The sun is rising over a brand new year, and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank y'all for skipping along with us over the past 12 months. What a jolly good lot you are! It's been one helluva fun time, and we hope that it will continue (with you by our side) into 2015.

Perhaps we could start the year off with a quick jaunt to Peru? The South American nation is packed with fascinating things to see, eat and do – just ask Haleigh Walsworth, if you don't want to take our word for it. The well-travelled lass recently hopped on a plane to pay Peru a visit, and got a little bit snap-happy while she was at it. We think her pics are pretty spesh, and she was kind enough to give us a rundown of her trip, too.



Tell us how you ended up in Peru. My family wanted to do something out of the ordinary for Thanksgiving, and decided to take a trip together. We were all feeling a bit adventurous and finally settled on Peru, which was on everyone's bucket list. We had heard about friends' amazing experiences and wanted to experience it for ourselves.

What was the first thing you noticed about the country? The altitude. We started in Cusco, which was a real shock for a sea level-dweller like me. At first it seemed bleak, and extremely exotic. I've been through the Middle East and Asia, but I think arriving in Cusco made the strongest impression on me yet, in terms of feeling very foreign.



Which parts of the country did you travel through? We started in Cusco, which is quite a large city for Peru and high up in the Andes at 12,000 feet. After Cusco and some neighbouring Incan ruins, we worked our way down into the Sacred Valley and stayed in Urubamba for several days. From Urubamba you have to take the train along the Inca trail, descending in altitude through the mountains and into the cloud forest to Machu Pichu, which is not far from the Amazon. We completed our trip in the capital in Lima where we were happy to discover a modern side of Peru, too.

What do you remember about the landscapes of Peru? The highs and lows, from intensely steep mountains to flat green valleys. Overall though, its mystical feel. Especially in the cloud forest, sometimes called the high jungle, at Machu Pichu. It was damp, cool, misty and lush. Strange and beautiful all at once.



What were the people like? Honestly, really amazing. Everyone I encountered on my travels was really proud of being Peruvian and eager to help us discover the country, even off the beaten path. We visited a tiny village (one hour drive on a dirt road into the Andes) to see a local Quechuan school where the residents were not at all accustomed to tourists. Even there everyone was welcoming and curious, including the children. People were very hospitable. My family speaks both English and Spanish, and in both languages people were eager to share with us big stories about national history, or little stories that offered just as much, like how their grandfather in the town used the local herbs for teas.



Did you eat any interesting cuisine while you were there? In the mountains I tried cui, which is basically a guinea pig and tastes like chicken. My favorite though was trying Amazonian cuisine at Àmaz in Lima, where we ate gigantic jungle snails with tapioca, and paiche, which is a huge river fish native to the Amazon. Everything was delicious. Peru's varying geography allows it to have some of the most diverse cuisine in the world. The local market in Cusco was perhaps the most exotic place I have ever been. Animal heads hanging everywhere and locals finding a way to cook up every last part of a carcass was fascinating.



What were you trying to capture in your photos? I really wanted to capture Peru in a way that I felt was timeless and romantic. I wanted to snap all the good clichés that come to mind with it, as well some personal moments stopped in time that are a big nostalgic.



Tell us about the colours of the country. Up top, blue skies and white puffy clouds. On the horizon, beautiful red dirt mountains, sometimes capped in snow white. And around and below you, bright lush green with occasional tiny flowers in pink and orange. Peru is so colourful! Each village even has a unique pattern that everyone uses, from the weave of their clothes to the blankets they sleep on.



What was the main thing you took about from your trip to Peru? Firstly, that Peru is such a fascinating country with so much worth discovering, most predominantly its history, nature and food. Secondly, I took away with me a new appetite to discover more of South America, although it is hard to imagine topping my experience in Peru.



If you fancy taste-testing some guinea pig or hiking through the Andes, Geckos Adventures have a bunch of handy-dandy tours.