Peru Travel Vlog - Machu Picchu, Inca Trail, Cusco and more

Final destination, Machu Picchu. Viva Peru! We did it. When I was 13, one of the first things I ever Googled in my life was travel. And Google showed me a photo of a magical place far away, and that was Machu Picchu. So I made it my first ever screensaver and told myself that one day I would visit. 22 years later, I got invited on this women's expedition to Peru with five female content creators from around the world. And little did I know that this trip was going to change the way I look at travel completely. Welcome to Peru. You've just seen the trailer, so you know what I'm about to experience. I cannot wait. As you know, this is the moment. This is a moment in my life that I am so excited and so humbled by. So let's go. Let's do it. We are here on day one. I've flown from London to Paris, from Paris to Lima, and now I am here at Hotel Antigua Miraflores. So it's a super cute hotel. It's medium budget, I would say. I highly recommend it if you want to come for you to stay here. I love the decoration. It's also a little bit sustainability-focused. And right now I'm going to go downstairs and I'm going to meet all the other creators. We're going to get to know each other. We're going to get a bit of an intro, and then we're going to go to one of the top restaurants here in Lima, which overlooks pre-Incan ruins. What a way to start. So there are a few important people you need to meet. This is Tina, and she is our female guide, and she will be with us during the entire trip. And here you can see all the other amazing girls who will pop up in this video here or there, of course, but all their socials are linked in the info box as well. And this is the restaurant we went to, Huaca Puclana. I'm sorry if I don't pronounce it correctly. I'm so sorry. I walked in and I saw these little pom-pom decorations, and then I saw the pre-Incan ruins. Here they are. I mean, what a setting. And then I also had my first pisco sour and ceviche of the trip, and I realized this is going to be epic. Good morning, everybody. So that was great, wasn't it? What a restaurant to go to. Highly recommend it. As I said, food was amazing. And now I'm packing my bag, and as you can see, I'm wearing active gear. It's not the hike to Machu Picchu today. We are still in Lima. We are going on a bike tour. We're cycling around Lima. I'll show you a few of the different neighborhoods. I'll show you everything we experienced. Then we come back here for lunch, and we go back out in the evening or afternoon for a food tour, street food in Lima. Let's do it. Oh, and also there was an earthquake tonight. Fun fact. They did tell us that earthquakes are pretty normal here, and it's nothing to worry about, of course. But yo, I woke up at 4.30 a.m. thinking, what's going on? It was only for about two to three seconds, so my first ever earthquake. Okay. Almost 10 million people live in Lima, and even though it's pretty much always gray because of its location, and as you can see here, it never actually rains. In fact, our cycling guide told us that it last rained heavily about 11 years ago, so think about that. And these two lovely ladies, Paula and Paula, along with Tina, of course, took us around Lima in the afternoon to see architecture, history, culture, and of course, food. Right now, we are walking through the super busy city center, which I'm sure you can hear all around me. We're kind of in like the commercial high street shopping street right now, on our way to the street food tasting, and we are looking at a bit of the architecture, so I'm sure you can see above me there, there is a lot of influences here from Spain, France, and also Morocco, because obviously, when the Spanish came over, they had already had Moroccan influence, so you can see it all here, and it's a very lovely mix. And also, our tour guide, Paula, she really loves it, so she talks about it with so much passion, which makes me really love it, which is amazing. So yeah, I'm very excited to eat now, like totally ready. Okay, here we are. Look at Tina's face. Look how excited she is. I mean, these are the churros, and first of all, they don't look like I expected them to look like, and secondly, they are massive, and we're gonna have a whole one, so let's go. Here we are, live taste test. Oh, it's very crunchy, and it's filled with something delicious. What is it filled with? What's inside? It's caramel. Caramel? Caramel, yes, yes. It's a Peruvian way. I love it. Spanish churros doesn't have caramel inside, but they dip it in chocolate. Okay. It's the same. What are we saying? What do you give it out of 10? I think it's delicious. It's just got like caramel inside, which is really cool. It's so crunchy, right? Right, so here's Rachel. Hello. Hi. Rachel off duty, if you wanna check her out on Instagram or her blog. And what are we doing? We're walking into Chinatown right now, right? We're on the hunt for more food, is what I've been told. And it's super busy, so literally it changed from like, it's kind of like relaxed atmosphere to full on chaos. We love it. We're here for it. We had just gotten a sugar high. Yes. I think we're fully prepared for this. That's so true. All right, let's do it. Oh, you were so little when I met you. What are we eating now? Oh yes, we are eating very good Peruvian Chinese snacks. One is called Ming Pao, and let me to pronounce very well. Let's not, yes. Mao Mai. They basically are with pork and chicken, deep fried and the starch is made with rice. It's probably not my favorite, just because I think I expected something savory. And this is definitely like a dessert. But if you like five spice, you may like this one. This is delicious. So the best way to describe this to you, was like imagine a Chinese stir fry, like all the spices, and then in like the crispiest spring roll ever. Very, very delicious. Okay, so something I'm noticing is that when it gets dark, Lima comes to life in like colorful wise. I mean, not with the people, the people are allowed the whole time. It's just like, wait, let me go past this guy. One second. Hello. Hola. I don't know what he just said. What was he saying? I'm here. Come here pretty lady. What was he saying? Come here pretty lady. Okay, okay. Cause I was filming him and I didn't know if he said anything bad, you know? No, no, no, no, no. Linda is beautiful. Okay, okay. So what I wanted to say is that, obviously because during the day, as you know, the sky is very gray most of the time. Now at night, you obviously don't notice it. So it just seems like nighttime and that makes the buildings look a lot more warmer and the colors feel and look a lot more vibrant. And we have just come to our next stand really. I thought it was going to be a restaurant, but it's literally just a tiny street food stand. So let's go. And that little street food stand had anticuchos, which are extremely famous and everyone told me to try. However, they are cow heart. So for me, I had one bite. I did not like it, but that shouldn't stop you guys from trying it if you are brave enough. It is a local must-have. And then we've got these and they are squash and sweet potato donuts. They're called picaronas and they were hence now my favorite food of the day, which is of course why I didn't film myself eating them because I was enjoying them. And I will let this lovely lady finish the day. Can you say it again? Can you say? Picarona, picarona. Right, good morning. So it is currently 6.45 and we got up that early because we are taking a flight to Cusco today. So we're going into the mountains. I'm very excited. Wish me luck for no or mild altitude sickness. I will update. Right, quick observation after we landed. Everyone's out of breath. And we walked up about what? Like 10, 15 steps? No, we walked down. And down. So we shouldn't be out of breath basically. That's the point. So let's see how this goes. So this is 3,400 meters above sea level. Okay. That was a little bit hectic, but obviously we got here in the end and we checked into our hotel. Hoteles Hacienda Cusco, I believe is the name. And this is a bit of an overview. Sorry, I've already unpacked. So you're gonna get it with my suitcase and my stuff in it. But it's super cute. We all had the coca tea right now, which is obviously very famous because it's supposed to help with altitude sickness. I don't know if it's just the adrenaline or if I'm already feeling better right now after I had the tea. We're gonna, I'm gonna get changed. I'm gonna unpack a little bit and then we're gonna go and have a bit of a city tour. So obviously I'll take you along. But yeah, it wasn't for the faint hearted in a sense that I was born in a little tiny town in Germany where we had six meters above sea level. And now I live in London, which is 10 meters above sea level. That's quite different. But let's do it. We walked through rainy Cusco and took in all the vibes in Peru's ancient capital of the Incas before settling in for lunch at Mama Celedonia's restaurant, which was for me, the food highlight of the trip. Firstly, because Mama Celedonia herself was an incredibly inspiring woman who told us about her struggles of being a female business owner in Peru, about how she feeds the homeless children on the streets of Cusco and more. But secondly, of course, because of the food, this dish here, Chicken Novo Andino, I believe is what it was called. This chicken dish was honestly so crispy and it simply tasted like it was made with a lot of love. Can you be in my video? Can you say hello, London? Hello, hola. Yeah, hola, London. Hola, London. And then for the afternoon, the sun came out and we took a walking tour through quaint and charming Cusco. This is the way to go to the Amazon. If we follow this Inca trail, we will find more of the rest of the Inca trails here. ♪♪♪ Canadá, te saluda. Máximo Araca de Cusco. Vive el Perú. Hands down, one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in my life. And right now we are entering a coffee shop slash art collective, essentially. So this coffee shop, they obviously serve local coffee and they work with six different communities from the Amazon who display their art here. So I will show you a little bit of that now. And we're going to try the coffee. I mean, the group is going to try the coffee. I will smell the coffee and have some tea. Good morning, everybody, from the hottest and sunniest day here in Peru so far. I'm actually so happy the sun has come out. We are here at a place called Sacsayhuaman. I hope I pronounced it correctly. It sounds a bit like sexy woman, but of course it is not. That's just how you can remember the name. And it used to be an Inca fortress. Sacsayhuaman means full bellied falcon, because obviously a lot of the people, the Incas that were living here at the time, died. Some of them because of the Spanish, but some of them also because of things like disease. And the vultures came, ate them all. So the Incas named it Sacsayhuaman. Nobody knows what it was called before, because obviously it had a name before, but that has not been translated because the Incas were not as good as other ancient communities. They didn't have any hieroglyphs, for example, like the Egyptians had. So, yeah, that's why you can just, I guess, speculate. It's a very fascinating place. And at the end, you get rewarded with this amazing view. I mean, check this out. It's just stunning. So you've got the historical city center of Cusco down there. And I'm losing my groove. So let's go. It is hot. I don't know the temperature right now, but obviously because we're so high up, it feels burning. So when you come to Peru, make sure to take some sunscreen, like strong sunscreen. And what you can see here are local women creating the most beautiful ponchos, jumpers, scarves and more, all from alpaca wool. So we met the owner of this shop and she told us everything about, you know, what alpaca wool means to the local community, how it is sourced and dyed with only natural colors. And of course, we had to also try on a poncho. And you may see this exact one later again in the video. What are we thinking? What's going on? Tell me. I just love the color so much more than I thought I would. Yeah, it's so soft. I'm really like, I'm really thinking about it. And I didn't think that I would. And after lunch, it was time for a super wholesome experience. We visited Agro Turismo Chichu Bamba, which is a pottery shop run by a wife and husband that strongly support the local community in various ways. And of course, we had to get involved. So we sat in the Peruvian countryside chatting away and making coasters. I actually look back at this moment with so much joy. It's hard for me to describe, but I feel like that was the moment me and the girls just connected on a deep, even deeper level, really. And yeah, I wouldn't have missed it, of course, for the world. It was a very, very special moment. I had a very special place in my heart. When you step out of the car to have a drink at a local bar and that is your view, what do we say? We're ready. Yeah, let's go. This is like a chimney. You come here. The lady's cooking here. The lady's prepared here the drink. No, that is chicha, chicha here. You come here. Give the muscles, mommy. Look, it's ready. This is the beer. Yeah, this is the... We call in Quechua Aja. Aja is the name, no? This is with the strawberry. That is the color, no? Pink. And this is just pure, no? The natural color. The yellow color they make. That one. We are trying chicha, and it's made from this corn here. And it's dried and then fermented and then made into a sort of beer. So, you know, let's just try. Cheers. Look like this. Wait, after that, they boil it into the broth. And then they serve it. It's not good. That is this. You don't like it? I don't like it. I like, I think there's a strawberry version, which I probably like that. I have to be honest, the... It's... I don't know. I probably expected beer taste. So as you have seen, this is the size we are trying as the tourists. Yeah. Let me show you the size that the locals... For scale. Here we are. Cheers. Cheers. So how much did you say this is? For locals is three and for tourists five. So if you want to come here, five soles. You know, I mean, that's a bargain, let's be honest. But maybe get the strawberry one. OK, team, another moment from our next hotel here. We have arrived in Ollantaytambo. I believe that is correct. Just arrived in my room here. It's a cute little room. I put my suitcase out there already. So Ollantaytambo is the place where people who do the whole Inca Trail rest. So it literally means resting place of the warrior. We are not warriors, but we're obviously going to do part of the Inca Trail tomorrow. And I like to travel with a lot of luggage, as you can see there. So this is a large, extra large suitcase. And I've got a tiny one there and stuff there as well. And obviously we're hiking up the mountain tomorrow and then we're staying overnight at the top of Machu Picchu. So all I can take is a backpack and a little tiny clothes bag, which will be carried on the train. So I will have to pack all my stuff, all my makeup, everything in a tiny little, you know, condense all my makeup, all my stuff. The most I've ever possibly done it in my life. Which I'm very excited about. Also slightly shook by because I don't know, I was just living like a queen with my big suitcase. But we stand, we do it. I'm going to do that now. I'm going to eat in my room. I'm going to pack. I'm going to shower. I'm going to get mentally ready for the hike. So it is a train ride and then a six hour ish hike up towards a viewing point, which is called Sun Gate, and then a bus to our overnight hotel in Machu Picchu. And all of that is going to happen tomorrow. It's a lifelong dream. And I'm talking too much. Let's go. Let's get ready for it. Let's do it. What do we think so far? I feel like I'm in a fairy tale. Yeah, me too. I had a little bit of like, you know, water in my eyes when she said final destination, Machu Picchu. That was pretty cool. Yeah, I feel like we're in a fairy tale. I feel like we might be on our way to Hogwarts. I'm not sure. So we just jumped out of the train, literally in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing around, nothing whatsoever. So, yeah, we're going to go and we're going to start the hike. Wow. Yes, to female porters. You're so strong. Yeah. This is for Valentina. Wow. I'm actually so impressed. So what you guys don't know is we were supposed to have two porters today, but one of them had an issue in her house, so she couldn't come. So our lovely porter Valentina over there is taking it all by herself. We're obviously trying to split as much between us in our backpacks as we can, but she has definitely got the majority load. I'm so impressed. OK, team, let me give you a little bit of an update of our hike so far. We are not that very far and we're only one sixth of the way in roughly. But so far, so good. Probably not as strenuous as I thought it would be. You've kind of got steps and then a bit of flattened steps and a bit flat. Obviously, you're out of breath a lot because of the altitude. And also, if you're afraid of heights, this will be quite a challenge for you. So I'm not sure if you can see it goes down quite far. But so far, so good. We're all in good spirits. We're all excited for lunch and going to keep going. You can see me currently walking through an Inca ruin and we are almost there. We did it. I'll show you. OK, this is it. I've only dreamt my entire life about this moment, you know, I mean, casual. We totally deserve to be here. I'm going to say some people, they just take the bus and they do the little tiny hike and then they get here and they take the same photo. But not us. We did the crazy six, seven hour, how many hours hike yesterday? And now we deserve to be here more than anyone. No, obviously everyone deserves to be here. But you know what I mean? This is amazing. I think the view is absolutely breathtaking. No camera, I promise you, no iPhone, nothing you've ever seen in your life can capture what this really looks in real life. I hope you get a bit of an idea. And now let's go down and let's learn about Machu Picchu and the Incas a little bit more. I felt so incredibly humbled and proud of myself. And you can probably tell because the night before when we reached the sun gate, which is the viewpoint a little bit further away, I didn't actually film a lot of myself just because I sat there and I had to take it in for, for I don't know how long we were there, half an hour. And I was just crying and I was just feeling it. I was feeling the travel. It was amazing. So let me talk you through Machu Picchu. So Machu Picchu is an ancient Inca site, and the famous terraces were mainly used for farming. And the Incas, they were, of course, a civilization who in the early 16th century ruled over the great Inca Empire, which is the largest empire ever seen in the Americas. Machu Picchu took about 90 years to build, and it was eventually abandoned in order to protect it. It was built high in the Andes mountain range, of course, so that enemies could not find it. And I mean, we almost did not find it that day as well. No, it's a joke, but honestly, it's very, very well hidden. And there is actually no evidence that the Spanish ever found it. And Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911 by an explorer called Heron Bingham, who was initially looking for a completely different site. So here is a little bit of magic. I hope you enjoyed this video. I hope you felt with me what I felt. And if you've been here since the beginning, then you might be wondering, well, Sandy, what was it? How did this trip change the way you view travel? And for me, it was all about female empowerment. I realized that women are even more amazing than I already knew. And that traveling with a group of girls and meeting local women and girls and business owners and connecting is something that I want to do a lot more of going forward. So I hope you guys are ready for this. I am. And I will see you soon in my next adventure. All the links are below, of course, as always.