South America – La Paz
to Lima –
August 2014
In the morning after my
wonderful dinner at Gustu I had breakfast with the new couple from Australia who
are a bit closer to me in age and seemed quite nice. Drove to Tiwanaku, one of Bolivia’s most
important archeological sites. Our guide
told us that partial excavations have revealed the remains of five different
cities, one built on top of the other.
She also pointed out the most impressive monument, i.e. the 10 ton Gate
of the Sun, an imposing stone believed to be a solar calendar built by a
civilization that surfaced around 600 B.C. and mysteriously disappeared about
1200 A.D. The museum nearby was also
very interesting, especially the 24 foot monolithic statue sculpted out of red
sandstone discovered by Wendell Bennett in 1934. Enjoyed a nice lunch of local trout, quinoa
and vegetables.
Back into town I wandered
down Saganaga Street
filled with shops and then back to the vegetable market I had passed yesterday
but with more time enjoyed watching the local women in native dress. Later I went to a nice little café and had
apple pie for dinner…
Early breakfast and it
began to snow (which supposedly it had not done in YEARS!) as we caught a bus
to the ferry across Lake Titicaca. The people go first and then, supposedly, the
buses. However, the water was very
choppy so we had to wait at least an hour before the buses could safely come
across so we missed the early bus from Copacobana to Puno. Had lunch at a local café and then our guide
took us for a walk around town, i.e. up the hill to the main square and the
large church with a museum containing each country’s version of the Virgin
Mary.
Stopped at the Bolivian
border, changed money and then drove on to Puno. Arrived about 9 p.m. so skipped dinner and
just went to bed as it had been a lonnnnng day….
After a nice hearty
breakfast we took little tuk tuks down to the lake where we caught the ferry on
Lake Titicaca considered to be the highest navigable lake in the world, to the
reed islands (uros), man-made islands woven together with mud and totora reeds
where several families live. A few of us
took a ride on a reed boat to see how the reeds are cut and formed to make the
foundations the houses are built on.
Took another ferry ride to the island of Taquille,
which used to be a prison. Climbed to
the top and had a delicious lunch of grilled trout before walking into the
little town where we had a home stay.
First they dressed us all
in traditional clothes and then we all danced to traditional music as the sun
set. We climbed up to our home stay in
the dark still wearing all the heavy clothes and 3 or 4 people slept in one
large room at different home stays. The
only light was from flashlights but we did have a bathroom but no running
water!!! Our family had three children
and grandpa also lived with them. Dad
was working in Puno during the week. Sat
at a little table and had quinoa potato soup followed by rice with potatoes and
carrots for dinner. We had brought some
food gifts of rice, lentils and fruit which we gave tothem before returning to
our room for the night.
Although we had several
blankets it was very cold and I wore everything I had to keep warm!
In the morning we helped
make some bread which was fried and eaten along with a hard cooked egg and tea
for breakfast. We helped with some of
the chores and then took a walk up to get a nice view of the lake. Potato and carrot soup and fried cheese with
rice and potatoes for lunch before taking the ferry back to Puno. Had time for a nice walk around the main
square and visit some of the shops before meeting for dinner at Mojsa. I had trout kebabs with onion, peppers and
sweet potatoes – excellent!!!
Long bus ride to Cuzco, even watched
“Bucket List”, one of my favorite movies!
Arrived about 4 p.m. and took a little walking tour of the city,
starting at the Plaza des Armas and wandering into some of the side
streets. Stopped for an early dinner at
a funny little restaurant and I had some crispy wontons filled with different
things, i.e. caramelized onion, tomatoes and vegetables and cheese, served with
some dipping sauces. Most people had
enormous hamburgers. Walked to G
Adventure office for a meeting regarding the Inca Trail. We were shown the trail we would take, told
what we needed to bring and how to prepare.
Back at the hotel Dennis, our guide, gave us each a duffle bag which we
could fill with 6 kilos which would include our rented sleeping bag.
Delicious breakfast in Cuzco and a free
day. Made a reservation at Chi Cha
restaurant and began my sightseeing.
Visited the Convento y Museo de Santa Catalina built between 1601 and
1610 on top of the Acllawasi where the Inca emperor sequested his chosen
virgins of the sun. There is a beautiful
chapel inside as well as an example of how the nuns lived. Visited the cathedral which dominates the
Plaza with its amazing cedar choir stalls and other beautiful altars, etc.
Stopped for lunch at
Greens restaurant nearby and had a delicious sweet potato salad with beets,
fennel, roasted Brazil nuts, arugula and goat cheese. Afterwards I walked up Halunrumiyoc street, a famous cobblestone
street where the 12-angled stones are and then on to see the stones that form a
puma and snake. Up the hill to Barrio de
San Blas, a very picturesque neighborhood lined with artists’ studios and then
back down to the Museo de Arte Precolombino exhibiting beautifully crafted gold
and silver jewelry and ceramics from different areas in Peru. I especially like the ones from Nasca.
Later that night I walked
to Chi Chi and had a fabulous tasting menu, i.e. Pisco sour, ceviche with trout
and mushrooms, grilled octopus with black bean sauce, llama carpaccio, pureed
corn filled ravioli, pork with pumpkin puree, veal with potato gnocchi, fried
ice cream, warm yam filled ravioli with cinnamon and ice cream and two tiny
dulce de leche filled cookies. My
tasting menu also included a glass of wine!!!
Walked back to the hotel about 11 p.m. but it was a safe city and there
were still many people about.
Drove through the Sacred Valley
of the Incas and stopped at the Paneterra-supported women’s weaving co-op where
we learned about traditional weaving and dyeing. Visited the impressive Inca Pisac ruins and
had a delicious lunch at the planeterra-supported Parwa community restaurant in
Huchuy Qosco, i.e. tamales with salsa, pumpkin soup with tempura cheese, quinoa
with peppers and potatoes and black corn pudding.
On to Ollantaytambo where
we had a guided tour of the ruins and terraces, wandered through the market and
into the main square. After such a
filling lunch I just had a piece of lemon meringue pie at a little café for
dinner. Very cold in my room and no hot
water so took a cold shower. Tomorrow we
start on the Inca Trail….
Nice hearty breakfast,
i.e. fresh pineapple, scrambled eggs, toasted bread. Drove to kilometer 82, the beginning of the
Inca Trail where we collected our poles, got our passport stamped and began our
trek through beautiful great foliage walking on uneven stones, up and down
steps passing the ruins of Patallaqta on our way. Only 500 people (including porters) are
allowed on the trail each day so there were times when I felt I was walking
alone. Porters carried all the tents,
our duffle bags, stove, etc. and we each carried a day pack filled with water,
snacks and a parka in case it got cold.
The first day we walked about 8 miles, stopped for lunch about 2
p.m. Porters set up a tent with tables
and chairs inside and served us a delicious lunch each day, i.e. soup,
rice/vegetable/dessert. We refilled our
water bottles and arrived at Huayllabamba where we camped. Porters had set up my single tent and inside
was my duffle bag. They brought us a
bowl of hot water to wash with and about 5 p.m. we all met in the tent for
“tea”, i.e. biscuits and jam/popcorn/hot tea.
Dinner was served about 6:30 p.m. and was always hot and delicious. As we got up at 5:30 a.m. most of us hopped
into our sleeping bags and went to sleep pretty early…
5:00 a.m. and a hot cup of
coco tea and a bowl of warm water appeared in front of my tent. After washing up, I packed up my duffle bag
and headed to the big tent for breakfast, i.e. pancakes with honey. Today we walked uphill all day long and it
was a challenge as we ascended Dead Woman’s Pass at 13,780 feet. Camped at Pacaymayu after a tricky
descent. Once we got in our tents it
started to rain heavily along with thunder and lightning. Nice hot dinner and a cup of tea and the rain
stopped…
Toast and scrambled eggs
for breakfast and then started off to trek our longest but most interesting
day. We saw the snow capped Cordillera
Vilcabamba, the ruins of Runkuraqay where the Inca stored products transported
between Machu Picchu and Cusco, and passed by Sayacmarca stopping for our last
and most delicious lunch, i.e. eggplant fritters, potato fritters, fava
bean/tomato/cucumber/cheese salad, little wedges of pizza, rice and a birthday
cake to celebrate Debbie’s birthday.
Reached Winaywayna campsite about 5:00 p.m. After dinner we said good-bye to the great
porters and went to bed - tomorrow we will arise very early…
Up at 3 a.m. Met at the tent for a cup of tea and then set
out for the checkpoint where we lined up and waited until the gate opened –
about 5:30 a.m. Nice clear day so we
hiked quickly to the sungate, watching the sunrise on the top of the
mountain. From the sungate we got our
first glimpse of Machu Picchu and had about a half hour to eat our breakfast of
cheese sandwiches and enjoy the beautiful view – we had made it!!! Took about 45 minutes to arrive at the site
where we relaxed a bit before our guided tour.
Machu Picchu
was built around 1450 by the Incas but abandoned a century later. It remained unknown to the outside world
until it was brought to international attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham. The primary archaeological treasures are the
temple of the sun and the room of the three windows.
To create the central
buildings, the Incas used the ashlar
technique in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without
mortar. We had some free time on our own
so leisurely wandered around passing by the Condor Temple
where we saw the condor wing. Caught the bus to Aguas Calientes where we all met
at Hot Springs
2. I left my bag there and walked
through the town on my own, stopping for a piece of warm apple pie and ice
cream on my way.
Took the train and then a
bus back to Cusco, checked back into our
hotel, took showers and met for dinner at 8:00 p.m. Walked to a very strange but wonderful
restaurant called Fallen Angel with its bathtubs filled with fish and topped
with glass to make a table, cupids and angels everywhere, heart pillows and
chairs, etc. Everyone was pretty hungry
so most of us ordered the duck with rice and corn which was delicious. Also shared a couple warm chocolate nutella
cakes with ice cream and caramel. Fun!!!
Free day. Visited the Temple
of Santo Domingo and then Qurikancha, Temple of the Sun built
by Inca Yupanqui. The walls were once
covered in sheets of solid gold. When
the Spanish required the Inca to raise a ransom in gold for the life of leader
Atahualpa, most of the gold was collected from here. Walked up the hill to the Temple of San Blas,
said to be the oldest parish church in Cusco. It contains a marvelously carved cedar pulpit
carved from a single tree trunk.
Had the delicious sweet
potato, beet salad again at Greens and then spent a couple hours in the Inka
Museo which contains artifacts designed to trace Peruvian history from pre-Inca
civilizations. There are ceramics,
mummies, jewelry, Inca drinking vessels carved out of wood, some jade
miniatures, etc. An excellent
museum. Did a little shopping and found
a small little hand-made “purse” before
wandering around the beautiful Plaza des Armas. Had dinner at Cicciolina, i.e. quinoa coated
prawns with dipping sauce, local river fish with coconut cream sauce and sweet
potato “gnocchi” with wasabi cream.
Flew to Lima after breakfast. Our hotel was in the Miraflores area so I
walked up to the ocean along one of the main streets. All met at 6:15 p.m. and walked to
Parquetito, an outside restaurant nearby.
I had delicious ceviche with sweet potato and fresh and crunchy corn and
chocolate cake for dessert. We thanked
our guide Dennis and said our good-byes and everyone will go their own way in
the morning.
In the morning, I took a
walk to the love park which reminded me of Park Guell in Barcelona, nice breakfast and a long bus ride
to Nazca arriving at 10:00 p.m. I took
some food for lunch and had a nice window seat so got to see a bit more of Peru. Guide picked me up and after checking into
the hotel I had fish kebabs with peppers and onions at Encantada as I was
pretty hungry!
Nice buffet breakfast on
the patio with lots of fresh fruit, cheeses and nice bread. Guide came by and we visited a cemetery where
mummies, ceramics, etc. were uncovered.
Some were buried without their heads, perhaps as sacrifices.. Stopped by the ceramics studio to watch the
painter show how the pottery was made and hand painted with natural dyes. I bought a little llama to remind me of Peru.
Drove out to the airport
where I watched a video about the Nazca lines as I waited for my flight. Called ancient geoglyphas, they are believed
to have been created by the Nazca culture between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. Hundred of designs, i.e. hummingbirds,
spiders, trees, etc. are shallow lines made in the ground by removing the
reddish pebbles and uncovering the whitish ground beneath. Our 6 passenger Cessna flew over the lines
tipping the wings so we could see better…a pretty rough ride lasting about 30
minutes. Stopped by Mom’s café near the
hotel for apple pie and ice cream for lunch and then took a walk. In the afternoon the guide took us to the Cahuachi
pyramids west of the Nazca lines which was an ancient ceremonial and pilgrimage
site. It was believed to have existed
two centuries before being abandoned about 200 A.D. We also visited the aqueducts which are still
in use.
Dinner upstairs on the
patio at Mamshana where I enjoyed the music of the pan pipes and ordered arroz
con maricos, i.e. rice topped with seafood and a piece of chocolate cake.
In the morning after
breakfast the guide took me up on a tower where I could see the Nazca lines
from the ground which was also very interesting. We stopped at the Maria Reiche Newmann home
and workshop. Maria, a German lady from Dresden, spent 50 years
studying and mapping the Nasca lines.
Her sister joined her during the last 15 years of her life and she died
in 1998.
Long bus ride to 242
Miraflores b & b where I spent 3 nights.
My room was delightful, complete with balcony and I thoroughly enjoyed
my stay! I was hungry when I arrived so
walked to Parcelito where our group had met for dinner and again had the
delicious ceviche with sweet potato and corn and chocolate cake. It was a beautiful night and the Miraflores
area of Peru
is safe to walk around in so I walked back to the bed and breakfast where I
slept very well!
Had a great breakfast in
the morning, papaya, passion fruit, melon, bread, jam and then walked to Huaca
Pucllana, a large adobe and clay pyramid.
It served as an important ceremonial center in the years 200 A.D. and
700 A.D. There was a nice guided tour in
English which explained a great deal about how life was during those times.
Had lunch at Central, the
4th best restaurant in the WORLD, which I had booked many months
before. It is a small, modern restaurant
not far from the ocean and everyone dressed fairly casual. I had preordered the 17 course tasting lunch
and it was absolutely superb!!! I spent
about 3 hours enjoying “diversity of corn”, i.e. cold passion fruit/corn soup
with dry corn cracker on top, “marine soil”, i.e. razor clams with pepino fruit
slices, “los andes mountains”, i.e. short ribs with 4 types of quinoa and
“green highlands”, i.e. lucuma and chocolate mousse. All courses were served on lovely ceramic
dishes, bowls and in cups made especially for the restaurant.
I spent the afternoon at
the larco museum which is filled with
Pre-Colombian
treasures. It comprises a collection of
crowns, earrings, masks, vases, etc.
Another gallery nearby holds the world’s largest collection of erotic
ceramics. There is a very well known
restaurant in the museum but I didn’t dine there. Back to the hotel for a rest and then walked
to Tanta in the
shopping mall for ceviche and opera cake later in the evening.
After breakfast, took the
bus into the centro. It was a rainy day
so I had to walk carefully on the cobblestone streets. Walked around the Plaza des Armas and then
visited the Iglesia San Francisco and took a tour of the famous catacombs. It was used as a cemetery before the church
was built and approximately 75,000 people are buried there. A few monks still live in the church.
Took a taxi to Astrid
& Gaston where I had a wonderful 30 course lunch including cold little
artichoke covered with crispy onions, guinea pig rillette, avocado roll, potato
spaghetti, chocolate mint roll and cold coffee with warm cream. All courses were served on unique plates,
rocks, etc. After eating for 3 hours I
walked back to Miraflores. As the plates
were quite small I had a light dinner at Gaston’s Italian restaurant Los Bachiche
later that evening, i.e. thin crusted eggplant pizza and oozing chocolate cake.
In the morning I visited
the Barranco area and wandered around the square, walked across the wooden
Puente de los Suspiros and then to the Museo Pedro de Osma, a century old
mansion with inlaid floors, beautiful stained-glass windows and home of a
wealthy collector of religious art.
Had my last meal in Peru at Amaz,
an amazonian restaurant. First course
was pork belly and crisp bacon, second course grilled paiche fish (a very large
Amazonian fish which arrives dehydrated and is reconstituted before cooking)
with chorizo sauce and passion fruit puree and chocolate cake and ice cream
rolled in pecans. I will come back to Lima someday…to eat!!!
