Flying South For the Summer

Like birds we recently began moving south chasing more summer-like weather in the mid-latitudes south of the equator. Unlike birds we changed hemispheres, from east to west and from north to south, and find ourselves now in Peru for about the next month. We explored early springtime in Lima with an adequate four-night visit and there was lots to see including the exquisite Larco museum, the 1,500 year-old pyramid of Huaca Huallamarca, the gorgeous views and shopping at the coastal Larcomar mall in the Miraflores neighborhood and we enthusiastically made a beeline for the new excellent Taj Mahal Indian restaurant that just opened within walking distance of the Indian Market. Wonderful time.

We then took a convenient Peru Bus south four hours to Paracas and began an extended rest in an Airbnb as we integrate our recent month in Turkiye and prepare for our upcoming busy couple of weeks visiting Peru’s highlands including Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Cusco and Lake Titicaca.

Speaking of Turkiye, we’re now surrounded by (an unbelievable amount of) sand and water in southern coastal Peru reflecting on our month traveling in Asia Minor that included the last two weeks on an organized tour of eastern Turkiye focused on archeological sites. We saw so much in a short amount of time. It challenged our ability to absorb the onslaught of gobsmacking cradle of civilization encounters. In a perfect world we wanted at least twice as much time overall. One thing we really missed was having a day off in between certain big days to just catch our breath and look at all the pictures we took. (We’re doing that now in Peru!) The flip side was that we efficiently discovered so many epic destinations, were lead by experts who could help unpack the archeological wonders for us and we didn’t have to worry about any of the logistics. It was hard letting go of the control of our schedule some days. But one of the best parts of the group tour was our band of 20 kind-hearted kindred spirits from five continents. What a great group of people! We got along swimmingly! One casualty — we don’t want any more chicken kebab for the foreseeable future!

Some highlighted images from Turkiye below (see more here and here)…