Gallivanting Grandma

Friday – May 22, 2015

I awoke before the alarm at 4:30, excited and nervous about the upcoming day. Luggage outside the door at 5:45; breakfast at 6:00 in The Observatory Restaurant on the eleventh floor with a panoramic view of Lima and the Pacific Ocean. We boarded the bus and everyone was ready to go at seven to get to Jorge Chavez airport for a 9:30 flight to Cusco.

From the plane, I saw the desert of the coast gradually change to the Andes Mountains of eastern Peru. The red brick houses in Cusco extended up the sides of the mountains. It was a crystal clear morning and the airport was a beehive of activity with new arrivals of eager tourists bustling about and Peruvian guides offering their services.

Two buses met our group and we immediately drove out of Cusco. The city is located at 11,000 feet above sea level, so all the guides recommend going to the Sacred Valley (8,000 to 9000 feet) first, to become acclimated to the altitude. I took photos of Cusco as the bus passed residential neighborhoods.

Our local guide, Maria, talked about the history of the region and the Inka Empire. As the bus climbed the mountains surrounding Cusco, I felt lightheaded and out of breath in my seat. The destination was the Tambo del Inka Resort & Spa, about two hours away, in the village of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley.

We passed many small villages with mud brick houses and subsistence farms as the high Andes Mountains loomed above. The Sacred Valley is truly beautiful.

We stopped at the Awanacancha farm which raises llamas, alpacas, and vicunas which are native to the region. The Inca people used them as pack animals, for food, and the fur for clothing.

A woman in a traditional costume demonstrated how to prepare and dye the fur of the animals.

The motor coach continued along the road into the valley. After a while, we stopped at Wayra Ranch for lunch and a demonstration of Peru’s Paso horses who are famous for their lateral gait known as paso llano.

Then we continued on to the fabulous Tambo del Inka Resort located in the village of Urubamba. Below are a few photos of the public spaces of the hotel:

Thursday May 21, 2015

Just when I began to think the sun never shines in Lima, it peeked out today.  The locals say they live under “the donkey’s belly.” Which is what the local people call their usually overcast grey sky.

This was the first day of our Tauck Tour and we were directed to gather in the gorgeous modern dining room on the first floor of the Belmond Miraflores Park Hotel to meet our guide Marcos Soto and the other participants. After an excellent breakfast, Marcos spoke about the tour saying it would be “an adventure, not a vacation.” He advised us about altitude sickness and described the highlights of our activities during the next two weeks. It sounded strenuous, tiring, and very exciting.

Our group of twenty five adventurers boarded a large comfortable bus and left the hotel at nine am to have a guided tour of the capital city. The coach crawled through heavy traffic and we finally arrived in downtown Lima an hour later.  The bus parked on a narrow street and we walked a couple of blocks to Inglesa San Pedro. I would describe the interior as high Spanish Baroque, if there is such a style.  The main altar and side chapels were covered in gold and silver.

Frequent small earthquakes & tremors shake this region almost daily. 2007 was last big one.  The guide said there were forty-nine districts in Lima with 10.5 million people. Iron bars were on most windows & doors. “Chifa” is the Peruvian name for Chinese food which reflects the large number of Asian people living in Peru. Flat roofs rested on most buildings because annual rainfall is so minimal.

After exploring the church, we walked to the Cathedral of San Francisco. We had a guided tour of the large compound then went down to the catacombs where sixty thousand known dead are buried and some bones are on display.

It was a short walk to the Plaza des Armas surrounded by Colonial Spanish style architecture. A large brass band heralded the changing of the guard of the main government building.

We left at noon to drive to Costa Verde’s Cala Restaurant for a fabulous lunch at right on the shore of the ocean. I had ceviche & fried calamari, tuna with mango chutney & grilled veggies, lemon gelato with citrus fruits. Yuummm…

Another drive through traffic-clogged Lima to our destination, the Museo Rafael Larco Herrera, to see ancient Peruvian art. This was a private collection of 40,000 artifacts from 500 BC to 800 AD. We also saw an exhibit of Incan gold & silver and another display of ancient erotic artifacts. 

The ancient Incans did not have a written language, however they did have a system of recording important information using knots on ropes perhaps similar to an abacus. This system was called Los Quipus and an example is pictured below.

Back to hotel at 5:30pm in heavy traffic. Time for a quick shower then down to the bus at 6:30 to go to Señor & Señora Luna’s house. Forty-five minutes later we arrived at the opulent house to see their incredible collection of 2000 Nativities. Sr. Luna was the Peruvian Minister of Culture with a passion to save Peruvian folk art. He began to collect Nativities when he was fourteen years old and now owns twenty thousand pieces primarily from Peru and other South American countries, as well as from Europe, Africa, and Asia. 

After Señora Luna gave us a guided tour of the exhibit, we gathered in their beautiful garden for pisco sours and a sumptuous traditional Peruvian dinner. This visit was a fabulous way to end a very interesting day.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Lima, Peru is an unusual place. ‘The City of Kings’ is a desert located on the Pacific Ocean but the air is heavy with humidity and overcast most of the time with slight variations in temperature. We were told, “It never rains in Lima. Just a drizzle.” I thought of Coleridge: “Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.”

Today was our day to explore the Miraflores District so we walked to Avenue Larco, the main commercial street, and followed it as far as Parque Central.

Heavy traffic clogged the avenue and very few street lights made crossings a challenge. There were numerous banks and each one had an armed guard posted outside the door wearing a bulletproof vest. Familiar fast food restaurants were all represented.

An interesting fact about Lima is that most of the buses were privately owned. The city recently instituted a public transportation system so there are designated bus stops and city buses now. We saw a wide variety of buses in many different sizes, colors, and exterior decorations.

The Park Central aka Kennedy Park was lovely with exotic trees and flowers but was overrun with cats.  The cat in the photo above seemed to be hunting for birds.

We found El Museo del Cacao y Chocolate on Calle Berlin but unfortunately the workshop wasn’t in operation. We tasted cacao tea and bought a variety of small chocolates to taste.

We had a delicious lunch in a Peruvian restaurant called Tanta and sampled a couple of traditional foods.  Papas Rellenas and Aji de Gallina pictured below:

It was fall here south of the equator so the days are getting shorter. The sun set at 5:50 pm today. We explored the neighborhood around the hotel and then prepared for our big day tomorrow when we meet the people on our tour and begin to see more of Peru.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Our day began yesterday so it had been a very long day. We arrived in Jorge Chavez Airport about 7:15 this morning. The weather was overcast and humid, in the 60s. A 30-something Peruvian man named Johan met us and, after recommending a potty stop, led us out to the waiting car. The driver was Mr. Morales who had forty years experience driving in Lima’s crazy traffic. Leaving only centimeters between his car and the next, Mr. Morales threaded through heavy rush-hour traffic at top speeds. Johan kept apologizing as we raced through back streets, on the beach, and down back alleyways. It was exhilarating to pass through many of Peru’s forty-three districts at breakneck speeds.

Lima from the air:

Residential Neighborhoods:

After almost an hour driving along the Pacific coast, we reached the Miraflores District and our hotel, the Belmond Miraflores Park.  We were warmly welcomed but our room wasn’t ready so we left our luggage in the lobby and went out to explore.

Spanish Colonial Church:

Our Hotel:

View of the Pacific:

There was a beautiful park across the street from the hotel on the high bluff above the ocean. We strolled along the rim to Larcomar Mall on the opposite side of Parque Domodossola.

Larcomar Mall:

We found good coffee and sat outside to enjoy the morning air. Later, after we secured a room and rested a while, we ate a scrumptious late lunch outdoors on the deck of the hotel.

Ceviche and Causa:

Johan had told us there were 3800 kinds of potatoes grown in Peru. The papa amarillo pictured above was delicious. We enjoyed a quiet afternoon and watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. Tomorrow we explore Miraflores.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

I look out of the small window into the darkness of the airport. The time was midnight and the plane was still sitting at JFK airport plugged into the terminal. I’m on my way to Peru to finally see the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. The Lost City of the Incas has been on my bucket list for almost fifty years, but I was too tired to be excited. In eight hours, I would be in the capital city of Lima.

Jeff joined me for this adventure but when the car service to take us to the airport was twenty minutes late, he looked as if he was having second thoughts. 

Our driver to the airport, Roberto, was a pleasant young man who coincidentally was Peruvian. He apologized for being late and gave us a thorough introduction to his country during our ride to JFK. We learned about Peruvian food, especially cuy, the Spanish word for guinea pig, and other tasty dishes. Roberto also recommended ceviche, raw fish marinated in lime juice. 

I told Roberto we had planned to arrive a day before our tour group to see the sights on our own. He said we should stay in the Miraflores neighborhood of our hotel because downtown Lima could be dangerous for tourists. At the airport, Roberto wished us well and assured us we would enjoy our visit. He gave us his email in case we had any questions or problems. He said he had cousins who “spoke English and were nice people to help us if we got into any trouble.”

Fortunately, Jeff fell asleep after we boarded and didn’t notice that the plane was still on the ground an hour after it was supposed to take off. Undaunted and filled with curiosity and anticipation, I tried to sleep on the long bumpy flight to South America and cuy country.

Sunrise in South America: