The Colors of Peru

Upon arrival to Peru, the plethora of colors stood out to me. From markets to flowers to food, this country excels in adding red or yellow or any shade to everyday items.

Growing up in a small town can make it difficult to adjust to big cities, especially ones that are full of 10 million people, which is precisely the size of Lima. We spent most of our time in Lima in Miraflores, an upscale district, where the coast meets the big city. This beautiful rainbow wall was on the path to the Pacific Ocean.

Also in Lima was the Larco Museum, a institute focused on the Inca, Huari, and Lima peoples. It was very fascinating to see all the relics and their garden was exceptional. I enjoyed photographing the many plants.

After two days we flew to Cuzco, the capital of the Incas. Here, two flags are often flown: the Peruvian (red and white) flag and the Incan flag, which is seen above.

Nearly everywhere in Peru has street murals. I adored all of them, especially this long chain of them that we passed on our way to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It depicted much of the history and culture of the nation.

If you ever travel to Peru, you will find these everywhere. They are called toritos and they are often on top of houses to provide good luck for the family. They come in all sorts of colors; I bought a gold one and a blue one to bring home.

These two birds were lingering outside of the Pablo Seminario pottery workshop we visited to make tiles and understand Peruvian art. The blue one could speak and grumbled a few “hola”s for us as we passed by. I had never seen a talking bird before and I was very excited to find one.

This view from the Sun Gate on Machu Picchu was absolutely amazing. I have never been in a more beautiful place. The yellow blanket that I carried was bought in a market in Lima.

Markets are everywhere in Peru. This one was very close to our hotel in Ollantaytambo. This place was my favorite out of all the places we stayed in. It was small and welcoming, and the people were absolutely exceptional.

This is Tin Tin, our marvelous tour guide in Peruvian women’s clothing on Uros Island. He is a fantastic person and guide and made the trip the best it could possibly be. We could not have gotten a better person to be with on this journey.

This little girl was with us on the Mercedes Benz boat (their nicest reed boat, hence the name), and spent the time in the sun, playing with her older brother. I absolutely adored this family; they were so gracious and kind to us. They were completely patient with our Spanish too!

This was one of the beautiful textiles I purchased in Peru! Its made of alpaca and is incredibly soft. The lake behind me is by Sillusitani, an old Incan burial ground. This was also the last site we saw in Peru and I was sad to be leaving such a beautiful place!

I’m sure I will stress this over and over again throughout these posts but honestly, Peru and its colors are just so stunning.