HomeTravel JournalsPeru Multisport Adventure Tour

Peru Multisport Adventure Tour

By : Jerilyn Suster
Trip Begins November 18, 2011
Trip Ends November 25, 2011

As an adventuresome couple Peru proved to be the perfect home away from home to celebrate our new life together. Living in Colorado drew us to the magnificent Andes and it was a great fit for our love of the outdoors. We spent almost every moment of our visit enjoying the mountains in a variety of ways. Traveling came by way of plane, train, and automobile plus hiking, biking, and rafting. It's no wonder so many people have found this extraordinary journey on their bucket list.

Nov 18 - Costa del SolPE! One week anniversary and Simon's Birthday.
Nov 19 - Taypikala Hotel CuscoCuzco or Cusco, whichever you prefer.
Nov 20 - Upper Urubamba River - Cusipata SectionUrumbamba ur um?
Nov 21 - Manco Multisport Day 4Challa Cancha a la Cuper Alto
Nov 22 - Manco Multisport Day 5Hiking to Huchuyqosqo
Nov 23 - Machu Picchu RuinsLying in Lamay
Nov 24 - Taypikala Hotel CuscoWell la de daw guess what we just saw?
Nov 25 - LimaMiraflores, the ocean, and bikes! Who could ask for more?

See my photos : Peru Multisport Adventure Tour

Want to go? Manco Multisport

I went to: Peru, Lima, Costa del Sol, Cusco, Taypikala Hotel Cusco, Upper Urubamba River - Cusipata Section, Manco Multisport Campsites, Manco Multisport Day 4, Manco Multisport Day 5, Machu Picchu Ruins, Sacred Valley, El MaPi

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November 18, 2011

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PE! One week anniversary and Simon's Birthday.

Costa del Sol, Lima

We made it from Denver to Lima after a short stop in Houston. The Lima airport was hustling and bustling for midnight. It was so nice that the Costa del Sol hotel was 50 feet from the airport exit doors. Overall it was a pretty good feeling to be in our destination country.

Today was our one week anniversary plus Simon's 33rd birthday and it had been a long day of travel so we kicked our feet up and stretched out with our complimentary pisco sour. For anyone that has not had or heard of a pisco sour, it is what the margarita is for Mexico but for Peru and made with egg whites. Off to sleep we went with dreams of what the next day's journey would bring...

November 19, 2011

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Cuzco or Cusco, whichever you prefer.

Taypikala Hotel Cusco, Cusco

First thing in the morning we hopped on a flight to Cuzco from Lima. We arrived in Lima to meet our very hospitable host Juan and always smiling driver Aurelio. Upon arrival in Cuzco we were starving so we asked Juan if he would join us for a late lunch someplace. Victor Victoria is the dining place he took us to where we ate a fabulous, frugal, four course meal.

After our meal we walked around the city and visited Museo Inka and Convento de Santo Domingo del Cusco while learning about the real history of the city and sites from Juan. We also made our first visit to San Pedro Market which filled our senses with a variety of new experiences. I knew we would have to return to take additional photos and look around more closely at a later time.

November 20, 2011

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Urumbamba ur um?

Upper Urubamba River - Cusipata Section, Peru

Rafting down the river we felt completely safe with our great guides. It was just the two of us and all of them. One in the raft, one in a kayak watching out for us, Aurelio, Mario our cook, and a photographer. What an entourage! Going out on the river was a great way to see some of the countryside for the first time.

After coming back to our hotel and relaxing for a while we decided to go to a show at Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo. The dancers in the show had beautiful native clothing and there was also live music. To listen and learn about the Peruvian folklore by watching dancers and live music was like nothing we had experienced before. There was also humor woven through the skits to keep us fully entertained.

November 21, 2011

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Challa Cancha a la Cuper Alto

Manco Multisport Day 4, Manco Multisport Campsites

Did you ever wonder how your fabric or lipstick is colored in a deep rich red color? I had a few ideas but little potato bug looking things were not on the list. We attended a live weaving demonstration where the women welcomed us with coco leaf tea and showed us how their beautiful handcrafted items are made. We finally broke down and made our first souvenir purchases.

Next we toured around some ruins before heading off our our first bike ride. We bicycled around Lake Piuvay and finally saw some of the countryside up close and personal as we manuvered around curious children and overprotective dogs. As we were biking we saw our first chickens and I almost missed ours at home for a minute, but it was a fleeting minute.

That afternoon we settled in at our first camping spot in the middle of a little town. As we unpacked our things two local women set up shop right outside our tents. At first we were a little uncomfortable but decided to go with it and buy a couple more souvenirs. That quickly broke the ice and as a thank you they offered us cuy (guinea pig), potatoes, and a nice conversation through our translator who knew a little of the Quechua language. Simon indulged and nibbled cautiously on his first taste of the authentic local cuisine.

November 22, 2011

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Hiking to Huchuyqosqo

Manco Multisport Day 5, Manco Multisport Campsites

This was a different day for us. It is not very often you will find Simon covering a great deal of ground by foot but nonetheless we were off for a six mile hike up into the Andes. This was our first face to face with the mountaintops and clouds that rapidly changed the look of the landscape before our eyes while we climbed along the trail. It was breathtaking, literally!

November 23, 2011

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Lying in Lamay

Machu Picchu Ruins, Peru

Awakening with the tops of of 19,000 mountains peering out through the clouds was really incredible. It was like waking up into a dream. The horses that had carried our belongings and camping gear were happily munching unbeknownst to them that they were surrounded by awe inspiring landscape that was worth traveling across the world for.

After we had another great meal cooked by Mario the march down began. It seemed so much longer going down than it did coming up even though we only had about half the distance to cover. The teeny tiny town below was as big as it looks from an airplane and stayed that size for a long time as we descended into Lamay where I would take a little siesta in a field. From there Aurelio drove us to the train station where we traveled to the town of Machu Picchu.

By far our favorite hotel was the El Mapi Hotel in the town of Machu Picchu. They had a bottle of wine and chocolates waiting for us in our hotel room to celebrate our new marriage. It was fun to be pampered after camping for two nights. The dinner that was included with our stay was also really scrumptious, we were spoiled silly!

November 24, 2011

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Well la de daw guess what we just saw?

Taypikala Hotel Cusco, Cusco

After some discussion we decided that Machu Picchu is probably the most worldly place we have been in all of our travels. There were people from every continent speaking many different languages. It's no surprise that this marvel attracts everyone from everywhere.

It's hard to say something that hasn't been said about this architectural wonder of ancient times. Not just Machu Picchu has the charisma that draws you in but the setting is what makes it so incredible and hard to believe it was ever constructed. I don't think we should say to much because you will have to go and see it for yourself. Getting there is more than half the fun too!

November 25, 2011

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Miraflores, the ocean, and bikes! Who could ask for more?

Lima, Peru

This morning we took a flight back to Lima and making the most out of our one and only short day there we rented bikes and cruised around the city for a couple of hours. It was nice to finally see the ocean and be on a bike again. It was the perfect ending to our honeymoon along with an elegant dinner at La Rosa Nautica to end the evening before heading to the airport to catch our flight home :-(

You may have noticed in our photos that Flat Dominic had a great time as well. The Flat Stanley project http://www.flatstanley.com/ is a neat way to teach children about other places and people, so as part of the project we took Flat Dominic with us from 1st grade to visit Peru and share in our adventures.

Happy Travels!

My Photo Album: Peru Multisport Adventure Tour