Easter holiday in Peru

In addition to this, the school offers optional teaching for those who want some help or guidance with their studies. I went to Peru with three friends this week. Here I have written about our experience of Peru and what it was like to celebrate Easter there.

The trip to Machu Picchu

For those who wish to go to the village, there are two options. The most famous is the "Inca Trail", where you follow the path once taken by the Maya people. The journey takes four days to complete and it is mandatory to have a guide.

We chose to go on the "El Salkantay Trek". Salkantay takes five days to hike, and follows a different route than the one the Inca people took. I think it was an absolutely fantastic trip. We started up at an altitude of about 4000 meters above sea level. On day two, we passed Salkantay Mountain which marks the highest point of the trek, 4600 meters above sea level. Fortunately, none of us got altitude sickness, but we had to walk at a slow pace because the altitude made us easily breathless and our legs heavy.

We had booked where we would sleep in advance of the trip. All the places included breakfast in addition to the option of purchasing dinner for 60-80 NOK per person. Lunch and snacks had been bought in advance, so we carried them with us in our backpack – which also made the backpack lighter with each passing day. When we arrived at the village 'Aguas Calientes', we bought entrance tickets to Machu Picchu for the following day. In the village, they sell 400 tickets each day that can only be purchased in person, so there were enough tickets considering that we were not there in the high season. Since we took the days as they came, we ended up staying one more night in the village after visiting Machu Picchu, before taking the train and bus back to Cusco.

In summary, I can definitely recommend doing the El Salkantay Trek without a guide. If you are a group of two or more, it's no problem to complete the trek on your own. Personally, I prefer it because then I can walk at a pace that suits me and adjust the journey along the way as I wish. However, if you prefer to go on a guided tour, it's easy to find a guide and group to join. Another alternative is also to take a day trip from Cusco to Machu Picchu – there are trains that go there every day.

Souvenir from Cusco

Cusco is a fantastic city to experience. The city has many markets where you can try local dishes and buy local goods. They have everything from paintings to hiking gear – and all at a reasonable price. Whatever we lacked in warm clothes and hiking equipment, we bought there.

I bought a lot of Peruvian salt, chocolate, and alpaca scarves that I will give as gifts to friends and family when I return home to Norway. In addition, I bought a chess set at a market where one plays Spain against the Inca Empire. The chess set was carved out of wood and painted in bright red colors. I had it with me when we hiked Salkantay, so we played quite a bit up in the mountains and at the hostels in the evenings.

Day trips from Cusco

Additionally, there are many excursions and day trips you can take from the city. We went, among other places, to Winikunka (known as the Rainbow Mountains). There we hiked a few kilometers up to the summit which is at 5036 meters above sea level – the highest point I have ever hiked to. It is recommended to stay there as briefly as possible, preferably no more than 15 minutes, as one can get sick from the altitude. Whether one is affected by the altitude is individual, so you don't know until you have been that high how your body will react to it. It is advised for everyone to drink plenty of fluids, walk slowly, and chew on coca leaves! I thought it was fun to experience how the altitude affected me.

Easter quiz and Easter egg hunt in Peru

Many may feel extra homesick during the holidays. Personally, I felt quite homesick during Christmas and New Year's Eve 2023, when I was in Central America backpacking before the semester in Buenos Aires. It's good to be aware that one can feel a bit homesick and that everyone experiences it differently. At the same time, there is something very special about experiencing how another culture celebrates the same holidays. We were in Cusco during the actual Holy Week, where they had many parades and people marching in the streets.

We brought a bit of the Norwegian Easter celebration to Peru by starting each day with a long brunch with orange, scrambled eggs, and coffee. After brunch, we always had an Easter quiz, which took us anywhere from one to four hours. We would sit at the hostel where we had an incredible view of the city. We also had two rounds of Easter egg hunts. One where we searched for bags of chocolate eggs and one where we searched for Inca Kola (the Peruvian soda). All in all, we had a good mix of Norwegian and Peruvian celebration, and I would say it's one of the nicest Easters I've had!

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