| My Trips to Peru |
| 2004 |
| March |
| June |
| August |
| December |
| 2005 |
| March |
| June |
| August |
| November |
| 2006 |
| February |
| May |
| September |
| 2007 |
| March |
| June |
Here's
a wrap up of all my trips to Peru, 14 in all. Peru is a
beautiful country which should be on everyone's list to visit at least
once. Besides Machu Picchu, South America's most
popular tourist destination, Peru has 84 of the 103 existing ecosystems
and 28 of the 32 climates on the planet, making it the most
ecologically diverse country in the world.
I first went to Peru in March of 2004 for a wedding of a good friend from college. I was one of about twenty friends and family of the groom that made the trip to Peru from the US. For most of us, it was our first time in Peru and in South America. Most of us arrived on Wednesday night for the Friday night wedding, enough time to get to know the area around the hotel and get into trouble. The same night that most of us arrived, we went out to get something to eat and had a few beers and came back to the Miraflores Park hotel and made enough noise that we cause some people to complain to the hotel and change their rooms. Welcome to Lima! After some talks the following morning by the managers, we ventured out of the hotel and discovered Larcomar, a shopping center with restaurants that is built into the side of the clif overlooking the Pacific Ocean. That night, we also headed back there and went to Aura, a huge nightclub in Larcomar, where we stayed until early the next morning. The day of the wedding, Friday, most of us relaxed at the hotel, got massages and walked around the tourist district of Lima, Miraflores.
The wedding was held at the Iglesia de Fatima church in Miraflores, within walking distance of the hotel. The ceremony was very nice and was in Spanish and English. As is customary in Peru, there was a small champagne reception at the church immediately after the wedding to greet the new couple. After that reception, there were buses to take us to the dinner and reception party at La Rosa Nautica, which is a fantastic place that is built out into the Pacific Ocean. We had a great dinner and danced to the music of a live band until about 3 am. I met a friend of Sonia's, Pili, at this reception and we made plans to see each other the following day at the beach.
The next day, we took a bus down the coast to Punta Hermosa, a little beach town where Hank and Sonia (the newlyweds) had arranged for us to have use of a beach house for the day. We walked down to the beach for a few hours, then came back where a feast had been prepared for us. It was there that I had my first taste of Anticuchos, which are grilled, skewered cow hearts. As weird as that may sound to someone who has never tried them, they are very tasty and I had about six before I even found out what they were. That night, we headed to a place in Lima that showcases some dances from all areas of Peru, which was one of the best nights we had there. The highlight for me was the Scissor Dance (Danza De Las Tijeras) where performers use scissors as instruments as they dance. Towards the end of the night, everyone is invited up on the stage to dance along with the performers.
After the wedding, I had planned on heading back home on Sunday, but instead Pili and I decided to join Hank and Sonia on thiner honeymoon, which was actually a trip up the Northern coast of Peru, with everyone invited who could make the trip. Pili was able to get off work that week and I was able to extend my plane ticket for an extra week, so we decided to join them. We rented a car and were joined by two other couples in another car, along with three surfboards.
We drove up the Pan
American Highway for four days,
stopping along the way at
Tortugas, Trujillo, Chimbote, Chicama, the ruins of Sipan and Chan Chan
and Chiclayo. Chicama is a small beach town and is
known for
having the longest left breaking wave in the world. Trujillo
is Peru's second biggest city, but we did not have the time to stop and
explore. Outside of Chimbote, we all had dinner at
an Italian
restaurant where Hank knew the owner and she opened early just for
us. Before this trip, I had no idea that the coast of Peru
was desert and was quite shocked when we left Lima and started driving
up the coast. On one side of you is desert as far as you can
see and on the other side is the ocean. Lima is the second
largest desert city in the world; Cairo, Egypt being the biggest.
While Hank and Sonia were going as far as Máncora, Pili and decided to head back to Lima from Chiclayo as I had to head home in three days. Hank, Sonia and the other car headed up to Máncora to do some surfing and Pili and I decided to take a taxi from Chiclayo to a beach town named Pimintel for the night. Before we left for Pimintel, we bought two first class tickets (for only about $25! ea.) on a "buscama" (bed bus) back to Lima for the following night. The buscamas are quite popular in Peru, but we have no equivalent of the them here in the United States, so I was not sure what to expect.
The following night, our bus left at 10 PM and I was very pleasantly surprised! The bus was treated more like an airplane than a regular bus ride. You go through security and you are required to give up your cell phone before you board the bus. They do this to avoid people on
the bus calling to
let thieves know the
exact location of the bus. The bus was not only the biggest
bus I had ever been on, but easily the nicest. The bus was a
double decker, with the first class section on the bottom.
The seats were only three across, two on one side of the aisle and one
on the other. The seats were like lazy boy recliners and
reclined almost all the way back and there was a tray on the seat in
front of you. The bus had two "stewardesses" that served
dinner and drinks and a small breakfast in the morning. We
also got to see a couple of movies in English with Spanish
subtitles. The bus stopped just once to refuel, but no one
was
allowed off. Our cell phones were returned to us about an
hour outside of Lima and we arrived just after sunrise. Pili
and I spent the day relaxing at her house and my flight left that
evening.
Pili was to come here in June of 2004, but the immigration department in Atlanta had different plans for her. After Pili got kicked out of the US, I had decided to go back down to Peru, as I had planned on taking some time off anyway while she was here. Pili had bought some plane tickets to Arequipa, where her brother and his family were living, and then back from Cusco so we could see some more of Peru.
Before we left for Arequipa, we got a tour of a submarine on Lima's Naval base in Callao, as Pili's father is retired from the Peruvian Navy. We also walked around much of downtown Lima, including going back to Larco Mar and I got my first taste of Ovalo Gutiérrez. This is one of the biggest roundabouts in Lima and is probably the most dangerous intersection I've ever seen in my life. It is a three
lane roundabout, but
I'm not sure
why there are lines painted on it, because they are entirely irrelevant
to anyone using it. It is a circle that is fed by five major
roads and everyone using it will pretty much take the shortest distance
between the two points between which they are going. For
example, if you're coming from road #1 and want to go to #3, sure you
could enter the circle and make your way around on the outside, but why
not save three seconds and cross all three lanes, hug the center of the
circle, then cross all three lanes again, making more of a straight
line than a circle? I stood there for a good ten minutes
waiting to see an accident happen and to my amazement, none
did. In fact, I have never seen an accident there to this
day, despite the cars coming inches from each other as the dart across
the roundabout.
We took LAN Peru's night flight to Arequipa and were greeted at the airport by Pili's brother, Alfredo; his wife, Rochi and their son Joaquin. We spent the next day being shown around Arequipa by Alfredo and his wife. The city of Arequipa is almost entirely built from this white volcanic rock that surrounds the area and it makes for a beautiful city, giving it its nickname "La Ciudad Blanca". In the plaza de armas (city center), you can buy bags of bird seed for a few cents and have the pigeons eat right out of your hand. On the second day, we signed up for a guided tour of Arequipa and its surroundings. Arequipa is surrounded by three volcanoes, Misti (still active), Chachani and Pichu Pichu and we got a good view of all three, along with learning the history of Arequipa.
On the third day, we took Joaquin to a zoo, then went for a ride toward one of the volcanoes, which seem a lot closer to the city than they are. We stopped to eat some Picarones, which are a Peruvian desert made from pumpkin but are similar to a funnel cake. We bought them from an old woman who looked like she hadn't washed her hands since Clinton was in office, but we decided to give it a go anyway. After we had paid, we had expected her to put them on a plate for us using tongs or a napkin to hold them. Instead, she grabbed and served them to us with her hands. Mmmmmmmmmm. Well at that point, there is no way to say "thanks, but no thanks" so we just smiled and ate them. I'm still alive to write this post so I suppose that its true what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. On the way back, we stopped at a little farm that had horses and we took a quick horse ride. That night, we left on an overnight bus to Cusco.
The bus from Arequipa to Cusco wasn't as nice as the buscama that we had been on in March. The bus was nice and comfortable, but the seats didn't go back as far and there was no first class option this time. The 12 hour route between these two cities is almost entirely through the mountains and the bus did not stop turning all night, making it very hard to sleep. In addition, our bus drivers thought it would be a good idea to pick up riders for cash at different points in the trip between one and three AM. The fact that the bus was full didn't deter them, so for a good portion of the trip, we had some creepy people sitting and/or standing next to us in the aisle of the bus. We arrived in Cusco just after sunrise.
We were met by Sonia's uncle, Jorge, who was just starting a hostel in Cusco and was happy to help us getting around Cusco. We had met Jorge at their wedding in March, so we recognized him right away. We stayed at his hostel, which was a nice little bed and breakfast type place. As is customary in Cusco, we were greeted at the hotel with a cup of coca tea, which helps with altitude sickness, as Cusco is over 3,000 meters above sea level. The next day, we took the obligatory Cusco city tour, which pretty much all tourists take. There is a shuttle bus system where you can hop on and off anywhere you like (with about 15 stops) and most entrance fees are paid for.
For me, the highlight of the tour was Sacsayhuamán, which is a set of ruins that were also built
by the
Incas.
Sacsayhuamán is just incredible to walk around. It
consists of these huge stone walls that fit together perfectly and
there was not a drop of concrete used to hold them together.
The stones are perfectly shaped to fit around each other, so perfect
that you can not slide even a piece of paper between the
cracks. Archaeologists have no idea how these rocks came to
be at this place, nor what kind of equipment was used to build it, as
some of the walls are over 20 feet high. That night, with
Jorge's help, we negotiated a tour to Machu Picchu for the following
morning to leave at 6 AM.
Typically, you can take a train the whole way from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (the town closest to Machu Picchu), but because there was some issue with part of the rail line, we needed to take a small bus to a town called Ollantaytambo. From there, we boarded the train to Aguas Calientes, which follows a river for almost the entire three hour journey. Upon arrival, just about everyone boards shuttle buses which take you to the base of Machu Picchu. The buses are run by different tour outfits, but they don't seem to mind who your ticket is through and instead just fill the buses one at a time and send them up the zig-zag road which climbs the mountain. There is also a trail up the side of the mountain if you prefer to hike.
We finally entered Machu Picchu at about 11 AM and took a two hour guided tour in English, which was very nice. After the tour, you are allowed to stay and explore the ruins for however long you like, so we walked around for
another
two hours. We
got to see up close the running water, which the Incas had when they
lived there and got chased by some Llamas. When we left Cusco
it was just above freezing and by now it was very warm, as it
was
in
the middle of the day and we were quite a bit lower in
altitude. We had some lunch back in Aguas Calientes and
caught the train back to Ollantaytambo at about 5
PM. If we ever go back to Machu Picchu, I
think we'll stay the night in Aguas, as it looks like a really
cool little
town, which as far as I could tell is only accessible by the railway
(most people, however, opt to do Machu Picchu all in one
day). We arrived back in Cusco around 9 PM, went
out for dinner then found a cool bar called Club eXtreme, which had a
bartender that was pretty skilled at throwing around the bottles.
The next day, we met some of Pili's friends for lunch, whom she had met on her flight back from Atlanta. We walked around Cusco a little more, then headed back to Club eXtreme that night after dinner. There was a parade that had started that afternoon and was apparently still going on well past midnight, though not as organized as when it started. Our flight back to Lima left the next morning and I flew back home the following day.
I went back to Peru in August to visit Pili again. This time, we decided to go to a spot in the Lima province called Cieneguilla, which is known for its warm weather year round and its hotel resorts. It is only 45 minutes outside of Lima, but is higher up in the mountains, so the weather is a little warmer and the sky is always blue. The main road through Cieneguilla is dotted with these very nice resorts, which usually feature a 12-15 room hotel a pool and a large eating area. Pili chose one called the Palermo for us and we rented a car to get there and have while we were there. I got my first taste of driving in Lima on this trip, which wasn't so bad as it was a long weekend in Peru and the roads were not too busy.
We decided to get a package for the weekend which included all of our meals. This sounded like a great idea at the time, but after the second day's lunch, we were too full to eat the rest of the weekend! We had ordered a "Pachamanca for two" special, which was probably enough food for a family of four. Pachamanca is a method of cooking food underground for hours which typically consists of several types of meat, chicken, tamales and potatoes. We basically spent the entire weekend eating and laying around by the pool.
I spent the rest of
the week getting to know Lima a little better and
exploring the area of Monterrico, including Jockey Plaza, which was the
first shopping mall in Lima. We also took a trip to downtown
Lima and walked around Chinatown, where I got my first taste of a
Perivian "chifa" (Chinese restaurant) and learned that in Peru, Chinese
food isn't really Chinese food with out a two liter bottle of Inka Cola
for everyone to share. Peruvians love Chinese food and Lima
alone boasts over 4,000 chifas.
Later that week, we went to a restaurant recommended by Pili's father called "Astrid y Gaston", which I had never heard of before. We did not really know what to expect, since it was our first time, but Pili had heard very good things about it. I can honestly say that it was one of the best meals we have ever had. Everything about this place is incredible, from the service to the drinks to the presentation to the amazing food. Astrid & Gaston was ranked #74 on the list of the 100 best restaurants in the world by Restaurant Magazine in 2006. Not too shabby. When the bill came, I was positive that it was in dollars, not soles, because I could not believe it was right - we left the restaurant paying about $70 for the meals, drinks and dessert. I felt like I had just robbed the place.
We went to celebrate Pili's friend, Cecila's, birthday at a bar called Huaringas in Miraflores the day before I left Lima. With the pisco sours and algarrobinas flowing, we were there until past midnight and I had a 6 AM flight. That was the last time for a long time that I took an early AM flight from Lima. Ouch.
Click here to see pictures from this trip
March
2004
I first went to Peru in March of 2004 for a wedding of a good friend from college. I was one of about twenty friends and family of the groom that made the trip to Peru from the US. For most of us, it was our first time in Peru and in South America. Most of us arrived on Wednesday night for the Friday night wedding, enough time to get to know the area around the hotel and get into trouble. The same night that most of us arrived, we went out to get something to eat and had a few beers and came back to the Miraflores Park hotel and made enough noise that we cause some people to complain to the hotel and change their rooms. Welcome to Lima! After some talks the following morning by the managers, we ventured out of the hotel and discovered Larcomar, a shopping center with restaurants that is built into the side of the clif overlooking the Pacific Ocean. That night, we also headed back there and went to Aura, a huge nightclub in Larcomar, where we stayed until early the next morning. The day of the wedding, Friday, most of us relaxed at the hotel, got massages and walked around the tourist district of Lima, Miraflores.
The wedding was held at the Iglesia de Fatima church in Miraflores, within walking distance of the hotel. The ceremony was very nice and was in Spanish and English. As is customary in Peru, there was a small champagne reception at the church immediately after the wedding to greet the new couple. After that reception, there were buses to take us to the dinner and reception party at La Rosa Nautica, which is a fantastic place that is built out into the Pacific Ocean. We had a great dinner and danced to the music of a live band until about 3 am. I met a friend of Sonia's, Pili, at this reception and we made plans to see each other the following day at the beach.
The next day, we took a bus down the coast to Punta Hermosa, a little beach town where Hank and Sonia (the newlyweds) had arranged for us to have use of a beach house for the day. We walked down to the beach for a few hours, then came back where a feast had been prepared for us. It was there that I had my first taste of Anticuchos, which are grilled, skewered cow hearts. As weird as that may sound to someone who has never tried them, they are very tasty and I had about six before I even found out what they were. That night, we headed to a place in Lima that showcases some dances from all areas of Peru, which was one of the best nights we had there. The highlight for me was the Scissor Dance (Danza De Las Tijeras) where performers use scissors as instruments as they dance. Towards the end of the night, everyone is invited up on the stage to dance along with the performers.
After the wedding, I had planned on heading back home on Sunday, but instead Pili and I decided to join Hank and Sonia on thiner honeymoon, which was actually a trip up the Northern coast of Peru, with everyone invited who could make the trip. Pili was able to get off work that week and I was able to extend my plane ticket for an extra week, so we decided to join them. We rented a car and were joined by two other couples in another car, along with three surfboards.
We drove up the Pan
American Highway for four days,
stopping along the way at
Tortugas, Trujillo, Chimbote, Chicama, the ruins of Sipan and Chan Chan
and Chiclayo. Chicama is a small beach town and is
known for
having the longest left breaking wave in the world. Trujillo
is Peru's second biggest city, but we did not have the time to stop and
explore. Outside of Chimbote, we all had dinner at
an Italian
restaurant where Hank knew the owner and she opened early just for
us. Before this trip, I had no idea that the coast of Peru
was desert and was quite shocked when we left Lima and started driving
up the coast. On one side of you is desert as far as you can
see and on the other side is the ocean. Lima is the second
largest desert city in the world; Cairo, Egypt being the biggest.While Hank and Sonia were going as far as Máncora, Pili and decided to head back to Lima from Chiclayo as I had to head home in three days. Hank, Sonia and the other car headed up to Máncora to do some surfing and Pili and I decided to take a taxi from Chiclayo to a beach town named Pimintel for the night. Before we left for Pimintel, we bought two first class tickets (for only about $25! ea.) on a "buscama" (bed bus) back to Lima for the following night. The buscamas are quite popular in Peru, but we have no equivalent of the them here in the United States, so I was not sure what to expect.
The following night, our bus left at 10 PM and I was very pleasantly surprised! The bus was treated more like an airplane than a regular bus ride. You go through security and you are required to give up your cell phone before you board the bus. They do this to avoid people on
the bus calling to
let thieves know the
exact location of the bus. The bus was not only the biggest
bus I had ever been on, but easily the nicest. The bus was a
double decker, with the first class section on the bottom.
The seats were only three across, two on one side of the aisle and one
on the other. The seats were like lazy boy recliners and
reclined almost all the way back and there was a tray on the seat in
front of you. The bus had two "stewardesses" that served
dinner and drinks and a small breakfast in the morning. We
also got to see a couple of movies in English with Spanish
subtitles. The bus stopped just once to refuel, but no one
was
allowed off. Our cell phones were returned to us about an
hour outside of Lima and we arrived just after sunrise. Pili
and I spent the day relaxing at her house and my flight left that
evening. Click
here
to see
pictures from this trip
Pili was to come here in June of 2004, but the immigration department in Atlanta had different plans for her. After Pili got kicked out of the US, I had decided to go back down to Peru, as I had planned on taking some time off anyway while she was here. Pili had bought some plane tickets to Arequipa, where her brother and his family were living, and then back from Cusco so we could see some more of Peru.
Before we left for Arequipa, we got a tour of a submarine on Lima's Naval base in Callao, as Pili's father is retired from the Peruvian Navy. We also walked around much of downtown Lima, including going back to Larco Mar and I got my first taste of Ovalo Gutiérrez. This is one of the biggest roundabouts in Lima and is probably the most dangerous intersection I've ever seen in my life. It is a three
lane roundabout, but
I'm not sure
why there are lines painted on it, because they are entirely irrelevant
to anyone using it. It is a circle that is fed by five major
roads and everyone using it will pretty much take the shortest distance
between the two points between which they are going. For
example, if you're coming from road #1 and want to go to #3, sure you
could enter the circle and make your way around on the outside, but why
not save three seconds and cross all three lanes, hug the center of the
circle, then cross all three lanes again, making more of a straight
line than a circle? I stood there for a good ten minutes
waiting to see an accident happen and to my amazement, none
did. In fact, I have never seen an accident there to this
day, despite the cars coming inches from each other as the dart across
the roundabout.We took LAN Peru's night flight to Arequipa and were greeted at the airport by Pili's brother, Alfredo; his wife, Rochi and their son Joaquin. We spent the next day being shown around Arequipa by Alfredo and his wife. The city of Arequipa is almost entirely built from this white volcanic rock that surrounds the area and it makes for a beautiful city, giving it its nickname "La Ciudad Blanca". In the plaza de armas (city center), you can buy bags of bird seed for a few cents and have the pigeons eat right out of your hand. On the second day, we signed up for a guided tour of Arequipa and its surroundings. Arequipa is surrounded by three volcanoes, Misti (still active), Chachani and Pichu Pichu and we got a good view of all three, along with learning the history of Arequipa.
On the third day, we took Joaquin to a zoo, then went for a ride toward one of the volcanoes, which seem a lot closer to the city than they are. We stopped to eat some Picarones, which are a Peruvian desert made from pumpkin but are similar to a funnel cake. We bought them from an old woman who looked like she hadn't washed her hands since Clinton was in office, but we decided to give it a go anyway. After we had paid, we had expected her to put them on a plate for us using tongs or a napkin to hold them. Instead, she grabbed and served them to us with her hands. Mmmmmmmmmm. Well at that point, there is no way to say "thanks, but no thanks" so we just smiled and ate them. I'm still alive to write this post so I suppose that its true what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. On the way back, we stopped at a little farm that had horses and we took a quick horse ride. That night, we left on an overnight bus to Cusco.
The bus from Arequipa to Cusco wasn't as nice as the buscama that we had been on in March. The bus was nice and comfortable, but the seats didn't go back as far and there was no first class option this time. The 12 hour route between these two cities is almost entirely through the mountains and the bus did not stop turning all night, making it very hard to sleep. In addition, our bus drivers thought it would be a good idea to pick up riders for cash at different points in the trip between one and three AM. The fact that the bus was full didn't deter them, so for a good portion of the trip, we had some creepy people sitting and/or standing next to us in the aisle of the bus. We arrived in Cusco just after sunrise.
We were met by Sonia's uncle, Jorge, who was just starting a hostel in Cusco and was happy to help us getting around Cusco. We had met Jorge at their wedding in March, so we recognized him right away. We stayed at his hostel, which was a nice little bed and breakfast type place. As is customary in Cusco, we were greeted at the hotel with a cup of coca tea, which helps with altitude sickness, as Cusco is over 3,000 meters above sea level. The next day, we took the obligatory Cusco city tour, which pretty much all tourists take. There is a shuttle bus system where you can hop on and off anywhere you like (with about 15 stops) and most entrance fees are paid for.
For me, the highlight of the tour was Sacsayhuamán, which is a set of ruins that were also built
by the
Incas.
Sacsayhuamán is just incredible to walk around. It
consists of these huge stone walls that fit together perfectly and
there was not a drop of concrete used to hold them together.
The stones are perfectly shaped to fit around each other, so perfect
that you can not slide even a piece of paper between the
cracks. Archaeologists have no idea how these rocks came to
be at this place, nor what kind of equipment was used to build it, as
some of the walls are over 20 feet high. That night, with
Jorge's help, we negotiated a tour to Machu Picchu for the following
morning to leave at 6 AM.Typically, you can take a train the whole way from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (the town closest to Machu Picchu), but because there was some issue with part of the rail line, we needed to take a small bus to a town called Ollantaytambo. From there, we boarded the train to Aguas Calientes, which follows a river for almost the entire three hour journey. Upon arrival, just about everyone boards shuttle buses which take you to the base of Machu Picchu. The buses are run by different tour outfits, but they don't seem to mind who your ticket is through and instead just fill the buses one at a time and send them up the zig-zag road which climbs the mountain. There is also a trail up the side of the mountain if you prefer to hike.
We finally entered Machu Picchu at about 11 AM and took a two hour guided tour in English, which was very nice. After the tour, you are allowed to stay and explore the ruins for however long you like, so we walked around for
another
two hours. We
got to see up close the running water, which the Incas had when they
lived there and got chased by some Llamas. When we left Cusco
it was just above freezing and by now it was very warm, as it
was
in
the middle of the day and we were quite a bit lower in
altitude. We had some lunch back in Aguas Calientes and
caught the train back to Ollantaytambo at about 5
PM. If we ever go back to Machu Picchu, I
think we'll stay the night in Aguas, as it looks like a really
cool little
town, which as far as I could tell is only accessible by the railway
(most people, however, opt to do Machu Picchu all in one
day). We arrived back in Cusco around 9 PM, went
out for dinner then found a cool bar called Club eXtreme, which had a
bartender that was pretty skilled at throwing around the bottles.The next day, we met some of Pili's friends for lunch, whom she had met on her flight back from Atlanta. We walked around Cusco a little more, then headed back to Club eXtreme that night after dinner. There was a parade that had started that afternoon and was apparently still going on well past midnight, though not as organized as when it started. Our flight back to Lima left the next morning and I flew back home the following day.
Click
here
to see
pictures from this trip
I went back to Peru in August to visit Pili again. This time, we decided to go to a spot in the Lima province called Cieneguilla, which is known for its warm weather year round and its hotel resorts. It is only 45 minutes outside of Lima, but is higher up in the mountains, so the weather is a little warmer and the sky is always blue. The main road through Cieneguilla is dotted with these very nice resorts, which usually feature a 12-15 room hotel a pool and a large eating area. Pili chose one called the Palermo for us and we rented a car to get there and have while we were there. I got my first taste of driving in Lima on this trip, which wasn't so bad as it was a long weekend in Peru and the roads were not too busy.
We decided to get a package for the weekend which included all of our meals. This sounded like a great idea at the time, but after the second day's lunch, we were too full to eat the rest of the weekend! We had ordered a "Pachamanca for two" special, which was probably enough food for a family of four. Pachamanca is a method of cooking food underground for hours which typically consists of several types of meat, chicken, tamales and potatoes. We basically spent the entire weekend eating and laying around by the pool.
I spent the rest of
the week getting to know Lima a little better and
exploring the area of Monterrico, including Jockey Plaza, which was the
first shopping mall in Lima. We also took a trip to downtown
Lima and walked around Chinatown, where I got my first taste of a
Perivian "chifa" (Chinese restaurant) and learned that in Peru, Chinese
food isn't really Chinese food with out a two liter bottle of Inka Cola
for everyone to share. Peruvians love Chinese food and Lima
alone boasts over 4,000 chifas.Later that week, we went to a restaurant recommended by Pili's father called "Astrid y Gaston", which I had never heard of before. We did not really know what to expect, since it was our first time, but Pili had heard very good things about it. I can honestly say that it was one of the best meals we have ever had. Everything about this place is incredible, from the service to the drinks to the presentation to the amazing food. Astrid & Gaston was ranked #74 on the list of the 100 best restaurants in the world by Restaurant Magazine in 2006. Not too shabby. When the bill came, I was positive that it was in dollars, not soles, because I could not believe it was right - we left the restaurant paying about $70 for the meals, drinks and dessert. I felt like I had just robbed the place.
We went to celebrate Pili's friend, Cecila's, birthday at a bar called Huaringas in Miraflores the day before I left Lima. With the pisco sours and algarrobinas flowing, we were there until past midnight and I had a 6 AM flight. That was the last time for a long time that I took an early AM flight from Lima. Ouch.
Click here to see pictures from this trip
I
left for Lima on Christmas day, from
Philadelphia, PA, where I had spent Christmas with my parents and Rick,
who was also home for the holidays. I flew from Philly to
Dallas-Fort Worth, then took the now defunct American Airlines flight
from Dallas to Lima, arriving just before midnight. Pili and
I
exchanged gifts that night, then turned in. That week, we
met up
with Sonia's parents, whom I had met in March, who showed us around
Lima and treated us to a nice fish lunch at a little restaurant in
Lima.
Later that week, Pili and I returned to Astrid y Gaston for a nice dinner before we left to go north for new years. I had bought an engagement ring which I had planned on somehow sneaking on to the desert when the brought it to our table, but we were both too full to order desert! So, instead we took a walk down to Larcomar and I proposed to her in a shopping center instead - how romantic! Actually, it was a very nice night and we had a great view of the ocean, so it wasn't so bad. We celebrated with some champagne and Pili called her parents to tell them the news (I already let my parents know before I left...).
The next day, we rented a car and headed up north to Ancon beach, with
Sonia's uncle, Esteban. Esteban lives in Canada and was also
in
Lima for the holidays and was looking to hit the beach for a few days.
Ancon is a private beach for the Peruvian Navy and is divided
into two sections, a hotel side and a camping side, seperated by a
large hill. We decided to stay on the camping side because it
was
a lot cheaper and we thought it would be more fun. They had
taken a soccer field and sectioned it off into about 30 or so squares,
and unfortunatley we were just about right in the middle. We
brought lots of food and a grill and cooked out most of our meals,
which were delicious.
On new years eve, we walked across the hill to the hotel side of the beach, which is where the new year's dinner and drinks were. We had a great time there and met some of Pili's old friends until we left about 2 am. When we returned there were people still partying about ten feet from our tent. Around 4 am, we asked them to turn their music down, but they didn't like that idea too much. Pili and I didn't get too much sleep that night as it was about 90 degrees in the tent and we had the soothing sounds of loud reggaeton blasting from a boom box until past sunrise. We decided to just head back to Lima that day and left around noon.
Later that week, Pili took us to a great bar that she had found a while back called Time Out. It is a American themed sports bar, with sports memorabilia from all over the world and satellite broadcasts of NFL games. We went on Sunday to see the Green Bay-Chicago game, which they were happy to put on for us. Time Out also has a off track betting office which must be very lucrative for them because we were usually the only people in the place.
Later that week, Pili and I returned to Astrid y Gaston for a nice dinner before we left to go north for new years. I had bought an engagement ring which I had planned on somehow sneaking on to the desert when the brought it to our table, but we were both too full to order desert! So, instead we took a walk down to Larcomar and I proposed to her in a shopping center instead - how romantic! Actually, it was a very nice night and we had a great view of the ocean, so it wasn't so bad. We celebrated with some champagne and Pili called her parents to tell them the news (I already let my parents know before I left...).
The next day, we rented a car and headed up north to Ancon beach, with
Sonia's uncle, Esteban. Esteban lives in Canada and was also
in
Lima for the holidays and was looking to hit the beach for a few days.
Ancon is a private beach for the Peruvian Navy and is divided
into two sections, a hotel side and a camping side, seperated by a
large hill. We decided to stay on the camping side because it
was
a lot cheaper and we thought it would be more fun. They had
taken a soccer field and sectioned it off into about 30 or so squares,
and unfortunatley we were just about right in the middle. We
brought lots of food and a grill and cooked out most of our meals,
which were delicious.On new years eve, we walked across the hill to the hotel side of the beach, which is where the new year's dinner and drinks were. We had a great time there and met some of Pili's old friends until we left about 2 am. When we returned there were people still partying about ten feet from our tent. Around 4 am, we asked them to turn their music down, but they didn't like that idea too much. Pili and I didn't get too much sleep that night as it was about 90 degrees in the tent and we had the soothing sounds of loud reggaeton blasting from a boom box until past sunrise. We decided to just head back to Lima that day and left around noon.
Later that week, Pili took us to a great bar that she had found a while back called Time Out. It is a American themed sports bar, with sports memorabilia from all over the world and satellite broadcasts of NFL games. We went on Sunday to see the Green Bay-Chicago game, which they were happy to put on for us. Time Out also has a off track betting office which must be very lucrative for them because we were usually the only people in the place.
