Category: Peru

Drinks around the world

Drinking Our Way Around The World

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It’s no secret that I love a fruity cocktail. In fact most of my family and friends will forever relate the Piña Colada song to me because every time a cocktail, pineapple, or just a drink in general is mentioned, I start singing the tune – with Hawaiian style dance moves included of course. Yes, I like Piña Colada.

As it’s almost Christmas and I’m sure the celebrations are already in full swing, I thought I would add to the festivities by sharing some of the best and most popular drinks from around the world that we’ve come across on our travels. They’re not all cocktails – I promise – and they’re not all alcoholic. Unfortunately, Piña Colada isn’t on this list (sigh) because I’ve not yet been to Puerto Rico, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying what the rest of the world has to offer.

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Gadventures Inca Trail

The Challenge of a Lifetime: Hiking the Inca Trail

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Exactly a year ago today I was sitting in our hotel in Cusco, exhausted and aching all over, never wanting to move another muscle again, except to lie down for the massage I had booked later that day. I had just completed the toughest challenge of my life – an incredible journey along the Inca Trail, one of the world’s most renowned and most awe-inspiring treks. The 4 day hike through Peru’s Andes Mountains took us past ancient Inca ruins, over steep peaks and breathtaking vistas, and finally lead us to the world wonder of Machu Picchu.

I cannot believe that a year has already gone by since the trek; I remember it like it was just a few days ago.  I originally wrote this post shortly after returning from South America but I think the trek, along with getting ill in Brazil afterwards, exhausted me out too much to actually finish it. So even though it’s taken me a whole year to actually tell you of our adventures on the Inca Trail, these are not just vague memories.  This my honest, fresh and slightly gruelling experience at the time!

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Waffles in Bruges Belgium

My Three Course Taste of Travel Menu

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Over the past couple of years I seem to have become a bit of a foodie, always on the hunt for something new to try and eager to experience local cuisines whenever I travel. I browse as many blogs, reviews and tips as possible, not just on what to see and do, but also on what to eat. I’ve noticed myself talking about, blogging about and taking pictures of food more and more often and my Instagram feed now seems to be filled with more photos of food than it is of travel (oops!)

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Dead Woman's Pass Inca Trail

Weekly Photo Challenge: Endurance

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Hiking Peru’s famous Inca Trail is without a doubt the toughest adventure I’ve ever been on.  Four tiring days of waking up before sunrise, climbing mountain peaks in the blaring sunshine and at high altitude, all the while having my lovely new “friend” Altitude Sickness along for the ride, made for an exhausting but incredible journey.

For me, someone who very rarely (okay pretty much never) exercises and has never done more than a day’s hiking in her life, the trail was a huge accomplishment.  The only way I got through it was with sheer determination and endurance, and the encouragement of my husband.

And I’m so glad I did, as what an adventure it was!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Adventure

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As soon as I saw that the theme of this week’s photo challenge was adventure, my head started spinning. I love going on adventures, so much so that I had to put the word ‘adventure’ in the title of my blog…so how on earth was I supposed to pick just the one?!

Instead, I decided to share a few of my favourites with you, from setting off on the start of an incredible adventure around the world, adrenaline packed activities like skydiving over the Namibian sand dunes or climbing mountains; trying new things, meeting new people, and everything in between 🙂

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Zigzag

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To me, the window seat of a plane is like candy to a baby.  I love flying and I always try to grab a window seat so I can watch the world go by and ooh and ahh as we get a glimpse of our next destination as we come in to land.  Sitting slightly behind the wing of the plane is my favourite spot where I can get some great shots of the sky or the landscape below us with the tip of the wing lined up perfectly.  It helps that Mr Ayla doesn’t like flying in the slightest so he’s always perfectly happy to let his eager wife take the best seat 🙂

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Football Fever in Brazil

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I am not a football fan. At all. The closest I’ve ever got to being interested in football was watching Alex play on Sunday mornings, but now I much prefer staying in bed till he gets home at noon 😉

Alex, on the other hand, is football crazy. He teaches it every day in his job, he plays football every week, he even collects football stickers like the big kid he really is. So going to Brazil during the World Cup was completely his idea. Not mine. While he was looking forward to the World Cup like it was the most exciting thing in his life to ever happen, I was just looking forward to relaxing on the beach sipping a Caipirinha.

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Panoramic Peru

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I’m not really a fan of using my iPhone to take photos and my camera comes pretty much everywhere with me. But we ended up using our phones a lot more than usual on this trip as silly old Alex broke our camera by dropping it the evening before we started the Inca Trail – one of the greatest hikes in the world. Yes, I was angry (slight understatement!), and no, he didn’t hear the end of it!

After hunting around the small city of Cusco for hours looking for a repair shop, it somehow magically fixed itself, only for silly old me to go and break it again by getting it wet during a storm in the Amazon Rainforest.  And yes, I was just as angry with myself as I had been with Alex!

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