Peru - Day 1.
During Spring Break this year Rafi and I were fortunate enough to vacation in Peru. Mima (my mom) graciously gave up her own Spring Break to stay at our house with Mateo. I was pretty nervous about us both leaving him (really nervous, actually), but I knew he was in the best hands.
After a full day of travel (three flights), we arrived in Lima. That night we walked across the street to the hotel, spent the night, then walked back to the airport to catch our plane to Cusco. This is where I will begin our story.
We met our friends Arturo and Linette at the airport. Our flight to Cusco from Lima was roughly an hour. Right before we all boarded we took our Sorojchi Pills. They contain aspirin, a diuretic, and caffeine, which together all help ward off altitude sickness. These later proved themselves to be miracle pills. After landing we didn't notice too much difference in our breathing until we walked up a ramp, which resulted in some wheezing and racing hearts.
We were met by our guide Jose and driver Jorge. This was the first time Rafi had someone waiting for him holding his name - exciting!
The hotel was a short drive from the airport, so I shot what I could.
The four of us decided to heed some well given advice and took it easy the first day. Our hotel was fantastic, and provided us coca leaf tea upon arrival. Coca leaves are illegal in the states, as you'll be charged with possession of cocaine if you have one, but they are perfectly legal in Cusco. The tea tastes like most any other tea, but you do not get high or feel weird after drinking it. It's a local custom that helps you adjust to the altitude. Though we made jokes about Rafi being addicted, the truth is that it's like poppy seeds are to opiates. Harmless. The hotel itself is very quaint, with the rooms looking down over the courtyard.
That afternoon we had a light, yet interesting lunch at the Inka Grill. As I have mentioned a few months ago, I had resolved this year to be adventurous culinarily. Our starters included trout and beef carpaccio with ceviche. For dinner I had the cuy (guinea pig) and Rafi had the alpaca (like a small llama). The cuy was very fatty with little meat and tasted like 75% chicken and 25% duck. The alpaca had the texture and taste of a pork chop with a hint of lamb. We enjoyed them both. We also had "huacatay," which is a sauce made from a local mint. Most of us didn't like it, but I did. We dipped homemade potato chips (potatoes are a staple crop in Cusco) in it. Dessert was a beautiful presentation of a curly crisp topped with ice cream. You'll notice in the future that we took lots of photos of our food!
After eating we started to notice the altitude affecting us more as the blood went south to digest our food. Our friends went back to rest at the hotel, but Rafi and I decided to walk around the Plaza de Armas. The views from this center of Cusco are amazing. It really makes you realize you are in the Andes Mountains. The architecture is very old, as the buildings are literally built on top of Inca walls. We visited Iglesia La Compañía de Jesús, a cathedral with shrines covered by gold leaf. Underneath the building is a crypt and tunnels that connect all four cathedrals in town. Unfortunately, all of the cathedrals and museums we visited in Peru don't allow photography (video, flash or otherwise) inside, so our photography was somewhat limited by this. Our tour guide did take a photo of us from inside the building, though. She had taken us into a hidden passageway behind one of the shrines.
The rest of the day I think we just took it easy. The bed and pillows in our room never felt so good.
After a full day of travel (three flights), we arrived in Lima. That night we walked across the street to the hotel, spent the night, then walked back to the airport to catch our plane to Cusco. This is where I will begin our story.
We met our friends Arturo and Linette at the airport. Our flight to Cusco from Lima was roughly an hour. Right before we all boarded we took our Sorojchi Pills. They contain aspirin, a diuretic, and caffeine, which together all help ward off altitude sickness. These later proved themselves to be miracle pills. After landing we didn't notice too much difference in our breathing until we walked up a ramp, which resulted in some wheezing and racing hearts.
The hotel was a short drive from the airport, so I shot what I could.
The four of us decided to heed some well given advice and took it easy the first day. Our hotel was fantastic, and provided us coca leaf tea upon arrival. Coca leaves are illegal in the states, as you'll be charged with possession of cocaine if you have one, but they are perfectly legal in Cusco. The tea tastes like most any other tea, but you do not get high or feel weird after drinking it. It's a local custom that helps you adjust to the altitude. Though we made jokes about Rafi being addicted, the truth is that it's like poppy seeds are to opiates. Harmless. The hotel itself is very quaint, with the rooms looking down over the courtyard.
That afternoon we had a light, yet interesting lunch at the Inka Grill. As I have mentioned a few months ago, I had resolved this year to be adventurous culinarily. Our starters included trout and beef carpaccio with ceviche. For dinner I had the cuy (guinea pig) and Rafi had the alpaca (like a small llama). The cuy was very fatty with little meat and tasted like 75% chicken and 25% duck. The alpaca had the texture and taste of a pork chop with a hint of lamb. We enjoyed them both. We also had "huacatay," which is a sauce made from a local mint. Most of us didn't like it, but I did. We dipped homemade potato chips (potatoes are a staple crop in Cusco) in it. Dessert was a beautiful presentation of a curly crisp topped with ice cream. You'll notice in the future that we took lots of photos of our food!
After eating we started to notice the altitude affecting us more as the blood went south to digest our food. Our friends went back to rest at the hotel, but Rafi and I decided to walk around the Plaza de Armas. The views from this center of Cusco are amazing. It really makes you realize you are in the Andes Mountains. The architecture is very old, as the buildings are literally built on top of Inca walls. We visited Iglesia La Compañía de Jesús, a cathedral with shrines covered by gold leaf. Underneath the building is a crypt and tunnels that connect all four cathedrals in town. Unfortunately, all of the cathedrals and museums we visited in Peru don't allow photography (video, flash or otherwise) inside, so our photography was somewhat limited by this. Our tour guide did take a photo of us from inside the building, though. She had taken us into a hidden passageway behind one of the shrines.
posted by Jodi C. at 12:22 PM
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