Lima

Peru Day 10: For our last day in Peru, we started the day visiting the main square of Lima in the heart of the city, as part of a larger walking tour. The square itself was cordoned off from vehicular traffic, making it particularly welcoming to pedestrians like us. One edge of the square housed the Cathedral of Lima, notably not only for its architecture but also as the final resting place of the conquistador / explorer Francisco Pizarro.

Tomb of Francisco Pizarro

In addition to the cathedral itself, there were many exhibits on the history of the Church in Peru and artifacts. We spent about an hour walking through the halls, including the catacombs in one corner. After exiting, we tried to make our way to the main administrative building to see the changing of the guards but just missed it. We walked onwards past the Basilica de San Francisco to the Parque de La Muralla, a modern park that retained portions of the original wall of the city.

After relaxing on a bench for a while, we headed back to Miraflores for lunch and to meet Lupe. We walked through the bustling commercial district, with many shops and restaurants filled with people. After lunch, we also visited the Park of June 7th (named after a battle). Despite Peru already having been eliminated from the World Cup, decorations celebrating the games were still up, including a giant soccer ball with the World Cup logo. We walked through the adjoining Parque John F. Kennedy, named after the US President visited in the 1960s.

After my mom bought jewelry from ladies selling handmade wares in the park, we took an Uber to the Buenavista Cafe on the seashore. Lupe had made a great choice, as the cafe sat on the cliffs overlooking the beach. Even though it was windy, the cafe offered heat lamps and blankets to keep us comfortable. We chatted with Lupe and reminisced on all the coincidences that had brought us to that point.

After wishing Lupe well, we headed back into the city for a second attempt at Parque de La Reserva. Our flight was so late that we had enough time to catch the evening show, come back to the hotel for our luggage, and still make our flight with time to spare. The light show was well worth it. The parque has about a dozen unique fountains, with the second one serving as a backdrop for the light show. The surprise was that by causing the fountain to mist, the laser light show was *on* the water itself. The show was about the history of Peru and lasted about twenty minutes. We spent another hour walking around the fountains as night befell us.

Entrance to Parque de La Reserva

Light show at Parque de La Reserva

We made our way back to the hotel and then bid farewell to Lima and Peru as we headed back to the airport, thoughts of future trips dancing in our heads.

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Cusco to Lima

Peru Day 9: As our flight was later on in the morning, we spent the hours after breakfast walking around the main streets of Cusco, passing by Plaza de Armas. Many statues from a recent festival (either the Catholic Corpus Christi or the Incan Inti Raymi Festival of the Sun) were clustered in a side plaza, in suspended animation. Children in school uniforms walked quickly past us, wrapped up in their own daily trials and tribulations. We ended up at one of the large open air markets Mercado Central de San Pedro.

In addition to the markets aimed at tourists like us, selling tchotchkes, there were many stalls with fresh vegetables or serving food to the locals. It reminded me of the open air markets I had seen in India. After buying a few items, we made our way back to the hotel, and then onward to Lima.

Upon arriving at the Lima airport, we took a ride to the Miraflores neighborhood where we would be staying. We checked in then tried to make the most of our afternoon. We initially went to Plaza de la Reserva, known for its water fountains and light show. Unfortunately, the show only came on at fixed times in the evening and we were 3 hours too early! We thought about waiting it out at a nearby cafe, but after an uninspiring snack, decided to amend our plans and visit Museo Larco that evening instead.

The museum is housed in what looks like an old upper class villa, with white walls and Bougainvillea flowers. It was founded by Rafael Larco, a Peruvian archaeologist who did much to advance understanding of the pre-Colombian civilizations in Peru. The museum is laid out both by region and chronology, with many original artifacts on display. After an introductory 10 minute video, there are multiple galleries to walk through. I was quite impressed by the attention to detail and explanations given.

After touring the museum, we considered having dinner at the museum itself. Looking at the menu and the crowd in the restaurant, we decided we were too tired to wait. To head to the exit, we followed the signs through the dining area to the exit. As we turned the corner to leave, I thought I heard someone calling my name out, but no - it must be the fatigue! Still, instinctively, I turned to look back and who should I see but Lupe, our Puerto Rican friend from Machu Picchu! She had mentioned visiting Lima for a wedding, but in a city of 10 million, what are the odds that we should cross through their wedding rehearsal dinner? After laughing about the coincidence, we made plans to meet for coffee the next day. 

We made our way back to the hotel and ended up ordering room service as the fatigue from our travels started to catch up with us. 

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Cusco Day 1: Qoricancha and Plaza de Armas

Peru Day 2: After a continental breakfast in the spacious restaurant area of the Wyndham, we headed back across the street to the airport. We collected our boarding passes for the Latam flight to Cusco and headed to the gate. 

There was a giant TV temporarily set up in the gate area and the Mexico-Sweden match was being watched by dozens of people. The locals here take their soccer seriously! Peru being in the final 32 of the FIFA World Cup may have added to the hype. 

We made it until half-time, but then had to leave as they switched our gate. Unfortunately, the new gate had no such TV. Eventually we boarded buses to drive out onto the tarmac to board the actual plane. My mom was a bit worried that we would have difficulty boarding if we were at the end of the line, but funnily enough, the buses invert the order. Last in the bus is first on the plane, a neat example of LIFO (last-in-first-out). 

Once on the plane, we were further delayed about 45 minutes, but eventually had a smooth flight of about an hour into Cusco. The flight attendants only served water, but that made sense given the listed short duration of the flight. Prior reviews had noted that flights into Cusco can be variable given weather conditions there, although our delay seemed mechanical.

Gorgeous views of the Andes greeted us as we flew east towards Cusco. Descending into the Cusco valley gave us panoramic views of the city, culminating in a remarkably smooth landing. The real turbulence though came once we stepped off the plane: the altitude change is real! All three of us felt somewhat lightheaded and imbalanced as we walked the relatively short distance from the gate through the terminal.

Once outside, we ended up taking a private car which cost 35 sol (S/35 is about $10 USD). The taxis outside were reportedly as low as S/15-20 but our taxi was fine, taking us to our hotel in about twenty minutes. We stayed in Casa Andina Standard Catedral, located at NE corner of the Plaza de Armas / Catedral area, the center of Cusco. The hotel room was nice and quiet, with 3 separate beds - quite a rarity!

Iglesia de Compania de Jesus, Plaza de Armas, Cusco

After dropping off our bags, we made our way first to the nearest tourist office to purchase the ‘boleto turistico’ or tourist ticket. The ticket cost S/130, but allowed for 10 day access to most of the major points of interest around Cusco / Sacred Valley. They only accepted cash.

Unfortunately one of the excluded sites was our next stop Qoricancha (also spelled Coricancha or Koricancha). The term comes from the Quecha language for ‘golden enclosure.’ Qoricancha was the most important temple in the Incan Empire. Most of the gold was given to the Spanish though, as ransom for the return of the Incan leader Atahualpa. The Spanish then built the convent of Santo Domingo on the foundations of Qoricancha, so what exists today is a hybrid of the two. To enter, we purchased tickets for S/15 each.

A Scale Model of the Church / Qoricancha

The inner courtyard contains two levels. Around the perimeter, the old Incan masonry still exists. It is quite distinct as they fitted stones together without the use of mortar (also known as 'dry' mortar). As impressive as it is in photos, it is still something else to see up close. After walking the perimeter, we ventured upstairs, which connected to the Santo Domingo portion of the facility. The church itself was nice but I found the display of the old ornate garments worn most interesting.

Upon heading back outside, we went to Casa Cancha, a museum of Incan artifacts, under the mistaken impression that it would close within an hour. Luckily for us it was actually open until 7pm! Unluckily for us, they charged us another S/20 to enter. Inside though, the exhibits were well worth it, with two floors of what looks like a converted hacienda dedicated to Incan artifacts.

After the museum, we met with our tour guide for the latter half of our trip. We had planned to visit Manu National Reserve, the Peruvian portion of the Amazon, where its headwaters start. Initially, we were planning on doing a more popular circuit of Lima - Cusco - Machu Picchu - Puno - Lima. However, after learning about Manu, my parents decided to amend the trip to remove Puno and shorten Lima to create time for a 3 day / 2 night tour of Manu. Our guide Mr. Abraham of Amazon Trails Peru met with us at our hotel to go over the trip itinerary and fit us for rubber boots for hiking in the rainforest.

We ended the night with dinner at Greens Organic. The restaurant was on the 2nd floor of the building two doors down from our hotel. It served organic food with a large range of vegetarian options. We had the African curry, spinach ravioli, and sweet potato gnocchi along with coca tea infused with ginger and lemongrass. All were excellent. After dinner, we walked around Plaza de Armas and purchased bottles of water before retiring for the night.

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Visiting Peru

My parents and I visited Peru from June 26 to July 6. We traveled to Lima from Houston IAH, and visited Cusco, Machu Picchu, Manu National Park, and Lima during our stay there. The following series of posts describe our journey in greater detail.

My parents and I departed from Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) at about 4:30pm via Terminal D (which is connected to the E gate we actually flew out of). Since we arrived about 90 minutes early, we waited in the KLM Lounge just across the pedestrian bridge in Terminal C. The lounge was comfortable with small snacks available in buffet style. Most people were watching the end of the World Cup match that was on. We headed towards our gate about 45 minutes before boarding.

The flight of 6.5 hours passed quickly, spent mostly watching movies on the on-board entertainment system. Upon arriving in Lima, the gate and immigration area were easy to navigate. They now do their visa electronically, so the yellow entry form we were advised to hold onto from multiple sources was no longer given out. As we were departing for Cusco early the next morning, we stayed at the Wyndham Costa del Sol airport hotel, directly across the street from the baggage claim area. The room was quiet and comfortable, and we quickly fell asleep.

Read the next post about our journey to Cusco the following day.

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