When I was seven I had a matching game with a photo of the tiered stone architecture of Machu Picchu, and I’ve been dreaming about visiting ever since. Plus, when I lived in Chile everyone repeatedly told me that Peruvian food is the best and that I needed to go visit ASAP. So finally in October/November of last year (2024), my mom and I made it down to Peru for two an a half weeks, my first visit to a South American country outside of Chile which is mildly embarrassing considering the sheer amount of time I’ve spent in South America (literal years). We spent in three days in Lima and three days in Cusco before embarking on a lodge-to-lodge high altitude trek with Mountain Lodges of Peru (via the Sierra Club) that culminated in a visit to Machu Picchu. 

My main takeaway is that Peru is awesome. The food, the people, the landscapes, the culture, the history, everything. Except maybe the driving, that part is a bit terrifying. But if that’s my main and perhaps only complaint, then you know it was a great trip. Ten out of ten, would recommend, I’d go back tomorrow (and bring Will this time, I feel bad that he missed out on this one).

Our adventure started in Lima and our three days there included a veritable whirlwind of activities: visiting the ruins of Huaca Pucllana in town, biking 30 km along the coast, the Museo Largo history museum, a mall built into the side of a cliff (it was wild), a food tour, neighborhood art, biking past the hotel where Paul McCartney was staying with a crowd outside hoping to catch a glimpse of him, a lighted water fountain park, convincing my mom to come to a salsa class with me (it wasn’t hard to convince her and also she’s been dancing since she was three just like me), and the best vegan chocolate sweet potato brownie with beet compote that I’ve ever had in my life (admittedly also the only vegan chocolate sweet potato brownie with beet compote that I’ve ever had in my life but it was so good we went back for a second one the next day).

The coast of Lima is wild, at least in the Miraflores and Barranco neighborhoods where we were exploring. There’s a small bit of land along the water, and then a steep dirt cliff, and then the city is built up on top. Since they can’t have buildings right up on the edge of the cliffs due to stability concerns, there is a very cool series of parks and green spaces along the edge. Honestly it was a bit unsettling to bike along the coast with these giant dirt cliffs just hovering above us. They’re mostly covered in netting to help with erosion and to contain slides when they do happen, but nothing about them looks stable or confidence-inspiring.

I didn’t think I’d love Lima since I’m not really a city person, but it was unexpectedly fun to visit for a few days. The Miraflores and Barrancos neighborhoods had fun street art and the street food was delicious and the coast was beautiful and we found plenty of sights to see and more that we’d want to go back to. Overall I thought it was definitely worth spending some time there instead of just passing through the airport.

More on Cusco next time!