As I sit down to write about Peru even a month later I am still processing my experience. I haven’t quite found the right words to capture this journey. It was so much more than I think I could have imagined. It’s crazy to think we really spent 4 days hiking in the Andes mountains.
It will take some time but I will be sharing my trip here. Documenting each day as best I can.
More to come, hopefully soon.
xx
michelle
first view from Sun Gate (Inti Punku)…
Somehow after dinner our last night in Arenal we end up at a karaoke bar. I’ve never been into karaoke myself but we couldn’t help but check it out since we could hear people singing from our table at dinner.
We get comfortable at the bar and all of the sudden one of the men running karaoke brings over these makeshift maracas (we are talking two red solo cups taped together with some rice inside). He gives them to my friend and I to start shaking to add to the karaoke fun.
We take our maraca job very seriously and make sure to shake them really good for each karaoke singer (our arms were sore the next day, oops). Then we decide we have to go up and sing a song for ourselves – picking the American classic Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker.
Not going to lie I was nervous and there was maybe only 20 people in the bar max. I do have a bit of stage fright but, once we got going there was no stopping us. By the end I was screaming the lyrics vs. singing. Even if no one enjoyed listening to us it was fun to get outside my comfort zone and sing my little heart out.
It was the perfect way to end our time in Arenal.
xx
michelle
After the hike, it stops raining. Somehow we knew that’s exactly what would happen. Then we headed to the hot springs river, unsure of what to expect.
The bus pulls off to the side of the road and our guide announces that we are there. We are instructed to leave everything on the bus and only take ourselves. So here we are on the side of the road, in the pitch black (no street lights and it gets dark at 6pm), in nothing but our bathing suits.
We start heading down this alley way towards the river and not going to lie things were feeling a little sketchy at this point. But all of the sudden we get down to the river and it’s all lit up with flashlights and there are a ton of people in the water. The trees and rocks along the river make sort of a lagoon where the water pools allowing people sit and enjoy the running warm water.
Once in the water a man comes over and puts on a mineral face mask and our tour guide provide us with drinks (yes, with alcohol). All of the sudden it felt like we had entered this really exclusive club.
It was by far my favorite part of the entire trip. It was so unexpected and at first a little weird but ended up being really cool (or should I say warm since it was a hot springs river??) and relaxing.
xx
michelle
So Wales, was my very last trip :(. But it definitely wasn’t least. I had really no idea what to expect from Wales as i had to decided to go last minuter after another trip had fallen through.
after getting off the train and heading towards town I was shocked when all of the sudden there was this beautiful castle in front of us. It was so intact and I just didn’t expect this castle to be in Wales. But I’m so glad is was. The town we went to, Conwy, was a quaint little town on the coast it was very serene.
You could see all the rolling hills in the background that were just lovely. We sat down for some tea where i had my very last cream tea before heading back to the states. It was so bittersweet, but I’ll be back someday. Then we walked around the town enjoying all of the buildings and little shops.
We headed towards the water and on the way got to see Great Britain’s smallest house, which was super cute, but we didn’t go in. We sat by the water for a while and I made friends with one of the dogs nearby, it was a nice day out so there was a lot of people out and it was a nice atmosphere to be in.
Then we walked around the town a bit more before settling down on a nice bench to enjoy the weather and a view a bit more before heading back to make are train. After that we picked up some dinner to go. For future reference the ASDA Icebox is all frozen foods. I got really thrown off there.
Anyways, Wales was beautiful and I’m so glad I had the chance to go. It was the perfect last day trip to end my study abroad. Now I’m back home and that’s cool too I guess…so we will see what summer has in store for me!
Cheers.
~meesh
just meesh 