A dream of mine came true in Peru...

Last night I arrived from my travels to Peru and Bolivia. I first visited the surprisingly beautiful, clean, and modern city of Lima that felt strangely like a Southern California city. Modern malls over looking beaches of the Pacific Ocean complete with Starbucks, TGI Fridays, Domino's pizza, and all the American products that aren't as common to come by in Argentina due to their own internal industry, somewhat stronger than that of Peru's, and strong economic ties with imports from Europe and Brazil. However, one of the coolest "Made in Peru" products, was the delicious, yet super sweet INKA KOLA , the Peruvian answer to Coca Cola (which oddly is now owned by the Coca Cola company).

Two days after my arrival to Lima, I got on a iffy looking "Peruvian Airlines" flight with a very old plane for an hour flight to Cuzco, Peru, the Incan Capital. The flight was practically Verticle the whole time due to the fact that we were going from sea level in Lima to very high up in the Andes Mountains. Cuzco was flocked with tourists from all over the world, as expected. All heading to the famous Machu Picchu. The Andean culture started to be more noticeable, nothing at all like Lima, with a clear accent when speaking that marked that we were in the Andes, and artesans featuring llama and alpaca whool to keep warm in the high and cold altitude. Machu Picchu was a dream come true, although complicated to get there. One has to buy the tickets to get into the sanctuary park of Machu Picchu, then by train tickets to go to the town of "Aguascalientes" also known as "Machu Picchu pueblo." To get to the train station, you must first take a 2 hour taxi ride from Cuzco to another city, going 50 or so miles an hour around winding and narrow andean roads. But in the end, it was worth it (despite getting altitude sickness at the top of the mountain, I barely remember that part, it was so beautiful).

After Machu Picchu the next stop was the town of Puno on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. Spent a few days here, in a comfortable yet very cheap hotel room, trying to keep warm, and recovering from altitude sickness. The last day in Puno I headed out to the Lake and took a tour to floating islands where the Aymara people live, indigenous people that created man made islands out of Straw and Sea Weed on which they've buit their homes. They welcomed us to their Islands, and offered us food, artesans, and the kids were especially playful:

Next Stop: La Paz, Bolivia!