Hiking the Inca Trail was one of my favourite parts of the trip and one of the coolest things I've ever done, the trail itself was 4 days and 3 nights, but before we embarked on the trail, our group did a one day tour of the Sacred Valley region where we got to visit a lovely village and witness the process of how they create the lovely garments that are so emblematic of Peru. 

 The fibres are all dyed using the colours from plants and stones found in the region.

After visiting one of the Incan ruins along our Sacred Valley visit, the traffic was insane, and the only way of getting back into the air conditioned bus, was to climb along the edge of a cliff. But our experience with cliff edges didn't end there, the next day as we were driving to the start of the trail we ended up in a  standoff with another truck who refused to back up to let us pass, after 15 minutes of nobody budging, two guys from our group got off the bus and tried to direct the truck. 10 minutes later, we barely squeezed by and the truck had half a wheel off the edge of the cliff.

 I had the pleasure of spending the next 4 days with and amazing group of people and they were honestly some of the loveliest and most amazing  people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. We became like a family those 4 days and they really inspired me to travel more and to be open to new experiences and helped me realize how determination can go a long way in achieving your goals. 

Along the trail, the view were absolutely spectacular as we travelled through rainforest, desert and mountainous regions. My favourite day in terms of scenery was probably the 3rd when we travelled through the cloud forest, being in this cloudy, rich in vegetation area felt very ethereal. 

The view from the Sungate of Machu Picchu at sunrise, the sun shone a single beam, like a flashlight down over the city. 

Once we came down to Machu Picchu we got to explore the ruins, if I'm honest I found it to be very crowded and touristy, which is not usually my scene. However I think the main reason why I really enjoyed it, was because I had the opportunity to travel the trail the Incan's created to get there view ruins along the way which all led up to this massive city, and its when you understand the significance of the ruins that you can really appreciate what they would have been. 

If anyone is every considering doing the Inka trail I would highly recommend it, its a life changing experience that will leave you with lasting memories.  

Cusco was probably one of my favourite cities in Peru that we visited, it was overflowing with culture and there were so many beautiful sights to take in! The main square is the hub of activity and is filled with people dressed in beautiful costumes, amazing restaurants and lots of beautiful cathedrals.

One of the loveliest things about walking around the city was that down every street and alley there was a view of the mountains, beauty everywhere you looked. 

My personal favourite way to experience a city is to just walk down its streets and venture away from the main tourist centre. One thing that I loved was the abundance of markets accessible through large doors and holes in the wall, along different alleys. Theres a certain excitement one gets from discovering something no one else know about. Being that I am a bit of a shopaholic and the fact that we highly underestimated the freezing temperatures of Peruvian winter, one of the first things I did was hit up the market in Cusco. I absolutely love exploring markets and purchasing one of a kind items unique to the country, one particular piece that caught my eye which seemed to be very "on-trend" in backpacker fashion was these super warm and functional alpaca sweaters which seemed to be on every backpackers back, I purchased one and went back and picked up another, because they were so warm and such bargain!

Through one of those gates just off of one of the side streets we discovered a small art museum, and I have to admit, more then the art itself I really enjoyed the garden courtyard in the museum, I am a big sucker for beautifully tiled gardens and old spanish influenced architecture. 

This summer I had the absolute pleasure of visiting Peru, and my oh my what an absolutely amazing country! The people were so welcoming and kind, and the food was so tasty (my mouth still waters at the thought of that ceviche). It was one of those trips that will stay with me forever, I got the pleasure of meeting so many amazing people at each stop along the way, all who inspire me to be a better person and who are all examples of how you can make things happen for yourself if you really try. One of the things that stood out to me the most,  was how diverse the landscape and cultures were as we moved from city to city, throughout the two week trip I visited 6 different cities/ places each so unique from the next. The pictures below each depict different parts of Peru, each place was so special and unique that I plan on creating separate posts about each one in which I want to share more pictures, memories and tips that I hope will be useful if anyone is planning a trip to Peru (which I highly recommend you do), or will inspire you to give visiting a second thought!

Mountains along the Inka Trail

Cusco City 

A village in the Sacred Valley

A caiman on the shore of the Madre de Dios river in Puerto Maldonado

Uros women on one of the thousands of floating islands in Lake Titicaca

The Palacio Legislativo del Perú

They say first impressions are the longest lasting so I figure my opening blog post should say something meaningful about me, but after a long time spent wondering what I should say I realized the reason I created this blog was to put down my uncut raw thoughts. So here I go. My names Alia, I'm a fashion addict and travelling is my passion. I constantly have a million thoughts running through my mind and I just need an outlet where I can put them all down.