Our first big lesson from Leg 14 is to write down a few lessons as soon as we get home from each leg in case months pass before I make this post! But after brainstorming and reminiscing with Chad, we managed to come up with a few relevant lessons specific to Leg 14. Weather Really…
Category: Americas
FAQ – How Did Our Leg 14 Numbers Work Out
We were pretty spot-on with our budget for our four months in South America. We were a little unsure about how the economic conditions would impact us in Argentina, but it somewhat stabilized as we were there, at least for the type of expenses we had (groceries, restaurants, etc.). Peru wasn’t as quite the value…
Finally, Machu Picchu
Our time in Peru coincided with the tail end of the rainy season, so we decided to hold off on visiting Machu Picchu until the week before we left. We decided to do it as an overnight trip and took the Inca Rail bus and train combo to Aguas Calientes, the town just below Machu…
Cusco Tours – Sacred Valley and Rainbow Mountain
Wow, these tours were a long time ago. I’m finally getting around to writing this post in November, but we took these tours April 10 and 30. Still, they are worth remembering and sharing, so I’m going to do my best to try to recreate the experience. Sacred Valley Tour Our Airbnb host booked this…
Cusco: We’re Home?
For the first time in ages, maybe ever, I didn’t manage to get my “We’re Home” post published during our long stay. Normally I like to do the “We’re Home” post about halfway through the stay but between work, sightseeing, and being underwhelmed by Cusco, it has been easy to procrastinate. However, there is plenty…
All About Arequipa
We increased our pace during our last two weeks in Arequipa and luckily the weather did get a little bit nicer for sightseeing. In addition to the Colca Canyon tour I described in my last post, we also had a chance to see the famous Santa Cristina convent and take a Ruta Sillar tour. And…
Touring Colca Canyon
The number one activity I (and most visitors to Arequipa) wanted to do was a tour to the Colca Canyon. There are three main options for this you can book online or through nearly any travel agent (which there are dozens of around the main square) – one-day tour, two-day tour with an overnight in…
Arequipa: We’re Home
Our first two weeks in Arequipa have been really nice, though a bit of a mixed bag. For the most part we’re really enjoying our time here, especially continuing to try very tasty and interesting Peruvian food. But there are a few things about Arequipa that have been less than ideal, so I’m going to…
The Seaside Capital Lima
As I detailed in my prior post, we didn’t have the best start to our time in Peru. Still, we arrived back in Lima with open minds and high hopes for enjoying Peru’s capital city. Unfortunately, our first impressions of our Airbnb (review below) could have been better, mostly because Lima in February is quite…
Peru Arrival and Paracas
Chad and I have developed a bit of vocabulary to describe various phenomena we’ve experienced on our travels. One such term we call the “Japan effect.” It refers to our experience in 2019 being disappointed by Bangkok and Bali following five weeks in Japan. While they had several qualities we generally don’t like regardless of…