This month I got to visit Peru. I think it was my favourite trip out of all the trips I’ve been to so far. I got to see many interesting places.

Our first stop was Lima and we stayed there for a night. Lima was very busy place. I only got to see one part of Lima, which was called Miraflores. It was one of the richer neighborhoods in the city. There were many parks in Miraflores. The park that I got to visit was called Parque del Amor, which means Park of Love. This park really did live up to its name as there were many lovers all over the park. It also has a giant sculpture of two people embracing. It is called El Beso.

In Lima, I had my first taste of Inca Kola. It is now my favourite drink, but sadly they only have it in Peru. It’s sort of like Mountain Dew but I like the Inca Kola a lot more.
One more thing that I enjoyed in Peru was a book fair in Lima’s Parque Kennedy. All the books there were in Spanish. There were dozens of stalls filled with books waiting to be read. I ended up getting two books from a stall called “Los Libros Mas Pequenos del Mundo,” which means the smallest books in the world.

Parque Kennedy was a really nice park. It was mostly quiet and the best thing was that it had free Wi-Fi! I saw many people with their laptops and tablets. It was really neat.

In addition, one thing that I enjoyed doing in Lima was watching TV in Spanish. I was really surprised when I found myself enjoying it and laughing.

It was a really nice feeling knowing that I could understand and enjoy the shows.
After Lima, we flew to Cusco to stay for a night. Cusco was my second favourite place. It was a lovely city. Its drive ways were ridiculously small. I didn’t see any big cars. No SUVs, no trucks, absolutely no big cars. Our place we stayed in was also wonderful. It was called Amaru Hostal I. It overlooks the city of Cusco and its narrow alleyways.

After visiting Cusco, we took a train to Agua Calientes, the jump off point to Machu Picchu. It was lots of fun in Agua Calientes. I got to go to a hot springs there. I met a bunch of local school girls there. They were really friendly.

Very early the next morning, we rushed to the buses to get to Machu Picchu. When we reached Machu Picchu, the place was swarming with people. My parents decided that we would do the hike up Machu Picchu Mountain first. When we made it all the way to the top, I was bursting with joy. We quickly ate some lunch and then went to take some pictures. Finally, after about half an hour, we headed back down. Once at the bottom, we began our tour of one of the most impressive creations of the Inca civilization. Exploring was so much fun. I saw the Inca prisons, temples, houses, and the watchman’s hut.

The most interesting thing for me in Machu Picchu was the plaza. It was a giant patch of green grass. The interesting thing about it was that if you clapped properly, it would echo. It was fascinating. Machu Picchu was one of my favourite places that I have ever visited.

After Machu Picchu, we returned to Cusco to stay another two nights. There, we visited a place called the Qoricancha [Pronounced: Kori-can-cha], which is Quechua for “the place of gold”. It was a very mesmerizing structure. It used to be an Inca temple but the Spanish conquistadores destroyed and looted it. It is now a Catholic church and sadly, there are only three out of the five Inca temples surviving today in the Qoricancha.

I also went back to the Artisanal Market in Cusco. My favourite thing to do in the city was exploring all the markets. The eye-popping colors and the friendly vendors made visiting the markets lots of fun.

After Cusco, we took a bus to Puno. On this bus trip, I got sick all over my mom’s bus seat. She had to sit beside my dad to make room for me to rest. Later, my mom told me that it was the meatballs that I had eaten in a restaurant the night before that made me sick. They were not properly cooked, and they made my stomach upset.

When I got to Puno, I was very cautious with what I ate. I ate very little, and so I lost a significant amount of weight. Despite my eating problems, I had lots of fun during our two days in Puno. The first day, we explored around and stumbled upon a nice little café. It is called Rico’s Pan. Their menu was simple, but delicious. I usually had hot chocolate and a small empanada or a piece of apple pie.

In Puno, we also found an agency for our planned full day trip in Lake Titicaca. The trip was probably one the best things I’ve done in my life. I got to visit the artificial Uros Islands. I enjoyed it a lot. The ancestors of the people living on the island escaped the Incas and built their own islands to live on, by hand!

I also got to visit Taquile Island. I explored the island’s plaza, observed the local kids, and ate a delicious lunch. Besides that, I also made a new friend. Her name is Raquel. If you say it right you would probably think that her name would be spelt like this: Haquel. Or, maybe like this: Hackel. This is because in Portuguese their “r” is pronounced as an “h”. She is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, by the way.

The cool thing about Raquel is that she never learned how to speak Spanish but she can because she speaks Portuguese. I also met many other people like an extremely nice old guy named Faustino and his family. He was really funny. I think Puno was my favourite city in Peru. It wasn’t only because of the place but also because of the people.

Our last stop in was the city of Arequipa. It’s close to Bolivia and Chile. Arequipa was a fun place as well. There, we took a city tour. I saw many interesting things. My favourite sight was the rice fields and the unaffected natives working under the scorching sun.

I did a lot of shopping in Arequipa. My parents found out that Arequipa was the place to shop because most of the things sold in Peru like Alpaca goods are produced there. My favourite thing in Arequipa was strolling around the streets while eating ice cream. But with or without ice cream, Arequipa was a relaxing end to my vacation.

If I had to sum up my experiences in Peru, I would have to use five million words. As a challenge, I will try in five. Here it goes: My vacation in Peru was marvelous, wondrous, gratifying, fabulous, and most of all, extraordinary.