After an amazing visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, and New World Wonder, Machu Picchu, it was time to hit the road again. We took another ride on Peru Rail, which I have to say is a very nice railway. We had a glass top cabin that allowed for awe-inspiring 360° views of the Andes mountains as we cruised through the countryside. Seating was comfortable, and we even got a show and a snack with the tier of ticket we purchased.

Back in Cusco we jumped on the Inka Express, a bus to Puno. Manuel was our guide on the bus, and we stopped along the way to check out a pre-Incan civilization’s, the Pucara, artifacts. We also so post-Columbian churches and a lot of other smaller attractions.

A roadside market in Peru with lots of clothing, artwork and alpacas — A roadside market

Once we arrived in Puno, we were actually able to walk to our hostel and find some food right before it started pouring rain. Flash flooding is apparently common around that time of year, kind of like some parts of Florida.

The towns and mountains around Lake Titicaca — Lakeside Vistas

We were too chicken to try the Peruvian favorite Cuy, aka Guinea Pig. So we ended up getting some fried chicken at a spot where we saw lots of locals hanging out. When in doubt of where to eat, look and see where the locals are is what we learned early in our adventures and did often.

A full map of Lake Titicaca with nearby roads and towns highlighted on both the Peruvian and Bolivian sides of the lake

We left Lucky Your House Hostel, and headed down to the docks on Lake Tititcaca, a massive lake that Peru shares with Bolivia. We hopped a ship over to the Floating Islands of the Uros people. These manmade islands are basically floating bits of straw and dirt that serve different purposes to the locals. Some house schools, others have homes. We disembarked on one of the residential islands, and were treated to a show of song and traditional dress by some of the Uros women. Small children were running around, but we soon found that the men were off somewhere fishing and working, and the bigger kids were at school. They take boats like we ride our bikes from island to island.

We learned about their way of life historically, and in the present. The ladies showed us around the island and gave presentations around their songs, textiles, how they build their islands, etc. One of the more interesting things we were told is how when a family wants to separate themselves from their current island (maybe a couple just got married and wants to start their own island or something), they actually take a saw, and saw off their part of the island and build on that. Now I don’t know if that’s true, or they were just making fun of us, but that’s an awesome way to get away from your parents.

We were invited into the home of a sweet woman, Elana, and it was interesting to see the mix of new and old cultures clashing. It wasn’t the last time that we remarked on how odd it was to see people “perform” their culture, when you could tell that they lived a relatively modern life, including the modern clothing the children wore, and satellite dishes coming out of the huts.

Tim poses inside an Uros hut with his host Elana — Tim and Elana

At the end of the day, I don’t begrudge anyone trying to make a dollar in this world in an honest way, but I do get a little bit sad at how Westernized many places of the world have started slipping. Is it possible to modernize without completely selling out your culture? Some places in the world made me think the answer could be yes, but others no. The Uros were one of the indigenous cultures we’ve interacted with who seemed to straddle the line nicely.

Four women in brightly colored clothing standing on a floating reed island of the Uros people singing goodbye to tourists — Our Uros hosts singing goodbye in their native tongue

Back in town, we were able to catch lunch at a spot we saw a lot of locals walking out off, check out a cathedral, and catch a parade that was mostly a show of military and police power (according to one o the locals we chatted with). Back at the hostel, we enjoyed a night in, watching movies, and shooting the breeze with some other travelers as we prepared for our next day.

Anne buys from a popcorn cart at night in Arequipa — Popcorn cart in Arequipa

We hopped another bus and headed towards Arequipa. The historic area is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so our list continued to grow. We arrived at the Flying Dog Hostel, dropped our things and wandered down the street to do some people watching. The hostel was located close to a square and we found street food vendors, and couples and families enjoying the evening. I love being able to catch a slice of life of normal locals.

An appetizer of smoked ham, corn and cheeses — Antipasto Alpandino

Later, we hunted down a restaurant called Zig Zag Restaurant that was recommended to us by our friends Alec and Janice back in Cusco. We tried some Antipasto Alpandino, which included cheeses, dried beef, Amazonian smoked ham, Serrano ham, chorizo, smoked sausage, potatoes and sweet corn. Then we had a dish that had quinoa, shrimp, guava, avocado, mango and a nice sauce and another dish that had gnocchi in a nice cream sauce.

Pro tip that I rarely follow, but should: Always take a picture of the menu, especially the dishes you order. Restaurants, like everything else, change, and when you go to check the menu on their website years later, they may have made some changes. I’d love to tell you what those dishes were called, but all I can tell you is that they were really good.

Signage for the Casa de Avila tourist hotel and Peruvian Cooking Experience with a local artist's mural next to it

The next day we wandered around town to find the Peruvian Cooking Experience. We met fellow travelers from the Netherlands, Bosco and Natasha, and were led to the back of a hotel to the kitchen. There we learned how to make Ceviche from scratch, Pescado al Macho (a fried fish and salsa dish), and Peruvian favorite, Pisco Sours.

Cooking classes are one of my favorite experiences to try all over the world. We’ve always had great locals teaching us their favorites, and honestly, I can’t say I’ve ever had a bad experience hanging out with people, drinking and learning how to cook something new. If you travel, and there’s a class available, I highly recommend you jump at the opportunity.

Anne wrote a blog with more details about our the Peruvian Cooking Experience, check it out!

The pisco sours Tim and Anne made from scratch

After our class, we headed to a restaurant called Zingaro to enjoy some appetizers, and maybe a couple more pisco sours. I love pisco sours and writing about this reminds me that I need to grab some pisco (a great light brandy made of fermented grapes) and try my hand. You can totally do something that you haven’t done in 5 years if you put your mind to it, right?

Pork marinade, stuffed mini hot peppers, fried cheese, baby potatoes and Arequipa ocopa, and fried cheese, and a plate of Tequeños — Marinaded pork, stuffed mini hot peppers, fried cheese, baby potatoes and Arequipa ocopa, and a plate of Tequeños

The next day we explored the Central Market. This is another one of those amazing slice of life opportunities. Head to the market and just wander around checking out goods, trying all the food and drinks, and do some solid people watching. We enjoyed row after row of meat and vegetables and tried all kinds of pastries.

We then headed over to the central square, where they were setting up for Christmas celebrations and enjoyed some appetizers and pizza at one of the rooftop restaurants. There were bands playing, and the 360° views of the town were worth the trek alone.

A rooftop view of the Plaza de Armas Arequipa around Christmas time — La Plaza de Armas Arequipa

The next day we hopped a plane through Lima to Santiago, Chile. At the Santiago Airport, we ran into our first real scam. We were trying to figure out how to get on a bus, and a guy came up and offered to hook us up with a private van ride to the port city of Valparaiso. Luckily, we had done our research, and instead of letting someone charge us over $100, we jumped on the public bus for less than $10 each.

We stayed at the Casa Fischer Hostal in the UNESCO Heritage site, the Hills of Valparaiso, a couple of blocks off Caleta Portales, the port. Unfortunately for us, we arrived in town during some particularly bad weather, so views of the Pacific weren’t that great. Fortunately for us, we never let something like that get us down and we went on the hunt for seafood and great Chilean wine.

The inside of a seafood ravioli stuffed with fresh crab, shrimp and other goodies — The Seafood Ravioli was STUFFED with fresh crab

What we found was Restaurant La Concepción. A lovely spot with a nice balcony overlooking the water, such as the views were, with some amazing food. Our appetizer was Duo de Salmon. Anne had the Vegetable Lasagna and I went for the Seafood Ravioli.

a bowl of Vegetable lasagna in a tomatos sauce and a bowl of seafood ravioli in a cream sauce — Vegetable Lasagna and Seafood Ravioli

We had a couple of bottles of wine Santa Rita Medalla and a 2014 Casas Patronales Maucho Reserva Viognier. For dessert we had the Crème Brûlée and creamy slice of Chocolate Cake.

We wandered around Valporaiso to walk that epic meal off, and were captivated by all the murals and street art. We took a little trolly up an elevator to the top of the hill, visited the Rainbow Stairs, and saw a lot more. Our time in Valparaiso was short, because we had bigger fish, and much more wine to try, so the next morning we hopped back on the bus, and headed to Casablanca Valley for an epic wine tour.