It had been my dream for a long time to go to Peru and this past month I made it happen, which goes to show you that dreams do come true.

Peru and Machu Picchu was everything I had thought it would be and more. As I said to our guide, Paul, the trip had exceeded my expectations. My favorite moment was when the clouds lifted the morning we were in Machu Picchu. A chorus of Hallelujah was playing in my head and there it was; the Inca village below us. Absolutely magical and worth the lost sleep and the sore muscles from climbing all those steps. I was blinking back tears.

My other favorite spot was the village of Ollantayambo, which is an Inca village that was not destroyed by the Spaniards (as many were) and stands today the way it did in the 15th Century. Indigenous  people are living in these very small, stone dwellings as they did 500 years ago!

We had a van and a driver and we saw a lot of the beautiful countryside.

Guinea pig is a delicacy in Peru, so we stopped at a roadside kiosk to sample some. Personally, I found it bony and greasy.

Lima was like day and night compared to the other places we had seen in Peru. We stayed in a modern part of Lima and enjoyed the food and the sea walk.

We watched the sun go down on our last evening in Lima. It was a lovely ending to a very interesting trip.