3 Days in Peru

Hey Fashionistas,

If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen my Instagram stories from Peru. *if you don’t follow me you’re missing out*.

We spent Labor Day weekend in Cuzco, Peru. Machu Picchu, rainbow mountain and Peruvian cuisine was on our to-do list. Yes, it is possible to visit Peru in 3 days.

Eric and I, are known for short trips. Our friends think we are crazy but trust me it always works out and we see everything seeable.

We left on Friday night after work. We were flying to Lima and from Lima to Cuzco. Of course, our flight was delayed on Los Angeles which made us miss our connecting flight. But luckily so many people are constantly flying to Cuzco it was super easy to get another flight. So we arrived just an hour later as planned.

Our hotel picked us up from the airport for a small fee. The hotel is in the Historic center of Cusco. I strongly recommend this boutique hotel. It’s so cute and clean and affordable. Since all our tours left to early the hotel prepared breakfast bags for us so we won’t be hungry. Next, at the hotel, there is a restaurant which has the best Peruvian food! We indulged in ceviche, lomo sal tado, aji de gallina, quinoa salad and sangria. Since we stayed at this hotel we got a 20% off discount.

Moray and Maras

After we arrived our first tour started. We booked an ATV tour that took us to the Moray Inca ruin and Maras salt mines. The total ATV driving time was about 2 hours - plenty enough for me! At the salt mines, we bought some yummy quinoa salted chocolate and salted chocolate. Of course, the salt was harvested from these salt mines.

Conclusion: If you are looking for a half day tour that's the one. It's so much fun and the salt mines are beautiful. This tour is great if you want to learn more about the culture and take some awesome pics!

After our return to the hotel, we went souvenirs shopping because you can’t leave Cuzco without a poncho (or three), lama key chains and an alpaca soft toy!

At the end of the day, we were too tired and fall asleep instantly just to wake up 4 hours later for our next tour.

Machu Picchu

The reason we came back to Peru is to see Machu Picchu - one of the wonders of the world. The tour picked us up at 3:30 AM. I and my red poncho were ready to go!

A car picked us up and drove us to ollantaytambo train station which is about a 2-hour drive. We boarded the train and drove for another 2 hours. We arrived in Aguascalientes from where we got picked up by a tour guide.

There are two entrance times you can go to Machu Picchu - morning and afternoon. We got the afternoon tour so we have to wait around 4 hours for our tour to depart.

We used that time to soak up the morning sun (yes, it was freezing cold!), and we ate lunch.

Finally, our tour started and we were loaded up into busses that took us all the way up to Machu Picchu. If you're feeling lucky you can also hike the Inca trail to the entrance of Machu Picchu. The trail takes 3 nights and 4 days.

At the entrance, have your ticket and passport ready. Our tour guide Helen started our 2 1/2 guided tour. She explained everything about the Inca ruin and showed us the best photo spots.

I’ve seen Machu Picchu in photos but let me tell you it’s so much more amazing in real life. It’s breathtaking. Trust me I’ve been to a few places in this world but this place is just full of energy and the views are stunning!!

After our guided tour we had another 2 hours of free time which we didn’t really use because we were tired. My husband got a huge sunburn in his face and neck and there are no restrooms inside Machu Picchu. It’s also not allowed to eat inside the Inca ruin. 

We strolled around for another hour. Pet some lamas, took some more amazing pictures and we found a remote sitting area where we decided to take a break before heading back.

By the time we got back all the restaurants were closed so we had to grab something to eat from McDonald’s. We went to bed a bit after midnight.

Conclusion: It’s absolutely worth seeing this ruin. Yes, it takes quite an amount of travel time to get up there and I’m not going to lie to you visiting Machu Picchu is expensive. But I’m pretty sure it’s on your bucket list, isn’t it?

Rainbow mountain

Cusco is located about 11,000 feet or 4000 meters above sea level. Which means you can get altitude sickness and it’s harder to breath. Hotels offer you an herbal tea that’s suppose to help you with that. But there are also altitude pills on the market. We didn’t get those pills but we did buy nauseous pills. I recommend those pills and plenty amount of water. We didn’t get sick.

Our next tour picked us up at 5 AM in the morning. I booked a private tour for us to see the rainbow mountain. Rainbow mountains were just recently discovered (in 2015) because they used to be covered by snow but I guess thanks to global warming snow does not covered these mountains fully anymore.

Rainbow mountain is located 18,000 feet or 5035 meter above sea level. Just in comparison, Mount Everest (highest mountain on earth) is 29,000 feet or 8,800 meter high. So you could imagine that rainbow mountain is pretty high.

Before we conquered the mountain we stopped for breakfast. They served us a hearty soup and we got told to finish the soup so we’ll be strong for the hike. We also drank tons of the tea that’s suppose to help with the altitude. They also offered us bread, cheese, jam.

After another hour of driving, we arrived at the parking lot surrounded by native Indians, lamas and alpacas. From here you have the option to rent a horse (someone will guide you, you don’t ride that horse you just sit on it). Or you can hike.

Of course, we decided to hike because what’s the point of someone else doing the work for you?!

After just a couple of steps by heart was beating out of my chest. I’ve never heard my heart beating that loud. Our tour guide gave us some herbal liquid and told us to rub it into our hands and to take a deep breath. It sure opened up our airways. The hike takes about 1 1/2 and gets more difficult as you go.

The hardest part was to climb the actual mountain - and even if you got a horse the horse is not climbing the mountain for you.

We had to make a few stops but eventually conquered the beast. The feeling of achievement, the views and the feeling of happiness are unexplainable. On top, you will forget all about the pain, the struggle and the lack of oxygen. I thought it’s not going to be as amazing because sometimes images on the internet are overly edited but the rainbow mountain does exactly look like the picture. Minerals in the stones help to color the mountain.

On top of the mountain, I also feel in love with a 7-months old alpaca baby. Of course, we had to take some pictures snuggle it up.

Our way down only took 45 minutes and our hike ended with a humongous headache. Our tour guide took us back to the restaurant where we had breakfast at. After lunch, we drove straight to the airport.

Conclusion: I will be honest with you the hike is exhausting because of the high altitude. If you decide to book this tour be sure you book the right one. The trail we hiked just recently opened (3 months ago). Other tours still take the 2 1/2 hour hike one way! Our tour guide told us a lot of people stopped halfway and turn around because of it too strenuous. While we were hiking up it felt like my body was cramping up, my fingers swell up and I couldn't make a fist anymore. My legs were seriously hurting me.

I hope I could inspire you to travel to Peru and see these amazing things. If you want to visit Machu Picchu check the right time to go. We went during peak season which will reward travelers with blue skies and sunshine. But also higher prices. We booked our trip about 6 month in advanced and scored somehow decent prices. 

Thanks for stopping by!