Introduction

It was three years ago, I had the opportunity to make my first exploratory style trip to Peru. My girlfriend organized everything, I was only the traveling companion and the luggage carrier.

This country provides great pleasure for the eyes. The temperature variation is intense and can vary from 10°C to 40°C depending on the region. It is possible to visit the desert and the mountainous regions.

This destination is a mythical place, where we can see a lot of richness and remains of past civilizations. The Incas civilization was masters of this region for a few centuries before the Spanish Empire arrived.

The difficulties

This trip lasted three weeks. It was my first trip for which the goal was to visit the maximum possible. I can not hide from you that this experience was a bit exhausting and stressful for me. I was not accustomed to the unknown in another region of the world.

At the destination, I woke up around 6 am to get the details of what we were going to see and do during the day. Once the day was finished, we were already preparing to leave for the next town; pickup, packing and my heart was pounding again!

You need to know that I am a person of habits; I like to know in advance what is coming. Sometimes, I am a little disoriented when facing the unexpected!

Besides my usual comfort turned upside down, the major difficulty was to get adapted to the city height above the sea, more than 12,500 feets. You have to let your body get used to. You can help yourself by taking coca or mounia leaves to help oxygenate your blood.

Immensity of country and the culture

What I enjoyed the most during my stay was the landscapes of the mountainous regions. Moreover, the country has a desert where it is possible to surf on the dunes and contemplated a fabulous panorama.

My favorites were the Machu Picchu and the architecture of the country at the colonization time. The lake Titicaca is also a great area to look at. The beauty and colorful clothing of the First Nations people are truly amazing. What really stands out in this country is the richness of the remains of the Inca Empire.

On the gastronomic level, I tried several dishes like the guinea pig, the alpaca and the famous trout introduced into this country by man.

What I learned

I can not hide it, I really found the project, on the personal level, disorienting. It was totally different from what I had experienced before in my life. To take a 22 hours bus ride is not very pleasant and optimal for rest.

It is stressful to visit a city quickly and to leave almost immediately to the unknown when you just came in. Searching for the next museum or your means of transport in a foreign language is not an easy task.

On the other hand, the richness of the panorama and the Peruvian civilization was rewarding on the personal level. The culture and art of this country are different from my usual subway, work, and sleep boring daily routine.

Conclusion

Surviving this kind of trip, out off the beaten path, is exhausting the first time, but at the end it is rewarding. I was always tired; I felt asleep as soon as I arrived at the hotel. My body was drained, but I was happy with what I had seen!

The most outstanding part, I was able to see unusual things that were completely unknown to me before:

• Alpacas colonies in the wild.
• Engraved images in rock from a Cessna airplane.
• Mummies in the desert, preserved over the time.
• An island filled with seals and thousands of birds.

Sometimes, you have to get out of your comfort zone to undertake an extraordinary adventure.

What was your first unusual travel experience?