Peru was part of a larger South America trip for us, and like most first-time visitors, we followed the classic route: Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu.
Lima surprised me immediately. Before visiting, I mostly thought of Peru in terms of Machu Picchu, but Lima ended up having one of the best food scenes of the entire trip. We ate an absurd amount of ceviche, explored both high-end and neighborhood restaurants, and quickly understood why Peru has become such a respected culinary destination. The cliffs of Miraflores overlooking the Pacific also gave the city a really unique atmosphere.
From Lima we headed to Cusco and the Sacred Valley, where the altitude immediately humbled us a little. We were amused to see that the hotel lobby even offered portable oxygen tanks, which probably should have been our first clue to take it easy. Cusco itself is beautiful, with its mix of colonial architecture and Incan history, and the surrounding Sacred Valley was probably the highlight of that portion of the trip. Exploring places like Pisac and Ollantaytambo before eventually making our way to Machu Picchu gave the entire experience more context.
Machu Picchu is one of those places that's difficult to fully describe until you see it in person. The train ride, the mountains, the fog lifting over the ruins, and the sheer scale of the surrounding landscape all combine into an experience that feels much bigger than just visiting a historic site. Even after seeing photos of it for years, finally arriving there still felt surreal.
Jessica also attended her first Joe Dispenza retreat in Lima, which ended up becoming the start of a much larger interest in meditation and personal growth. It's funny how certain destinations become tied not just to the places themselves, but to completely different seasons of life.
Overall, Peru felt like a country of contrasts: world-class food in Lima, ancient history in Cusco, dramatic mountain scenery in the Sacred Valley, and one of the most iconic archaeological sites in the world. Even though we hit many of the classic highlights, it still felt like a destination with much deeper layers beneath the surface.