It is now Monday 15th August and Paddington and I arrived back in blighty on Sunday 10th July after spending the most wonderful 21 days in Peru which began on Saturday 18th June 2022.
My incredible adventure was 100 mph from the moment I left my house. In short, Paddington and I hit the ground running. It was the experience of a lifetime, filled with mishaps and escapades, and also in equal measure, we had the most wonderful encounters with new friends in some of the most spectacular and remote places on earth.
The drama started at the airport with plane delays, lost luggage, a race across Charles de Gaulle airport to catch a train before the flight. Body searches, a game of hide and seek with airport security, missed connections … and of course my arrival in Cuzco, Peru, some 30 hours after leaving home.
I kept detailed notes on each day we were there. It was a series of adventures that took us to festivals such as Corpus Christi and Inti Raymi. I taught English each day in a school high up in the hills. We hiked up Rainbow Mountain, Polcoyo, and experienced the effects of altitude sickness. We visited the Sacred Valley, Maras and Minas del Sal, and of course … we hiked up Machu Picchu.
I have many stories about mine and Paddington’s experiences from each day that I wrote in my journal. These stories will be included in my degree portfolio and eventually published in a hardback book along with some of the many photographs that I took.
I found Cuzco Peru, to be vibrant and visually stunning. A welcoming country whose people were kind, courteous and helpful. It was a country that I was sad to leave, and I will miss the warmth and friendliness of the Peruvian people.
I am currently hard at work writing up my notes, and I certainly will have my work cut out selecting the photographs for my book that will be ready for publishing in spring next year. I will keep you all posted and I hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures so far.
Paddington and I will will be continuing our adventures … We just need to decide where we will go next. Paddington mentioned Patagonia in Chile. It does look breathtakingly beautiful … We shall see … x