Travel Diary: Vacationing in Peru | September 2018

 

One norm that I’ve set for myself is to get out of my comfort zone by vacationing in places I’ve never been before – even more bonus points for if it’s outside the US. Cesar and I booked our fall vacation to Peru wayyy back in April, and it was really fun (and sometimes torturous) anticipating this trip.

 

We vacationed from Friday 9/21 to Saturday 9/28, and I’m excited to share my travel diary with you now. Long post (mostly about food) ahead!

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We flew Tame Airlines from New York (JFK) to Quito, Ecuador (we had a 2.5 hour layover) then made our way to Lima. We did NOT have a good experience with Tame Airlines but will be writing a separate post reviewing the airlines because I think it’s important to warn other travelers about the poor quality we experienced.

 

We were only staying the night in Lima before flying to Cusco, so we found a small bed ‘n breakfast to crash at that wasn’t too far away from the airport but also not right next to the airport (the neighborhoods right next to the Lima airport aren’t great).

Our host made us breakfast, which consisted of eggs with toast and coffee. After eating, we had a few hours to spend before going back to the airport so we took a walk in the neighborhood and found a local supermarket. There, Cesar got an international SIM card from a company called bitel (it was 5 sol, which is less than $2 US) which gave him a Peruvian phone number, and he was able to use the internet, social media and navigation apps all throughout our vacation. We also bought altitude sickness pills at the pharmacy.

 

One hilarious thing that happened to us was when we were walking back to the bed ‘n breakfast, it sounded like a policeman was speaking across a megaphone, and it ended up being a local driving around the neighborhood in a cart selling fresh pineapples. When he saw Cesar with his phone out (taking a video – classic Cesar), he turned onto the street we were on and was basically heckling Cesar to buy some pineapple. Seriously hysterical. 

 

That afternoon, we flew to Cusco and taxied to our hostel, Pariwanna. By that time, I was so ready to be on the ground and done with flying for a bit. While thankful to be on the ground, Cesar and I were both instantly hit with being out of breath very easily. In Lima, the elevation is about 5,100 ft., but in Cusco, the elevation is nearly 11,200 feet high – incredibly high up. When planning our trip, we were told to spend a few days in Cusco before hiking Machu Picchu because Cusco is actually higher than the mountain you hike, so we did as we were advised, but man, we struggled with the high altitude all the days we were there. We treated ourselves to some coca tea while getting settled.

 

Cesar really wanted a hostel experience, and I really didn’t (I had my time while studying abroad). We compromised a bit by staying at a hostel in a private suite, and I’m actually really glad we did. Our room had a queen bed, cabin-like furnishing, and a totally private, updated bathroom. We had our own privacy but were able to meet other travelers and have the social aspect of being at a hostel.

 

For dinner, we went to a place that another traveler recommended to us, Bagdad Cafe, which is on Cusco’s famous Plaza De Armas. Y’all know that Cesar and I are die-hard pizza fanatics, so we thought it would be smart to try the pizza all over Peru. I was not impressed with the pizza at this restaurant – it tasted like a microwave pizza to me. We were able to admire the Plaza from our seats, and then took a walk around afterward. The biggest shock I had this day was the crazy amounts of stray dogs that were e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. Turn your head, and there’s a stray dog. We saw hundreds and hundreds of stray dogs during our time in Cusco. For the most part, they seem to be taken care of like they’re part of the community. Anyway, that night we enjoyed the rest of the evening at the hostel by partaking in happy hour and a costume party – quite festive evening.

 

Peru is well known for its textile industry, so on Sunday, we took a day trip to the town of Pisac, located in the Sacred Valley, to explore the famous textile and handcrafts market. It was quite the treat to see Inca women weaving and creating textiles right in front of you while browsing in the market – such talent and detail. We actually only brought carry-ons to Peru, so we had very limited space for souvenirs (we are trying to incorporate more of a minimalist mindset these days). I’m so thankful that Cesar speaks Spanish; he was able to talk with everyone in Peru, and at the market, he struck a deal with the merchant for two baby alpaca scarves, and they turned into my souvenirs from Peru. He got himself a Peru bottle opener that has an alpaca on the top of the bottle opener (we’re clearly not hard to please, haha).

 

We had lunch at Ulrike’s Cafe, which has a stunning view of the Sacred Valley mountains from its rooftop. Cesar enjoyed a chicha murada, which is a Peruvian drink made from purple corn (doesn’t sound tasty, but it was!). I enjoyed the daily special, which was a soup, main course, and dessert. I ordered the chicken noodle soup, aji de gallina (chicken), and apple strudel, and everything was delicious.

 

After we ate, we took a taxi back to Cusco. For a one-hour drive, Cesar again negotiated a fare of 50 sol ($1 US = 3 sol), which was about $17 US; pretty reasonable for an hour taxi drive. We rested in our room then ended up drinking White Russians at the hostel bar and played drinking games for a bit before turning in early for the night.

For me, this day was truly the highlight of the entire trip. We did so many amazing activities! Cesar coordinated an excursion for us through Eye of the Jaguar Maras, and we had a private driver come pick us up at 8am on Monday and drove us an hour into the Sacred Valley, where our excursion took place. If y’all know me, then you understand how non-thrill-seeking I am – I burned through that desire during my adolescence. LIke, I am not a fan of most carnival rides, cruise ships, bridges…just a bittt timid over here. However! I was determined to turn on my adventurous side for the day, and I’m happy to report that I did.

 

Can you guess what we did?! First, we ziplined down one of the world’s longest zip line runs, which was about 1.3 miles long with zip line speeds of 70-75 miles per hour. Before we went down, I was actually very excited to zip line, but once I saw the cliff that we were getting released off of, and after the coordinator telling us that we had to keep our mouths totally shut or risk passing out due to the high winds and lack of oxygen – my body had a fight or flight physical reaction that I myself couldn’t control – my legs turned into jello, I instantly started crying and shaking – pretty much a total mess for about 5 minutes. The poor zip lie coordinator, he was truly concerned about my well being and offered to drive me down the mountain to where the zip line ended, but I was DETERMINED to do it! Cesar helped me calm down with some deep breaths, and I told him that I needed to go down first (I didn’t want to see him do it and then back out!). Two things: I DIDN’T DIE, and I actually thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The zip line lasts for 2 full minutes, so after the first 15-20 seconds, the butterflies in my stomach went away and I just enjoyed the incredible view of the Sacred Valley farmland and mountains.

 

 

I was so happy to get to watch Cesar do it, and he was literally on Cloud 9 when he finished – he couldn’t believe I went through with it and couldn’t stop grinning and telling me how proud he was of me. He also recorded the beginning of my zip line run and his run with a Go Pro, which will be a lifelong memory that we share.

 

After ziplining, we spent 2 hours driving ATVs throughout the Sacred Valley’s countryside, where we drove past hundreds of farm animals, farmers, and stopped for the most amazing views and photos you could wish for. Our driver, Nestor took us to the Salt Flats of Maras, which are some of the most amazing works of nature that I’ve seen with my own eyes. We ended up purchasing our other set of souvenirs, which were pieces of chocolate with salt from the flats. Nestor then took us back to Cusco, and we enjoyed a light lunch at Calle del Medio, which was the nicest restaurant that we dined at in Cusco. Afterward, I was craving a smoothie, so we stopped into Los Peros Cafe and enjoyed one there (it’s a very laidback cafe that turns into a jazz lounge on the weekends). 

 

We had another early evening because the next day was our hike to Machu Picchu!

 

It’s an early morning when you’re preparing to hike Machu Picchu. We woke up at 4:15am, Nestor came to pick us at at 5am and drove us to the Peru Rail train station. We traveled 3.5 hours by train to the Machu Picchu train station. We arrived and were hungry, so we enjoyed some artisanal pizza before the hike (we had a 12-5pm entry ticket). We didn’t stuff ourselves too much – didn’t want to be uncomfortable during the hike! To get to the trail, you have to walk about 20-25 minutes from the train station/town center. While we were walking, we saw a small butterfly museum that said they offered bag storage, so we went to check it out. To my delight, when we walked inside, there was a young lady carrying a bunch of kittens in her arms (baby animals + pizza are the two ways to my heart). We ended up playing with the kittens for a bit before storing my backpack. 

 

Finally, we were ready to start the hike. Basically, you show the entrance guard your entry ticket and they tell you to follow the signs with green arrows. He told us that if we’re fast, we’d get to the top in an hour, and if we’re average paced, then we’d get to the top in about 1.5 hours. In terms of hiking outfit, I was wearing waterproof Columbia pants with a short sleeve Tek Gear shirt on and a long sleeve Tek Gear shirt on over it with tall Adidas athletic socks and Nike sneakers. It was around 60 degrees so I chose not to wear wool socks, although I did pack a pair in Cesar’s backpack. I had my hair in a low bun with aviators on and a hat.

 

The hike quickly progressed from a rolling hill climb to climbing up giant rocks. Within 5 minutes, I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest. For a moment, I deliberated about the buses at the entrance that take people up the mountain in 20 minutes and considered turning around and hopping on one, but that’s not what I came to Peru to do, so I sucked it up, started talking to myself (“I can do this, I can do this, I’m close, I’m close” became my internal self-talk mantra all the way up that mountain). Then, Mother Nature threw us a curve ball, and it started to rain about 20 minutes into our hike. At first, it was incredibly peaceful and smelled so amazing, I just soaked it all in. We were in the jungle, hiking, and were pretty covered with trees, but eventually, the rain got heavier and we both put on our rain ponchos. Afterward, the hike became slightly more challenging because all of the rocks were wet and then there were streams of muddy water coming down the rocks. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little nervewracking.

 

I had Cesar lead the way and would ask him to slow down or stop when I needed to catch my breath. Physically, my body was fine except for my lungs. I wore my FitBit, and for the entire hike, my heart rate fell between peak 160-180 bpm – gotta love the fat burn zone. Along the way, we saw a few stray mountain dogs, and I even saved one from a giant bus that was coming around the way (Cesar thinks he would’ve moved without me there, but I like to think I helped him out a bit). On one of my 2-minute breath breaks, we captured some of the most beautiful photos of the mountains and jungle that I know we’ll treasure forever – rainfall and all.

 

Drenched, out of breath, and ready to sit down for the next 5 years, we finally made it to the entrance of Machu Picchu. It took hardly no time to get into the ruins, and we truly enjoyed ourselves with taking in the views, getting photos, admiring the architectural design, and getting up close ‘n personal with the resident lamas and alpacas that live there. The sense of accomplishment that I felt made every single short breath coming up the mountain worth it. After hundreds of photos and truly soaking in the sights, we exited the ruins and went to the snack bar that’s near the entrance. They didn’t have much, but they did have a few desserts, and Cesar and I could use the calories after the hike we did, so we shared a tiramisu (omigoodness, it was some of the best tiramisu I’ve ever had, hands down!) then got in line to take the bus down the mountain. 

 

Once we were back down, we went and picked up my backpack and then ventured to Toto’s House for dinner. I had a pasta dish with zucchini and shredded mozzarella while Cesar had a class Peruvian dish with meat and potatoes. After dinner, we went to the Inca Rail ticket counter to make sure we were checked into our train back, and we actually were not checked in! The lady working the ticket counter must have been feeling giving because she upgraded us to the first class train cabin – completely free of charge – and both Cesar and I were shook! We’re pretty thrifty travelers so getting bumped to first class was exciting. Once we got on the train, we had our own private 2-seater table, an essential oil-infused washcloth to refresh ourselves, an open bar, and a 3-course meal. Because we just had dinner (and had no idea we were getting bumped to first class train status), I was pretty stuffed already, so just Cesar got the food, while I happily sipped delicious Peruvian red wine. Cesar did encourage me to try a bite of the alpaca, which I did, and it was mouthwatering good. After we ate, the train staff invited us into the lounge train cabin next door, where we listened to live music until we reached our train station. We actually got the bi-modal transportation back, so we had to switch off the train to a van caravan for the last 1.5 hours of the journey home. We made it back to our room around 11:30pm and immediately passed out.

 

What do you do the day after hiking Machu Picchu? You sleep in. We got up at 9am and had to pack our bags and check out by 11am (our hostel held our bags for us free of charge). We walked the block and a half back to Cusco’s Plaza De Armas and had breakfast at a hole-in-the-wall on the square. Then, we got a 45-minute couple’s massage for only 50 sol (about $17 altogether); my body truly appreciated it after everything I had put it through the past 48 hours. Cesar, on the other hand, felt like he got beat up a bit during his massage. Once the massage was over, I got my boots shined, we dog watched some more, I grabbed a cappuccino from Calle de Medio‘s lounge and then Nestor picked us up and took us to the airport for our flight back to Lima. 

 

Our flight to Lima was uneventful, and we called our taxi driver, Jimmy, from the first night in Lima to pick us up and drive us to our Airbnb in the Barronco neighborhood of Lima – about an hour drive from the airport with traffic. Lima is a big city – it’s the 3rd largest city in the world, actually. Jimmy was bobbin’ ‘n weavin’ and doing allll kinds of things on our ride to our Airbnb; Cesar and I decided not to call him back for the rest of our trip because we couldn’t take his aggressive driving. 

 

After quickly dropping our bags off, we went on foot to find some food and quickly analyzed our new neighborhood for the next few days – total up-and-coming, hipster vibe. We were smitten. We decided for some ramen at Kinjo Ramen. We really loved the interior decor and the fact that they use “bioware” or biodegradable dishware, napkins, and utensils. 

After 6 full days of travel, we had to “adult” and get our laundry washed. Our Airbnb had a washer but no dryer, so we washed our clothes and then took them to a wash ‘n dry facility, but they only charged one flat price for a wash & dry service, so we basically washed our clothes for nothing because they washed them again (you live and you learn). Afterward, we decided to explore Lima on foot and took about a 30-minute walk around the Barronco neighborhood and eventually found our way to the beach. There, we went “rock picking,” where Cesar and I both chose about a dozen small rocks to take back with us in order to use the rocks at drainage for future plants. Clever, right? Along the coast, there are many outdoor workout machines and stations, and I also enjoyed playing around on them while exploring and watching the paragliders in action – exciting to watch, but I wasn’t ready to do that excursion, haha. Before heading back to the Airbnb, we stopped in at a local grocery store and picked up a few items for breakfast the next couple of days. 

 

Cesar’s Peruvian friend from undergrad hooked us up with a bunch of food recommendations while visiting Lima, so for dinner we went to Tio Mario, a famous Peruvian restaurant, and ordered the most requested dish, the anticuchos tapas, which Cesar’s friend also told us to order. I enjoyed the meal a lot until Cesar said, “Do you know what we just ate?” and my stomach dropped. See, a delicacy in Peru are guinea pigs, and I swore to him that I’d never eat one while vacationing (I had 3 pet guineas while growing up). I instantly regretted devouring all the meat, and my stomach started to react. Luckily, Cesar put me out of my misery and told me what we just ate – cow heart. Yes, you read that right – COW HEART. Y’all, it was so damn tasty, I was shooooook. But also relieved I didn’t eat guinea, haha. We ended the night by taking a nighttime stroll through the neighborhood and getting some cocktails at El Gringo Bar, which has delicious mojitos.

Cesar cooked us breakfast from the groceries we picked up the previous day. We had a lazy start to the day – we ended up watching a few episodes of Safe on Netflix. At first, I wasn’t paying attention to it, but I can’t not watch something on the tv so eventually, it sucked me in. Once we decided to go out, we grabbed a cappuccino at Sofa Cafe, the most charming coffee house. We spent the afternoon exploring the Miraflores District, which kind of reminded me of Time Square, and I wanted to go back to our Brooklyn-like Barronco neighborhood. However, Kennedy Park is there, and we went and enjoyed seeing and playing with some of the many stray cats that live there. I was in heaven!

 

Friday night, we went to a nearby hole-in-the-wall restaurant within walking distance of our Airbnb and ordered some drinks that turned out to be wayy too strong (I blame them for putting me straight to sleep that night). It was nice to simply hang out and enjoy each other’s company.

We had to check out of our Airbnb by 12pm, so we took the morning to shower, pack, and prepare for our flight home. However, our flight wasn’t until 9pm at night, so we had a bunch of time to kill between checking out and going to the airport. Luckily for us, we have some Peruvian friends who live in Lima, so we met up with them for lunch at the Larcomar shopping center in Miraflores. We decided to dine at Tanta and got seated with one of the best views in the restaurant. I ordered some classic tamales, and Cesar got his first order of ceviche. He was so sad that he waited so long to order it, too, because the ceviche dish was AMAZING – I tried it and loved it, even. Our friend that we dined with just finished pilot school and is searching for pilot opportunities with international airlines, so hopefully we’ll be seeing him travel the world very soon!

 

After lunch, we went back to Kennedy Park and basically passed the time cat-watching and eating churros filled with dulce de leche from Manolo Cafe in Miraflores. #foodcoma When it was time to head to the airport, we were ready to go. Our The Lima airport was quick ‘n easy to get through, and we caught our 9:40pm flight to Quito that then connected us to our flight to JFK. We had the same Tame airplane going from JFK-Quito and vice versa, and it was literally the worst airplane experience I have had because of the actual old plane itself (the staff were fine), but I don’t want to end this post on too bad of a note, so I will have to write a post about that another day.

 

 

As you can tell, Cesar and I aren’t total history buffs – we really experienced Peru ourselves through walks, excursions, and all the food. We basically ate our way through Peru, and that’s the way we like experiencing a new place. We got home in one piece and are so thankful for our Peruvian adventure in South America; we’d definitely go back again!

 

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Have you been to Peru or are planning a trip there now? Happy to answer any questions that you may have.