Beautiful People of Peru!

Dora(the explorer) from Uros islands.Hola amiga!

There are people who come and go in your life, but few have a lasting impression and make your heart smile everytime you think about them. That’s what the people of Peru mean to me..in my 10 days of being dumbfounded by the beautiful sights or eating gluttonously, my experience with the Peruvians or Peruanos is the one which is the most memorable. And that’s the reason my first in the series of blogs on Peru, I would like to dedicate it to the Beautiful People of Peru!



Peru with its amalgamation of different influences which date back over 5000 years, the Incan civilization is the one most known to the outside world. But Peru has had a plethora of pre-Columbian cultures preceding even the Incas by centuries & over time has had influences from European, Asian, African cultures. Maybe thats what makes the present day Peruvians some of the most fascinating, hardworking, warm and honest people that I have ever met.
 

A short video clip where the locals from Uros Floating islands on Lake Titicaca sing 'My Bonnie lies over the ocean' in English (in the video), Quechua and Amartany..and it also sumarizes my sentiments on the people.

Without being too verbose, this is just going to be a picture story and hopefully the eyes and the smile speak to you through the pictures as much as it did to me while I was there.



The Shoestring man swirls with the colors, Arequipa





Brother & Sister strike up a conversation on Taquile Island







Chocolates being sold loose on the streets of Cusco..the Chocolate & the toothy smile- both priceless!

Tia (aunt) catching a snooze in Cusco

Jugo (juice). Ingredients: Freshest fruits + a spoonfull of love & served with the prettiest smiles!

Hardworking & a happy bunch of people who take joy in the simple things

Children off to school on their Boat ride.. I saw an incredible thirst for knowledge amongst the kids.

A localite taking a call out of nowhere up in the Andes...my favorite moment & a true sign of a booming economy...and Amen to that!


And they all lived Happily Ever After!

An Introduction

My mom: So what do you want to be when you grow up? Me: I want to travel the world!! Cut to me now.. all grown up & still holding on to this childhood dream of mine and trying to conquer the world, one country at a time!

I launched this blog with much fanfare amongst my friends before my recent trip to Peru! I was confident I could be one of those cool bloggers, blogging as I travel the country..but turns out I wasn’t as cool because I was too busy having THE adventure of a lifetime!!! and although this is a post-Peru blog, couldn’t help but blog about it and try to fit in some of my experiences into a series of blogs.

So why Peru? People asked me this question before and continue to do so..and I would go errr..too much to tell at times and sometimes I was just short of words. My trip to Peru was one year in the making…it started off as wanting to see Machu Picchu (a wonder of the world), the fascinating story of the Incans, Anthony Bourdain’s take on Peru in ‘No Reservations’, an ancient culture like India’s and also somewhere deep inside me I knew I could do this trip as a solo traveler and would do me some good both emotionally and physically to take on this journey.
I went through an adventure/ tour group - Karikuy and Julio C Tello the founder of Karikuy, customized it to perfection so I could go off the beaten path, take on adventures, travel Peru through road for most parts and my trip would ultimately culminate into the Inca trail (short) and Machu Picchu.

Armed with the biggest spirit, a flutter in the heart, a year’s worth of research and books in my backpack, I embarked on a journey of a lifetime to Peru.

Trust me, no amount of prep or reading or googling or manic workouts (to be fit enough for the Inca trail :) was to prepare this Indian Chica for a mentally stimulating and physically challenging experience in the Land of the Incas ..and all this with - Nooooooooooo Reservations!