Peru! So excited! Who has been?

[sparks19]

very cool . never been and I never will go since you have to fly there LOL so I'll just live vicariously.

[CaliTerp07]

Way cool! I was thinking of you today--a girlfriend and I just booked tickets this morning for a week in Ireland for spring break at the end of March. Any chance you still have itineraries/lodging recommendations/etc?

[~Jessie~]

Thanks for sharing those pictures, Release the Hounds! The scenery is incredible! I didn't realize that there were so many stray dogs- I guess it comes with the territory. There were SO many when we were in Nicaragua, and the hard part was leaving them there. It makes me feel better to know that they get to live in such beautiful places, though!

How hard was the hike up Hyano Picchu? Most people say it takes about an hour, but it's pretty strenuous.

I'm in decent shape- we hike regularly, but it's never at too high of an elevation. The only "high" elevation hike I went on was at 9,000 miles in Costa Rica, and that was only about 2 or 3 miles.

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

Way cool! I was thinking of you today--a girlfriend and I just booked tickets this morning for a week in Ireland for spring break at the end of March. Any chance you still have itineraries/lodging recommendations/etc?

I do!

I actually have a book of all the bed and breakfasts in Ireland if you want to borrow it! It was a great resource for us... it listed their pictures, ratings, websites, phone numbers, etc. I also have the Frommers guide which was helpful to have as a resource. I probably still have a bunch of pamphlets from Dublin in my travel box. I can mail them out to you tomorrow

Where in Ireland are you going? We stayed on the east coast when we went for a week. We eventually want to go back and do the west coast. Let me search my e-mail, because I have a copy of our itinerary written out.

Ireland is AMAZING- you will have a great time!

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by ~Jessie~

I actually have a book of all the bed and breakfasts in Ireland if you want to borrow it! It was a great resource for us... it listed their pictures, ratings, websites, phone numbers, etc. I also have the Frommers guide which was helpful to have as a resource. I probably still have a bunch of pamphlets from Dublin in my travel box. I can mail them out to you tomorrow

Where in Ireland are you going? We stayed on the east coast when we went for a week. We eventually want to go back and do the west coast. Let me search my e-mail, because I have a copy of our itinerary written out.

Ireland is AMAZING- you will have a great time!

We're flying in/out of Shannon, but we'll rent a car and try to get around. I think a night or two in Galway, Dublin, and somewhere(s) in the south. Any resources you have would be awesome I have made my pinterest vacation board and am compiling activities and sights!

[~Jessie~]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

We're flying in/out of Shannon, but we'll rent a car and try to get around. I think a night or two in Galway, Dublin, and somewhere(s) in the south. Any resources you have would be awesome I have made my pinterest vacation board and am compiling activities and sights!

Be sure to go to Glendaloch and walk to both lakes- it's such an amazing place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendalough

PM me your address and I'll send my stuff to you

I love how someone gave this thread one star. Haha.

[Dakotah]

You seriously do go on some of the best vacations ever! Whenever I get around to traveling, you will be my go-to gal for recommendations/tips/advice.

[Dogdragoness]

My ex boyfriend was Peruvian ... He promised to take me ... But we ended up breaking up befor that happened of course :/ from what I have heard people say about it, you're going to love it.

[~Tucker&Me~]

So umm... Want to collect some Peruvian fish from the rivers for me? My tank is a SA tank and most of my fish are from Brazil and Peru!

I am jealous, you will have a blast. Post pictures after!

[~Jessie~]

I'm SO excited- I ended up getting a room at one of the hotels I really wanted to stay. I was worried that they'd be booked up, but I was lucky

Originally Posted by Dakotah

You seriously do go on some of the best vacations ever! Whenever I get around to traveling, you will be my go-to gal for recommendations/tips/advice.

Haha. Anytime! I keep very detailed itineraries for every place we've been and/or researched! I have Alaska, Colombia, Iceland, and a couple of other places written out and researched, even though I've never been to any of them. It makes it easier to narrow down the places we want to go to, and then I can just use them in the future

Originally Posted by ~Tucker&Me~

So umm... Want to collect some Peruvian fish from the rivers for me? My tank is a SA tank and most of my fish are from Brazil and Peru!

I am jealous, you will have a blast. Post pictures after!

LOL! Somehow, I don't think they'd make it through customs

[release the hounds]

How hard was the hike up Hyano Picchu? Most people say it takes about an hour, but it's pretty strenuous.

I'm in decent shape- we hike regularly, but it's never at too high of an elevation. The only "high" elevation hike I went on was at 9,000 miles in Costa Rica, and that was only about 2 or 3 miles.

I don't remember how long it was really, it's been a few years, but I don't remember it being an hour. We stashed our packs though so we didn't carry anything up there and we went right they opened up the trail so we didn't really have to wait for anybody and we got right up it. at that point it was climbing a very steep hill, and it is steep, and narrow.

It's steep, blows my mind that anybody lived there. If you're in decent shape, you shouldn't have too much trouble just move at a nice steady pace and you'll be fine. It's cool. There were only 3 of us that went up there from our hike and I can't believe to this day, the rest of them went that far and didn't do the rest. They missed out.

I'd have to look, but I don't think the elevation is a huge deal at Machu Picchu. I know we climbed as high as 11K, but then the next day it's almost all downhill. By the time we hiked into Machu Picchu it was much lower, but I forget the actual elevation.

Getting up on Huayna Picchu was a trip though. It's like you're climbing to the top of a needle with no guard rails once you get to the tip It's not that bad, but it is a little freaky, at least it was for me. But totally worth it.

Did I mention it was steep?