just because: 2 days in peru. what do we do?

In just over a month I’m packing my bags and heading down South. Next stop: Peru.

My travel companion, Sarah, and I have most of our trip mapped out. Transferring straight to Cuzco, we have a day before venturing into the Sacred Valley and hiking the two day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We end our trip with two days in Lima where we will shop for the best in alpaca fashions and eat our way through the markets and cevicherias with a stop at Gaston y Astrid for good measure.

The beginning and end to our journey is mapped out, but two days in the middle are up for grabs. We’ve put some thought into it and are left with three options. Now the tough part is deciding which to do.

Option one includes a tour to the infamous Nazca. The mix of long lines, geometrical figures and giant drawings in the desert sand has long been a source of confusion and mystery to many. The trip would take us on a 14 hour overnight bus ride before our hour flight over the lines. Afterwards we’d head back to Lima to wrap up our stay.

view of nazca lines from above. monkey :)

The second alternative involves taking the day long bus ride to the highest navigable body of water on earth: Lake Titicaca. Along the shores, we would enjoy an overnight home stay at Luquina Chico with a local family, followed by a day on the famous lake, visiting Uros and Taquille. The ancestral land of various Indian groups, the lake provides a depth of cultural richness not easily attained. The sheer beauty of the landscape doesn’t hurt the lake’s cause either.

famous tortora reed boats of titcaca

The third, and easiest, option would be to spend an extra day in Cuzco before heading to Lima and skipping over to Asia, the city’s premier beach destination. While not the typically beautiful sand against water landscape, Asia offers a wild party for travelers visiting during the summer months (since Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere our seasons are opposite. March there is equivalent to our August). While not a cultural excursion per say, this option is by far the most logistically relaxed and “spring breaky” of the three.