Peru: Travel Itinerary - Background

Submitted by Quiksilver on 30 March 2009

It all began back in February 2008.

Due to family reasons, I had to travel to Lima with my parents but asked my lovely girlfriend, Melissa, to come along for the ride.

She from Venezuela - and I, a born-and-bred Peruvian, 17 years removed from my homeland - were at first a little disinterested in making the trip to South America. Don't ask me why but I did not really feel like going back at this point in my life, and much less for reasons not under my control.

If I ever wanted to go back, I would do it under my own accord. May sound, perhaps, a little odd but that was how I felt.

Melissa did not feel like coming along, in a way, due to the same reasons as mine. She is not from Peru, of course, but she was also of the idea that I would be too busy to spend time with her, and she would get bored rather quickly. It'd be an awful waste of money.

She reluctantly agreed to come along and even got into a heated argument of her side road-trip into the lost Inca citadel of, you guessed it, Machu Picchu; South America's most recognized landmark.

As a male, and Peruvian to boot, I could not let her wander around the high mountains of Peru by herself. With all due respect to solo-traveling women, I just would not be at ease.

The circumstances dictated that I would stay in Lima and look after my parents while they settled in the city for their annual 'escape from the Canadian winter' adventure.

When the dust finally settled, I promised Melissa that we'd do whatever it took to get us back to Peru and to Cuzco, and show her the best parts of the country along the way.

Fast forward to 2009 and I (we) came through with said promise. We're on our way to Peru, and with air fare already booked and deposits sent in, there is no looking back now!