First Lima!
We got to Heathrow on the National Express at 3am to find our flight via Madrid was cancelled. Our new flight was via Amsterdam from another terminal, with an hour to find our connection. Good start! We made it to Lima feeling surprisingly ok.
We stayed at Jose Antonio hotel near to Kennedy Park which is full of happy, friendly cats with their own little flats. We came across what looked like a lot of drug dealers and customers huddled together in the darkness. On closer inspection, we saw it was a gathering, from men in suits to teenagers, happily swapping World Cup cards.
The next day after a brilliant night’s sleep, we explored the old city. We went to the cathedral (here are the remains of Pizzaro, who led the first conquistadors – I was surprised at this and the fact there was little critique ) and had a fabulous pisco sour in Simon Bolivar hotel as recommended by our taxi driver. We explored a vibrant China town which had great food and energy. Peruvian food sits comfortably with fusion mixing local flavours with others, bringing out the best in all – we loved the chaufa, which is a creation from the Chinese immigrant communities, mixing rice with vegetables, meat, spices and herbs and has a bit of a chilli kick.
Peruvian food is superb – the flavours and ingredients creating spice, tang, citrus, all the varieties and colours of potatoes and corn. Chicha morena drink made with purple corn, fresh fish ceviche with leche de Tigre bringing the bright tang of lime and salt. Lomo saltado – again a Chinese inspired dish with beef, stir fried veg, chillies, onions served with rice. The salads were absolutely fabulous (and inspiration for the Papadeli takeaway counter!) with giant corn of all colours, huge broad beans, beetroot, colourful leaves, the best avocados (or palta) dressed in the brightest, limey dressings.
We love a pyramid, so had to visit Huaca Pucllana near the old city. Even if you’re not into ruins, you have to visit the superb restaurant on site that had the best ceviche ever and chilled Cusquena beer. A stunningly beautiful open air restaurant which apparently is best at sunset. Full of tourists and locals, we loved it.
We had booked a table at Hotel B in Miraflores and decided to walk along the coastal path from our hotel. Miraflores is full of beautiful old mansions, sophisticated shops and bars / restaurants. Hotel B was a looker but the food was a little underwhelming. In fact the ceviche was sent back as it was so salty.
After 3 days in Lima, we flew to Arequipa with Latham Airways, the Peruvian national airline. Loved them – service, ease of booking, punctuality, all great.
Arequipa
Arequipa is a world heritage site. It has a beautifully elegant square, enormous white church, surrounded by mountains. A lovely place to hang out and acclimatise (and eat good food). Our hotel, Palla has a wonderful roof terrace for breakfast and watching the sunset over the impressive Misti mountain.
Food-wise, 13 Monjas was excellent. A menu of classic Peruvian dishes alongside great pizza and pasta. We ate here twice, it was so good!. Benita de los Claustros in a beautiful square or cloisters was understandably busy as it was brilliant too. Papa’s seafood chowder – huge langoustine and a sauce of dreams was a stunner as was my delicious quinoa salad. Not so good was Mash. Raved about online, we couldn’t resist. It’s a beautiful spot in a stone courtyard, but the food was seriously lacking. Maybe an off night.
Yanque and Colque Canyon
An early mini bus took us across the altiplano, with its llamas and alpacas, stopping at a high point of 4900 metres (it was getting harder to breathe here!). We drank a lot of muino and coca tea and marvelled at the views. We stayed in Kilawasi Lodge in Yanque, near a thermal spring in the mountains. One of the pools was so hot I couldn’t hold a foot in it more than a few seconds! Absolutely gorgeous hanging out in a hammock afterwards taking in the view.
A 6am minibus took us to Colca Canyon where we saw so many condors! Incredible clear blue skies at this altitude make every photo stand out. A buffet lunch (ceviche, salads, fruit , bean stews, potato gratin, soups, lomo saltado, alpaca, fish, little jellies and cakes – the best buffet – no beige food in sight!) then a six hour bus from Chivay to Puno with various stops for views.
Puno and Lake Titikaka
Puno is on lake TitiKaka and is so much colder and rainy. Altitude impact was kicking in. Felt couldn’t always get quite enough air in our lungs. A mild headache at the beginning fortunately subsided. These were mild symptoms – a couple we met were hooked up to oxygen tanks, taking altitude medication and felt awful.
We joined a trip to the Uros islands on lake Titikaka – lovely boat ride across the enormous lake. Stopping on islands made out of reeds, we met the ‘President’ and families.
Our hotel in Puno was Terra Viva. Lovely people, great food – dieta de pollo – chicken broth with noodles, fried chicken – so delicious, and a quinoa soup – so good! They were showing a football match that filled the bar.
Cuzco
Our 6am bus to Cuzco left next morning. Stopping to taste civet coffee, chat to a local about Peru’s political challenges, visit a beautiful village with what our guide called the Sistine chapel of the Americas ( gorgeous painted frescoes and golden ceilings) and fascinating Inca ruins of 200 round buildings built to store their dehydrated potatoes – they stored enough food for five years in case of drought/ flood etc. So wise!
Arrived at Cuzco that evening at 7pm. We stayed at Tambo del Arriero, one of the more expensive hotels on our trip. Pretty courtyard but the rooms were a bit dark and the double beds not much bigger than a single bed!
First night we ate great food at a restaurant filled with fellow tourists. Felt a little uncomfortable watching plates of guinea pig coming out with hats and jackets, though.
Cuzco is a vibrant town with beautiful squares and markets. San Pedro market is so interesting – not just tourist souvenirs but local people eat there, lots of great cheese stalls, butter, coffee, tea etc. Really buzzy and fascinating.
Pisco sours are citrus based cocktails with an egg white froth (good protein I figured), delicious and served pretty much everywhere. We walked up to Limbus, a restaurant bar in San Blas with incredible views over the terracotta city and mountains – really worth doing. Then we found a little restaurant, KusyKay along the narrow cobbled streets. Great veggie options – I had stuffed cabbage rolls which were excellent.
Walked back down through the main square to our hotel to find a small demonstration of young people – some dressed up with lots of colourful flags. What we know as the pride flag of rainbow colours is actually the emblem of Cuzco, so it’s a bit confusing. It felt v peaceful and yet the army was there and the police with riot gear.
Machu Picchu
It was time to visit Machu Picchu! 5am pick up to our train from Ollantaytambo. We had booked a two day trek to Macchu Picchu through Llama Path tours months before going as there are only a certain amount of tickets on to the site per day and numbers of people trekking are limited (recommend this company – so helpful, informative and we chose them as they take care of their porters and are Peruvian owned). We got off the Inca Rail train at something like kilometer 150 which wasn’t really a stop and watched the train full of travellers chug away from us.
Our guide Yu Ben was superbly knowledgeable and had grown up in the Andes. He absolutely loves the sacred valley and Inca history, speaks Quecha and was great company.
We hadn’t quite understood how steep the walk would be. And how hot! All this at a high altitude.
We stopped in his favourite Inca site – Wayna Winu – pretty much deserted and so peaceful with the sound of the nearby waterfall.
The packed lunch we’d been given and carried up with us was the best! All very Papadeli – herby quinoa with squash, little crusty rolls filled with chicken, tomato pesto and red onion. A rich brownie square and little chocolate filled with quinoa. All wrapped in paper – no plastic.
We reached sun gate at about 3pm. So worth the climb! Exactly the scene you want – blue sky, richly green mountains and Machu Picchu itself below. Stunning. Most people arrive on a bus and walk into the site (I get it, the walk up is a challenge), but if you can, the arrival from above is so much more impressive.
We walked on down to the site itself for a first peek before taking the bus to Aguas Calientes and supper with Yu Ben. Another early start the next morning to get to Machu Picchu before the crowds and a guided tour. Lunch (even a tourist filled town like Aguas Calientes has so much good food) and Papa and Sam visited the thermal baths.
Back on the Inca Rail train to Ollantaytambo, a small town where many stay before or after visiting Machu Picchu. We decided to stay in Casa Chola for two nights, just outside Ollantaytambo, with a view of the mountains. The owner cooked pizzas in the wood oven, their golden retriever Coya delighted us and the wonderful manager made breakfast and supper the next night. Even though it’s pretty isolated, we were happy to find there’s a distillery and brewery ten minutes’ walk away! We had lunch at Sacred valley Brewery – again superb with fabulous home grown garden salad, lomo saltado, ceviche and good beer. We spent a very happy couple of hours here (there was a football match on here too…)
Back to Cuzco
With only a few days left in Peru, we were driven by taxi to Cuzco through amazing snow topped mountains. Dinner overlooking the square at Morena – great cocktails, guacamole, scallops, causita (colourful potato mash with shrimp and chicken toppings. Sam tasted Cuy or guinea pig, Tom surf and turf Peruvian style – beef and shrimp noodles. Simon ate alpaca as our guide Yu Ben had said it was his favourite thing to eat (that and guinea pig).
By now any awareness of altitude had disappeared and we felt fine.
Our last day was spent in Lima, this time in San Isidro at Arte Hotel, a funky, if a little worn hotel. We walked two minutes to a restaurant to watch the football (not sure who was playing but Papa and Sam were very interested).
San Isidro is full of smart offices and shops – it all felt very safe. Cocktails at a roof top members bar was fun (not sure how we got in) and we stumbled on a tiny restaurant, Verbena, near the hotel which welcomed us even though it was closing. The food was incredible! Tiny artichoke empanadas, prawn ceviche and sliced avocado over spiced puree.
Our last evening was in Barranco, a more ‘hip’ district of restaurants, markets and graffiti decorated walls near the beach. Last supper was at Awicha, on a street full of beautiful restaurants and bars. A small, cosy restaurant with a great wine list and food.
Another early start to the airport and the long journey home.
Peru absolutely lived up to expectations. The food exceeded them. I had always wanted to visit Machu Picchu and trekking there is a good if tough choice. All the people we met were lovely. Traffic in the cities is chaotic but silent – unlike the noisy horns of Cairo. The landscape is breath-taking and it’s easy to get around. We visited in their Winter – around 20-24 degrees in the day and evenings get cold (Puno even colder and wet). Pisco Sours are now our addiction. It gets a big thumbs up from us.
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