Lima, Peru
The next destination is Peru. I already have some friends in Lima despite the fact, that I have never been there. After one of my friends invited me to stay at her parent’s home, I couldn’t decline that offer since I love to have the real local experience and live with a family. On arrival at the airport, my friend picked me up, and we drove outside the city into the east. My friends family stays quite outside in a not that safe neighborhood. I would never ever have gone there without locals. So I was following all their tips and tricks especially after getting stolen in Bogota just a couple of days before.
My friend and the whole family were great hosts. In the afternoon or evenings, we went exploring. The mother cooked excellent food and let me try many homemade Peruvian dishes. During the day, I even had a proper workspace at the office of my friend’s father, which has a workshop in the same building.
Ica, Peru
One weekend trip was a couple of hours drive to the South of Lima. First, we did a boat trip to Paracas to see some historical signs on the rocks. Then we continued to a vineyard close by Ica to taste some Pisco. One more stop was at “Cañón de los Perdidos” where I hiked down into a dry valley out in the desert. Finally, we ended the tour in the oasis Huacachina where we did a sandbuggy ride. We also had a walk up the dunes to see the sunset from there. I enjoyed the trip a lot and enjoyed the night at the oasis. A very special place and a great view over the dunes.
Pallasca, Peru
My friend’s family is originally from a small village up in the mountains of Ancash (a state in Peru). Some festivities were going on. So we travelled 12 hours there to attend that tradition. Once again, I was really integrated in the local habits. No tourist will find this place way up there by accident. It was a experience riding up there. A 4 hours drive in the night throught rocky street and small rivers, with very steep roads with deep cliffs. There was no mobile signal on they way. Just when we arrived at the village, there was a cell tower to gain some internet access. Working for me was hard, the internet was so slow.
Up in Pallasca on 3131 meters above sea level, I was living in a very local place. Very basic everything and no heating, which meant it was quite cold. Especially when the sun wasn’t around. Good, we had very thick blankets. My friend and I were exploring some places around the village. We enjoyed nature and a waterfall which was quite a hike from the village, but very beautiful and peaceful. We also went to a viewpoint with an amazing view down into the valley or were able to go up the the church on the main square, which is usually close, but the priest gave us the key to go up.
The following days, the local traditions started with the bulls. There are bizarre habits for civilised people, so I’m not going further into that. It was interesting to experience it, although I didn’t attend all the celebrations. It’s always combined with music and dances. The last day was the peak with more processions and music. In the night, there was a big firework and much alcohol. The locals were so friendly and welcoming during all my stay, although my Spanish isn’t enough to have a conversation and their English isn’t good enough to have a conversation either. I was happy my friend could translate the most important pieces.
Chimbote, Peru
Next up, we went down the coast again. Our bus brought us to the next city called Chimbote 4 hours away. It is a town famous for its fish factory, and that’s also why it smells like fish everywhere. We stayed in the town for 2 nights, visited some more family and explored. Afterwards, it was time to split. While my friend returned to Lima, I drove north to Trujillo to fly to another city a few days later.
Trujillo, Peru
In Trujillo, I met some locals who showed me around and joined me for food. The weekend went over very fast, and I was already on the plane to a new city.
Huancayo, Peru
In Peru, it’s crazy how high the places are. My next stop was a city on 3256 m MSL with almost half a million inhabitants. You can feel it when you have to walk just a little bit. It’s exhausting, and you have to breathe a lot just by walking a few steps.
I rented a small Airbnb with a lovely view. I loved working from there, and the internet was very smooth, so that was all I needed. In the evenings, I went out to see a friend I met in Barcelona the year before.
In the evening or during the weekend, we explored a bit. My friend and me went to a viewpoint called “Cochas” to do a little photo shoot since my friend is into modelling, and I’m always happy to practice with a model a bit. So we took some simple outdoor pictures, nothing crazy.
Another weekend, we went to a lake on the other side of the city. Beautiful nature as well and after walking up a small hell, we got a nice scenery down the the city of Huancayo.
La Merced, Peru
Peru is split into three landscapes (coast, mountains and jungle). After visiting Lima, Trujillo and Ica (which is on the coast), Pallasca and Huancayo (which is in the mountains), there was one region left – the jungle. Huancayo is located not too far from the jungle area, which spreads far up into the Amazonas. A 4 hours car drive ahead of us. It was very interesting for me how this works. There’s a parking in Huancayo you can go and they fill normal cars (like taxis) which leaves to La Merced once it’s full. My friend and me were lucky and could leave very quickly. In La Merced the grandmother of my friend has a small shop, so we could leave our luggage there and I could even work a bit from there a bit.
The next day, we went on a guided tour into the jungle to some waterfalls and visited an indigenous tribe. While being with the Indigenous, I spotted an interesting animal I saw for the first time in my life – a “Capybara“.
Back to Lima with the bus on a 10-hour drive. The seats are vast and comfortable on long-distance buses in Peru. But still, not something I’m looking forward to usually. The roads are overall very bad, and it goes through villages. For a distance of 300km, the bus needs 10 hours, which is ridiculous when comparing travel times in Europe for such a distance.
Lima, Peru (Photoshooting + Roatrip)
After I arrived in Lima, I decided to stay in Miraflores, a touristy area in the centre of Lima. From there I could even walk to the most places. I was busy working and one evening had an appointment with a photographer friend, which wanted me as a model to do some studio portraits. I was happily accepting that offer and went for the shooting. We did different black/white portraits and I loved the results. Really professional portraits I’m able to use for profile pictures, my website or the CV. Credits to Pi, check out her Instagram.
Some more days, I spent in Lima enjoying some food in the centre or going to a playground for adults in a mall, which was an enjoyable experience. The kid in me came to life again.
My time was about to end, and the family of my friend decided to make one more weekend trip with me. The full family joined (father, mother, 2 brothers and my friend), so we filled a car altogether. We drove up into the mountains of the district of Lima which is a huge part in size. They have hot springs up there. After a couple of hours driving up into the mountains and the temperature dropping, we arrived in a small village called “Churin”, it’s famous for those hot springs, we took a family hotel room and spend some time in the swimming pool and eating. We continued exploring with a ride to a even smaller village up of the valley. The road was quite sketchy, but we made it and had a walk.
The next day we left early in the morning to get a nice view of the mountain scenery. We followed the national road which was just a dirt road. It lead all the way up to the highest point I’ve every been in my life. The ground was still frozen and reflected the sun very nicely. Just after the crossing to a new province called “Pasco”, we reached the peak of the road. A sign stated 4780 m above sea level. This is higher than the highest mountain of Switzerland, to give you some context of altitudes in the Andes. In addition we just drove up there from sea level by car.
We continued the road to a mining village up on the highland. On the way, Lamas crossed the road, adding to the real Peruvian experience. While driving on this high plateau of around 4000m height, we arrived at a stone forest called “Bosque de Piedras de Huayllay” and later “Laguna de los 7 colores”.
This trip marked the end of my South American adventure this year. It was time to say goodbye to the family and other friends I met in Lima. My flight left for Spain. I had quite a turbulent flight and a crazy little child at the front of my seat, making it almost impossible to work. So I decided to sleep instead – always make the best of the situation.