Travel page if you don’t know what to do or what steps to take when planning a trip. That’s a list of the most important things you should do before you go on a trip. Also, if you need more ideas, there are a lot of stories from other countries!

Celebrating Midsommar

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