South America

Photo of the Week: Machu Picchu

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IMG_3919Machu Picchu, Peru

Sometimes the journey teaches us about the destination, and in this case, it couldn’t be more true.  Walking the same path that was used by the ancient Inca in their pilgrimage to the top of Machu Picchu was surreal.  I learned to pause along the way and admire the quiet beauty of nature.  The days it took to reach Machu Picchu  were hard, pushed me to my limits, and made me appreciate this magnificent sight that much more.  On the fourth day, we woke up early to make it to the Sun Gate in time for sunrise.  Looking down at this sacred city with the sun light breaking through the clouds is an image I’ll never forget.

Every week, I’ll share a photo with you from my adventures around the world and at home.  Most of my photos have little or no post processing.  If you would like to see more, please click the Follow button.

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6 Things NOT to do in Rio

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Travel involves a lot of uncertainty, where things like cancelled flights or theft can really put a damper on your vacation.  Some things are out of your control – like weather, while others just require some common sense.  Don’t let Rio’s reputation for being unsafe deter you from visiting this beautiful city.  However, be aware of your surroundings, and don’t draw unwanted attention to yourself.  Based on our experience, we put together a short list of things NOT to do: Continue reading →

Planning Brazil

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[Photo credit: Len Theivendra via Flyseestay]

In a few days time, we’ll be on our way to Rio DeJaneiro! We booked our tickets way back in January, when we saw an error fare, and decided to snag a few seats. Fast forward 9 months, and its finally time to start packing.  We are lucky that Caitlin’s sister also booked the same fare and visited Rio back in March.  She shared all of her itinerary with us so we didn’t have to plan too much. Continue reading →

Error Fare to Rio de Janeiro

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[via tourists360.com]

It was 11 o’clock on Thursday night, we were in bed, hunched over our computer, frantically searching for the cheap airfare to Rio de Janeiro.  Earlier that night, my sister messaged us and told us to check out the cheap flights from Toronto, Canada to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for less than $400 on American Airlines.  This is obviously an error fare, the question is whether or not American Airlines would honor it.  Tickets were flying off the shelf at an alarming rate so you had to act fast. In fact the deal was dead by 10 am the next morning.  Usually when we find great airfare deals, we will try to share it on our Facebook page or on our blog. Continue reading →

Trip Report: Peru

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It’s hard to believe that it’s almost 2 months since our trip to South America.  Time flies! This trip report summarizes all the posts related to our trip to Peru and provide a break down of the cost.

  • Time Cost
    • Total Days In Peru: 8 day  –  1 days in Lima, 2 days in Cusco, 1 day in Sacred Valley, 4 days in the mountain
    • Total Days Off From Work: 4 days (we went over July 4th weekend).

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Peru: Machu Picchu

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Getting ready for the Inca trek

Finally, after all the preparation and anticipation, we made it to the day of the trek. Starting off from Ollantaytambo, we packed our bags, said goodbye to civilization and got on the bus taking us to the km marker 82, the official start of our Inca trail. As we wound our way along the Urubamba river, the bus driver was blasting music, pumping us up for the adventure ahead. Sitting at the back of the bus, staring out at the Andes mountains I contemplated if I really wanted to go through with it and if there was time to turn back when I heard the lyric “everything that kills me makes me feel alive”.  I think that’s a sign.

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Peru: The Sacred Valley

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On the first day of our tour, we visited the valleys of the Andes. This fertile land of the Incas stretches between Cusco all the way to Machu Picchu and is filled with many archaeological sites in between.

Our first stop of the day was at the statue of Cristo Blanco (White Christ) standing tall on the hillside, overlooking the city of Cusco. From this vantage point, you can view the entire expanse of the city. The locals believe that the city was built in the shape of a puma, a sacred animal for the Incas. If you squint your eyes (and have an active imagination) you can actually see the shape of the animal forming with the Plaza de Armas being the heart and the hills where we stood being the head. Adjacent to the statue is the archaeological site called Saqsaywaman (pronounced sexay-woman) a name that means satisfied falcon. Continue reading →

Peru: A Glimpse of Cusco

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Flying over the Andes mountains on the way to Cusco

Cusco is about an hour flight from Lima, but it feels like a completely different world. This historical capital of the Inca Empire is nestled in the valley of the Andes mountains. Flying in, your first glimpse of the city are the red terracotta rooftops. Since this is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, most of its buildings and plazas date back hundreds of years, there are no high-rises here. Continue reading →

Eating in Lima

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I love to eat. 

Aside from traveling, my other passion is food. I am a curious eater, which means I tend to go for the strange food people shy away from.  My philosophy is: you have to try it before you can completely write it off, and most of the time the weird wacky food ends up being the highlight of my trip. Usually when we travel, I always want to try as much new and local cuisine as I can.  Since I only have one stomach, sometimes the result is comical. My mom always says that my eyes are bigger than my stomach, but what’s a girl to do when there is so much good food around?

I knew the food was going to be amazing in Peru. After all, it is where ceviche is thought to have originated! There are so many things I wanted to try, but also knowing that we only had a day in Lima, I tried to be selective. Here are the highlights of all the food we ate while in Lima.

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Peru: Layover in Lima

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View of the ocean from Larcomar

Over the years we’ve talked about going to South America; even booked a flight, but some how things always came up and the plan was postponed.  Of all the places in South America, we dreamed about going to Machu Picchu like many other travelers before us, and after a year and a half of planning, we finally made it to Peru. First stop, Lima.

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