Perfect Peru

Admit it, it happens all the time. You meet up with friends for dinner and start talking about the events of your life, that boring thing at work, your recent adventures, and where you want to go next. Usually when you are on the third bottle of something delicious the conversation ends up with "I know, let's all go to..." Well, if it hasn't happened to you lately either change the group you are having dinner with or get a different bottle of deliciousness. It happened to me and I ended up on a fantastic adventure in Peru with some incredible friends. Sure, we knew we wanted to visit the obvious icon of Peru - Machu Picchu. But a true love of hiking never really blossomed in me - I know you're surprised. Fortunately there is more to Peru than just hiking. There is fantastic food and llamas and even more importantly baby alpacas. Lima is bursting with an incredible culinary scene. CENTRAL is currently ranked as the #4 restaurant in the world (yes, go - it is incredible - all 17 courses). The contemporary art scene is wonderful and still a great value. Both of these are good enough reasons to go in my book, but add in those gorgeous baby alpaca items and, well, let's just say the suitcase needs extra space for the trip home. Add to that the amazing sites in the Sacred Valley, Cusco, Lake Titicaca, and Colca Canyon and you have enough to see and do to last for longer than you can imagine. You are definitely going to need more fuel for the jet. But don't worry it isn't all jets and autos. You've got the lovely Hiram Bingham train to take you to and from Machu Picchu. With its fantastic views and lovely service, you might even start to consider doing more train travel. With all there is to see and do you will eventually be grateful that at 13,000ft above sea level you need to slow down and simply take in the view at Lake Titicaca. If you are lucky...your new amazing friend St. Paul will help you find not one but two small bird eggs that are just about to hatch. So close to hatching in fact that you can actually hear the birds chirping inside the egg. Then as you smile at this small miracle and sail back to your little spot of amazing with nobody else in sight you will realize yes, you definitely want to see more of Peru. Still not sure? Then take a look at these photos and perhaps you'll reconsider:

---