We Leave Lima for a Day in the Sacred Valley

March 27: Day 4. Another early day with bags out and breakfast at 0430 hrs. Today we fly to Cusco to make our way to Machu Picchu. We leave our hotel at 0530 check in at the Lima airport for our LATAM flight to Cusco departing at 0845.

Outskirts of Cusco

As we approach Cusco, we are struck by the steepness and ruggedness of the Andean mountains. And at an altitude of 12,000 feet, we wonder what effect the thin air will have on us. Our plane lands and we get our answer. Cusco has a small airport and there is no jetway to greet us. Instead we have to descend the air stairs and lug our carry-ons about 60 yards to the luggage terminal.

Sacred Valley, Urubamba River and mountains

And of course you can’t go “as the crow flies,” but are required to follow a longer route laid out with plastic cones. By the time we get to the terminal our hearts are pounding rapidly and we are gasping for air. We are barely recovered when our heavy, checked luggage arrives and we are out of the terminal with all of our luggage for a 200-yard slog to our buses.

BIG kernals!

 Since the buses are smaller to navigate the narrow mountain roads and switchbacks, our group is divided in two: Llamas and Alpacas. We are with David and Linda in the Llama group.

We ride out of Cusco and through the mountains on our way to Urubamba and the Sacred Valley. This valley stretches from present-day Pisac to Ollantaytambo(oy-an-tay-TOM-bow) and was incorporated into the Incan Empire. The valley is irrigated by the Urubamba River which provides a rich, fertile soil for agriculture.

Welcome to Pisac!

Farmers raise their crops on terraces as well as the floodplains. Our buses stop at a roadside rest overlooking the valley which gives us spectacular vistas of the mountains, valley, and river. Our tour director tells us about the various crops that are raised in the valley, and in particular, corn or maize which is so important to the Incan and Peruvian diets.

Hacienda dining room

He shows us ears of corn that are variously colored and represent the many different types of corn raised by the farmers. We are struck by the size of the corn kernels which are 2–3 times the size of corn kernels we generally consume. Driving on we enter the valley at the town of Pisac. Driving through Pisac we spot roadside statues of guinea pigs in various comical poses. Our guide informs us that guinea pig, or cuy, is a staple protein in many parts of Peru.

Let's eat!

As we drive on we see several eating establishments grilling spitted guinea pigs on outdoor ovens. The notion of eating guinea pig is shocking to many on our bus, but Capt. Larry is wondering to himself what they must taste like!

Speaking of eating, it’s getting close to lunchtime. Our buses take us to the Sacred Valley village of Huayocarri (WHY-oh-car-ee) where we will have lunch at the Hacienda Huayocarri restaurant. Huayoccari (WHY-oh-car-ee) where we will lunch at the Hacienda Huayoccari Restaurant. The Hacienda houses the owners’ private collection of pre-Colombian, Incan, and colonial artifacts. We are welcomed to the dining room with a pisco sour and then served our meal.

Owners' ceramic collection

The food focuses on hearty, traditional Andean fare and we are told that all ingredients are organic and from local farms. We finish our lunch, browse through the pottery and artifact collection, and head outside to tour the beautiful grounds. We board our bus and are driven a short distance to a farmhouse with a barn and what appears to be a large parade ground.

Gaucho and his Paso

We are seated on folding chairs set up alongside the parade ground and told that we were going to see a Peruvian Paso horse demonstration. The Peruvian Paso is a horse breed known for its, ambling ride. Peruvian breeders bred the horses to be strong, hardy animals that were comfortable to ride, easy to control, and had good endurance. After the introduction, the barn door opens and out rides a gaucho on a Paso demonstrating the horse’s ambling gait and smooth ride.

Traditional dance and dress

The rider is joined by other gauchos on Passos which shows us the horse’s different gaits and agility. After the Paso demonstration, we are treated to a traditional Peruvian music and dance performance with the performers dressed in their traditional garb. We leave the Hacienda and are driven to the Tambo del Inka Hotel in Urubamba to spend the night.

Ole!

After dinner with David and Linda, we decide to pass on the evening’s outdoor musical presentation since we are tired and not feeling our best.

 

Our Tour Begins in Historical Lima

Government Palace in Plaza de Armas

March 26: Day 3. The tour begins! We had an early breakfast with David & Linda then met our group for a bus tour to Lima’s historical center and Miraflores. During the transfer to downtown Lima, we were given some facts about the historical center we were going to visit.

At the heart of the center is the main square— the Plaza de Armas— which is considered the city’s core and birthplace. Founded in 1535 by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, the plaza is today home to the Government Palace, Lima Metropolitan Cathedral, Archbishop’s Palace of Lima, the Municipal Palace, and the Palacio de la Unión.

Lima Metropolitan Cathedral

We walked the square and took in the magnificent buildings and architecture, while our guide provided us with historical facts and background information regarding the plaza.

Courtyard in Casa de Aliaga

We left the square and after a short walk arrived at the Casa de Aliaga— the oldest colonial mansion in Lima, and the oldest house in the Americas continuously occupied by the same line: the De Aliaga family. Built in 1535 by conquistador Jeronimo de Aliaga on land granted to him by Pizarro, the home has been continuously occupied by the de Aliaga family for 17 generations.

Sitting room in Casa de Aliaga

Some 8,000 visitors come to the home each year and many enjoy the Peruvian Creole gastronomic experience provided to groups up to 120 people offered by lunches and dinners. Our guide took us on a tour of the home with its magnificent furniture, fixtures, and art collection representing a wide variety of styles, including French, Baroque, Gothic, Viceregal, Neo-Gothic, classical and even Modern. After our tour we boarded our bus for a drive back to the Miraflores district.

Our lunch stop would be at the Casa Garcia Alvarado home located in the heart the Miraflores district.

Lunch in the courtyard

Built in 1912 by the Castro Iglesias-Thorndike family, the home was declared a National Historical Building in 2005 and is currently owned by descendents Ana Maria and Josefina Alvarado Garcia. The owners have opened the home to visitors, corporate and private wedding and anniversary receptions, private parties, and high teas. We were given a guided tour of the home and then treated to pisco sours and hors d’oeuvres in a courtyard while being serenaded by two guitar-playing musicians.

Capt. Larry, Jane and Ana Maria

Pisco sour is the national drink of Peru and is made with pisco, a base liquor distilled from fermented grapes, freshly squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, and Agnostura bitters. The lunch was several courses of typical Peruvian home cooking that didn’t appeal to some, but which Capt. Larry found delicious. Towards the end of lunch our table was visited by co-owner Ana Maria who treated us to stories about her home and family history

Buzzard sculptures

We finished our lunch at Casa Garcia Alvarado and boarded our bus for a short drive south of the Miraflores district to the Bohemian neighborhood of Barranco. Known as the Soho of Lima, Barranco is one of the city’s hippest neighborhoods with colorful street art, neighborhood bars and coffee shops, iconoclastic old mansions and summer houses, and plenty of Bohemian vibes. Exiting our bus, our first indication that Barranco marched to a different beat was a street art display of buzzard head sculptures, followed by more colorful art and floral displays.

Colorful street art

We next came to one of the famous neighborhood landmarks, the Puente de los Suspiros, or the Bridge of Sighs. A legend states if you make a wish and hold your breath while you walk across the bridge, your wish will come true. We were guided to a turn-of-the-century mansion that housed the Pedro de Osma Museum with a great collection of colonial furniture and art.

Pedro de Osma Museum

 Some of the exhibits date back to the first centuries CE, and there is an outstanding collection of paintings from the celebrated Cusco School of Art (exhibit pictures weren’t allowed).

We returned to our hotel and were given a short respite to get ready for the evening activities. We were driven to the Pueblo Libre district to visit the renowned Larco Herrera Museum of Pre-Columbian and Pre-Incan Art.

Ceramic art exhibit

This privately owned museum showcases chronological galleries providing a thorough overview of 5,000 years of Peruvian pre-Columbian history. It is especially well known for its gallery of pre-Columbian erotic pottery. The Gold and Silver Gallery contains the largest collection of jewelry used by many notable rulers of pre-Columbian Peru. Ancient Peruvian cultures represented their daily lives in ceramics and the ceramics gallery holds the world’s largest collection of erotic ceramics.

Gold and silver adornments

The museum tour was interesting but provided way more cultural and historical information than could be readily absorbed. After the tour we had another Peruvian style dinner in the museum’s restaurant before returning to our hotel. It was another long day and we were exhausted.

 

We Explore on Our Pre-Tour Free Day

March 25: Day 2. The breakfast buffet that we enjoyed with David & Linda reminded us again how different diets can be in other countries. Along with the usual eggs, cereal, and pastries were offerings of green, purple, and yellow tamales, glazed sweet potato, pork carnitas, passionfruit, papaya juice and the best coffee we had tasted in the long time (Juan Valadez is just over the border in neighboring Columbia!). Because we arrived the day before the tour actually started, we had a free day to explore the area. After breakfast we decided to go for a walk and see if we could venture over to the nearby Pacific Ocean beaches.

The Pacific Ocean

We made it to a bike and skateboard park that overlooked the beach, but a precipitous decline down to the beach and heavy traffic deterred us from going any further. Heading back to our hotel in the unseasonably warm Lima weather, we decided to stop at a Burger King and get a cold drink and a sandwich. After paying for the food, Capt. Larry realized that he had made a mistake changing money at the airport ATM. Instead of changing $100 US into Peruvian Sols, he got mixed up and got 100 Sols (~$25 US). So much for those Spanish lessons he constantly works at! We returned to the hotel and met the tour director at the hospitality desk. We had some forms that we had to complete so we returned to our room to get our documents in order. One of those forms was a general liability waiver relieving the tour company and its subcontractors of any liability for any tour disruption or delay, injury, sickness, or even death! We were a little bit uncomfortable signing it but we had no choice. We delivered the documents and returned to our room. Because of the warm weather, we decided that we needed to repack our suitcases to make the warm-weather clothes we were saving for the Galapagos Islands more available.

We again had dinner with David & Linda in the hotel’s restaurant, but experienced a little drama when we attempted to pay for our meal. Neither of our credit cards would process the charge and we finally had to pay with a debit card which we try not to use when traveling in order to limit exposure to our checking account to fraudulent charges.

Our room

Returning to our room, we called card services to ascertain the problem. We were told that there were no holds on either card, but charges emanating from a “risky area” would not be processed. The hotel is located in one of the most upscale districts of Lima (Miraflores), but apparently all of Lima is judged to be “risky.” We found this to be frustrating and embarrassing, especially since we had presented our itinerary and travel dates to the bank’s credit card department prior to leaving. Since this was the fourth time that this had happened while we were traveling with these cards, we swore that we would have new cards when we traveled again! Upset and tired, we turned in for the night.

 

Traveling Again and Heading for South America

 

The pace and intensity of our land tour did not allow enough time for us to blog in real time. We offer this blog of our trip now to round out and supplement some of the posts and information previously provided during our tour.

Dogs are welcome at new airport!

March 24: Day 1. The alarm jolts us awake at the ungodly hour of 0200. We need to head for the New Orleans airport by 0300 so that we can make our 0600 flight to Miami. And in getting to the airport, we’re facing a potential unknown delay. It’s been nearly 3 years since we’ve flown out of the New Orleans International Airport, and in that time a totally new terminal and parking system has been built.
We had asked friends and relatives that have used the airport recently for tips on navigating the access roads, but the reports we received were neither helpful nor reassuring. Sure enough, when we arrived at the airport we missed the spur for the long-term parking garage and were headed for the airport exit. At the last minute, Capt. Larry turned on a road marked DO NOT ENTER that looked like it would take us to the garage. And it did. We parked the van and entered the new terminal.

Heading for Peru

Now came our second challenge of the morning. Our neighbor had previously checked us in on the airline app, but now we were facing a luggage kiosk which we had never used before. Perhaps the blank looks on our faces saved us, but a counter agent waved us over and we checked in the “old-fashioned” way.

Arriving in Lima, Peru after two uneventful flights, we cleared immigration, claimed our bags and were waved through customs, and found the tour company representative.

Linda and Jane Reunite!

We boarded our bus and settled in for a long, congested, rush-hour ride through Lima traffic to our hotel. The hotel greeted us with a champagne reception, but what excited us most was seeing our Canadian friends, David and Linda, in the lobby waiting for our arrival. It had been nearly 3 years since we last traveled with them in India. After greetings and lots of hugs, we checked into our room and joined David and Linda in the hotel’s restaurant for dinner. After dinner we returned to our room and crashed— it was a long day.