It’s been about two weeks since I left Cuenca, and it’s been a whirlwind since then. Upon leaving, we traveled around Peru for a week. In my head I’d pictured Peru to be similar to Ecuador, but I found that each new place we went was different than the last, which was a great surprise.

Something that really shocked me about Peru was that Lima, though filled with beautiful historic buildings, felt like a step back into the United States. It’s a massive city (larger than NYC!) with all of the chains that Americans are used to, and lots of tall buildings. Especially compared to Cuenca which has more of a small European city feel to it, Lima felt a lot more like a big US city to me. I definitely see myself going back to Lima in the future to explore it further, since we didn’t have a ton on time there.

The other main city we went to in Peru was Cuzco which was drastically different than Lima. Cuzco’s touristy city center area was made up of gorgeous old buildings and narrow alley-like streets lined with pretty stones. I absolutely loved the architecture in Cuzco.

The real adventures in Peru, however, were outside of the cities. As part of the program we went to Machu Picchu, and the next day we had a free day that many of us spent hiking Rainbow Mountain.

Going to Machu Picchu was a major bucket list item for me, as well as for many of the other girls in my group. Here’s us at the famous place to take your picture!

I always had thought that to get to that famous spot that you had to do a long hike. It turns out that its possible to be bused almost all the way up and only walk for about 15 minutes. Also, the photo is not taken from the top of the mountain, but some of us did choose to hike to the summit after taking the touristy pictures. It was a grueling almost vertical climb to the summit, but it was definitely worth it. Here’s a picture of me with the sign at the top.

I also went to Rainbow Mountain, something I have really wanted to do for a long time. Those of us who went got up at 3:30 the morning after climbing Machu Picchu the previous day to get on a bus to Rainbow Mountain. The hike itself probably was not as difficult at Machu Picchu, but it was at such a high altitude that it felt like you didn’t really have oxygen, which obviously added to the difficulty level. This hike, just like the other one, was completely worth the effort. Here’s a picture of me with an alpaca and Rainbow Mountain behind us!

All in all, I absolutely loved Peru, and I hope to go back some day. On top of all of the wonderful things we did, it was nice to spend so much time with the girls in my program who made these experiences as great as they were. It was a tough goodbye, but we all plan to keep in touch.

When I was on my flight back to the US, I was reflecting back a bit on my trip. I came to a conclusion that am thankful that out of all the places I traveled to during these past few months, Cuenca was the city I was living in. In the main cities in Peru, there were lots of English speakers, as well as places like Starbucks that I know would have served as too much of a crutch and prevented me from practicing my Spanish as much and from trying as many new things. Also, Cuenca is smaller than Guayaquil or Quito and although I am not opposed to being in a big city, Cuenca felt like a more manageable, comfortable place to be.

Peru was a great ending to a great semester.