Our long flight to Lima, Peru began in
San Francisco, but we had a few hours in Dallas/Fort Worth for our
layover so we utilized The Club DFW to relax before the long flight to
South America.
It was nice to enjoy a glass of wine and unwind before our flight. We were able to use the shower suite as well to get cleaned up before the red eye flight.
After landing in Lima, we had to check in for our Peruvian Airlines flight to Cusco, which is the gateway to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.
We had access to the El Salon VIP Lounge in the Domestic Depatures area of Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima.
The bartender in the VIP Lounge made me a mango flavored Pisco chilcano. I loved the Pisco in Peru. It is a liquor made from grapes.
Peruvian Airlines used older Boeing 737 aircraft with crappy seats, but the flight attendant was attractive. The inflight service is not free either.
We are landing in Cusco between the Andes Mountains. It was a tricky approach.
This is the old Boeing 737 we flew into Cusco on. We were a little worried about the plane at first, but we were impressed with the pilots as they were able to do the tricky landing.
I booked the only Hilton property in Cusco for our stay.
Cusco is at about 12,000 feet so the hotels have coca tea to help with the altitude sickness. This is tea brewed from the leaves of the plant that cocaine is made from. It is safe however.
Since I am a HHonors Diamond Member, the hotel upgraded our room and sent us a plate of chocolates with the Hilton Honors logo made out of some spice.
A few hours after checking into the hotel, our tour guide picked us up for the city tour of Cusco. We got this cool view of Cusco from a hilltop near one of the churches.
Our 2nd stop on the tour was the Cusco Market. It was something out of an episode of Bizzare Foods or Anthony Bourdain's old show.
The corn in Peru has bigger kernels. They actually had different colored corn including purple corn.
The potato was first cultivated in Peru thousands of years ago. Peru has many varieties of potatoes.
The Spanish built their colonial buildings on top of the Incan foundations. Most buildings in Cusco look like this with Incan stone foundations and Spanish stucco finishes on the higher floors with balconies.
The Spanish also built churches on top of the Incan temples to convert them to Christianity. This was some original Incan temples that were on the grounds of the one of the churches.
The Santo Domingo Church here had cool art work as well.
This is the Cathedral of Cusco. The inside is amazing with gold and silver alters. The famous "Black Jesus" is inside here too.
This is from a postcard I bought. I saw this painting inside the Cathedral of Cusco. The Last Supper portrayed here shows a guinea pig as the main course. Guinea Pig is a local delicacy.
After our tour was over, Joy and I enjoyed our complimentary welcome drinks at the bar at the Hilton Garden Inn. The bartender made me the signature drink of Peru, which is the Pisco Sour.
For dinner, Joy and I enjoyed the Uchu Steakhouse in Cusco.
We started with typical Peruvian Ceviche which has the Inca Corn in it.
For the main course, we enjoyed alpaca tenderloin, chicken, and beef tenderloin cooked on a hot stone and served with mashed potatoes with chili and peanuts.
The next day, our tour picked us up at 4:25 AM since we had to drive 2 hours to the town of Ollantaytambo to catch the Inca Rail to the base city of Machu Picchu.
Inca Rail is one of two operators who serve the Machu Picchu base city of Aguas Caliente.
Our train journey to Aguas Caliente was about two hours, and it was comfortable in the nice train carriage. I enjoyed some amazing Peruvian coffee as well from a local coffee shop at the train station.
This is the gateway to Machu Picchu. We took a bus for thirty minutes from Aguas Calientes to the top of where the tours for Machu Picchu begin.
We had a lot of climbing to do at Machu Picchu to take in the breathtaking scenery.
This is a good picture of the citadel of Machu Picchu from above with Huana Picchu in the forefront. That is the "look out" mountain.
This is a llama. The llamas roam around Machu Picchu to act as a natural "lawn mower."
We took a selfie with this llama.
This is Joy and I with Machu Picchu's citadel behind us.
This is a good picture of some of the food storage areas and terraces where the Incan people would grow their vegetables.
The niches behind me may have helped absorb shock from earthquakes which frequent this part of the world.
Here is a picture of the Urubamba River below Machu Picchu. This river feeds into the Amazon Basin.
This is the condor temple. One can see the wings in the rocks behind the triangle stone which has a carving of a bird's head. Condors represented the after life for the Inca.
We saw the beautiful cloud forests as we went back to Aguas Caliente. Machu Picchu is located where the Peruvian Amazon Jungle starts.
This is a typical Peruvian dish called Lomo Saltado. It is "salted beef." The grain underneath is quinoa. We enjoyed lunch in Aguas Calientes at a place called Full House.
This was a cool picture I took of the Andes mountains and glaciers along with some prickly pear plants when we were coming back to Cusco.
We stopped in a local bodega to buy some beverages near our hotel. I love these little bodegas in Latin America. They are usually lit up at night with fluroscent bright lighting.
For dinner, we went to Calle de Medio near the Plaza de Armas in Cusco. I ordered a lamb shank that was cooked for 24 hours. It was served with mashed pumpkins and rice. This was so delicious!
The dessert was amazing too.
Joy and I are enjoying the view of the Plaza de Armas after dinner. I loved their cappucino also.
The next day, we went on a tour of the Sacred Valley. The first stop was the market in Pisac. We got a great deal on a baby alpaca blanket there.
Speaking of alpaca, Joy and I posed for a picture with some locals with their alpacas. Joy is holding a baby alpaca.
I had an amazing mocha at the Choco Museum in Pisac. Peruvian coffee and chocolate are both amazing. When they are combined, the result is just a delicious beverage.
This lady is selling cuy or guinea pig. Guinea Pig is a popular dish in Peru.
The rural areas in Peru have these three wheel taxis similiar to the "tuk tuk" in Thailand or "Auto Rickshaw" in India. It is only 1 Sol or about 33 cents to ride these from one end of the village to the other end.
We went to the Yucay Museum in the Sacred Valley where we learned about the way the Incan people live. This lady is showing us how to color alpaca wool with vegetables.
These two are making mud bricks.
This is the infamous coca leave. Cocaine is made from these. However, most of the leaves have antioxidant properties.
They are making some corn based beer here. It is stronger than regular beer, but it tasted good.
The Yucay Museum also had alpaca, llamas, and a vicunya. This alpaca is feasting on some leaves.
Our next stop was the Incan Ruins of Ollantaytambo.
We climbed all the way to the top of those Incan ruins.
The views from the top were amazing.
Those structures on the mountains opposite the main ruins were built by the Inca also. They were used for food storage since it was cooler up here, and they were better protected against bugs there.
The Incan ruins here also had the terraces on the mountain. Some say the Inca did not built pyramids since they had the landscape to make the mountain into a "pyramid."
This is the water temple. They actually were able to get the water here from the hills without modern piping.
When we returned to our hotel in Cusco, I noticed there was a conservatory where the original colonial foundations were preserved.
We had dinner at a "Chifa" or Chinese restaurant called Kion in Cusco that night.
I ordered another Pisco beverage with a lycee inside for more flavor. I liked the Andea bottled mineral water too.
The first course of shrimp dumplings were amazing. The sauces were a fusion of Asian and Peruvian tastes.
Peruvian "Chifa" Chinese is a blend of Latin and Asian influences.
The Plaza de Armas on a Saturday night was busy. I loved the water fountain.
We flew back to Lima the next day. The El Pardo Doubletree in Miraflores upgraded us to a 1 bedroom suite with 2 full bathrooms.
The Executive Lounge at the El Pardo Doubletree had great snacks including the flan!
I could not get enough of the coffee in Peru either.
We took the BMW car service from our hotel to the Larcomar Mall to have brunch at one of the best spots in town.
The Larcomar Mall was built on the cliff above the ocean, and it was very high end.
The Sunday brunch at Mango's was amazing. The seafood including the ceviches were so fresh. I loved the sea cucumber ceviche! The scallops were great too.
The pasta station at the brunch was the best pasta station that I have ever had a buffet or brunch before.
We are posing for a selfie with the ocean in the background. The Lima shoreline is pretty rough and cold from what we heard.
The management at the El Pardo Doubletree sent up some treats for us as well since I am a Diamond guest.
We had a private night tour of Lima that day. Our guide took us to San Martin Square first in Central Lima.
San Martin Square is where Peruvians can go and protest and speak freely anytime of the day.
This is a picture of us at Plaza de Armas in Lima with the Cathedral of Lima to the side.
The Plaza de Armas had cool colonial balconies like those two protruding out from the yellowish building.
This is a train station in Lima that is hardly used.
Our guide took us to the Reserve Park next where feature a large water fountain park.
They do a projection show onto the water similiar to the World of Colors show at California Adventures in Anahiem. It was pretty cool.
Our private guide was excellent with taking pictures on an iPhone camera. Joy and I are posing here with the fountain in the background.
We enjoyed a night cap in the Executive Lounge at the hotel once we got back. The attendant brought me a local beer to try.
I was getting hungry so I ordered Uber Eats on my phone. The Indian food was amazing!
The staff in the Executive Lounge had the tables all set up for a semi private breakfast up there for us VIP guests. I did not like how they had CNN however. I hate CNN!
I loved this cereal. The staff was very attentive. She made me a cappucino.
The hostess also went downstairs to get my cooked to order items such as my omlette and potatoes. I love not having to eat with the "common folk" in the restaurant of the hotel. LOL. JK :)
The El Pardo Doubletree had a nice lobby with a baby grand piano. We waited for our private tour guide down here after breakfast.
Our private tour guide took us to the Plaza de Armas first. The Peruvian Presidential Palace is behind us here.
The honor guard for the Peruvian President stands guard behind us.
This is the Bishop of Peru's residence in the Plaza de Armas.
We visited the San Francisco Church which was home to catacombs. I could not take pictures in the catacombs, but it was freaky to see all the bones of the people buried under the church.
The inside of the San Francisco Church was done in an Arabic style borrowed from the Moors who invaded Spain hundreds of years ago.
This old building with the colonial balconies is the Constitutional Court of Peru.
The Peruvian Congress is shown here.
I could not resist getting a chicken empanada from a local bakery during the tour.
The colonial balconies are a trademark of Lima.
This is the Jesuit church in Lima.
The San Pedro Church was nice inside as well.
The Dominican Church of Santo Domingo was the least oppulent.
Our next stop was the artsy district of Barranco.
Barranco is by the coast.
A lot of Peruvian artists and poets call Barranco home.
We could not resist getting some typical Peruvian roast chicken for lunch when we got back to the hotel. The chicken is roasted over a wood fire.
The hotel's BMW car service took us to our next hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn in Surco, another district of Lima.
The Hilton Garden Inn in Surco upgraded us to a nice suite as well.
The suite was very modern.
The light switches were really cool.
Another day, another treat compliments of my HHonors Diamond Status. LOL.
We are all dressed up for dinner at a top Nikkei or Japanese restaurant in Surco.
We are waiting for our taxi to take us to dinner. The five stars under the Hilton Garden Inn logo states that this is a 5 Star Hotel!
We started with a omakase sampler selected by the chef for us. Every item was delicious!
The next day, we toured the Gold Museum in Surco.
We saw lots of artifacts from even before the time of the Inca.
We even saw mummies!
Surco is an upscale suburban area of Lima. The parks were really nice.
We enjoyed lunch at Tanta, a local chain in Peru. I could not get enough of lomo saltado.
I also ordered a lucuma milkshake. Lucuma is a tropical fruit grown in Peru. It looks like a Kiwi on the outside. This fruit reminded me of a fruit I ate in India before too.
We took the Pan American highway from Surco to Lima Airport. The Lima traffic is the worst in South America. This highway links Alaska to the tip of Argentina and Chile with a short break in Panama.
Joy and I enjoyed some snacks and beverages in the VIP lounge at the airport before our flight home.
Joy and I went on a
trip of a life time to the Andean nation of Peru in April of
2019. This long journey took us from San Francisco International
Airport (SFO) to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) where we
connected to a flight to Lima, Peru (LIM). From Lima, we took a
local Peruvian airline to the city of Cusco in the Andes. The
views of the Andes from the plane were amazing, and I took some Advil
prior to landing as prophylaxis for the altitude sickness. Upon
arrival in Cusco, a porter asked if we needed assistance, and I told
him that we had airport transfer already booked. He immediately
recognized my name when I told him who I was. He took our bags to
a lady holding a sign with my name, and we were off within minutes for
the Hilton Garden Inn in Cusco. The Hilton Garden Inn is the only
Hilton property in Cusco. We booked our airport transfers and
tours through Expedia, Viator, and Trip Advisor, but most of the
companies used the local tour company that picked us up at the airport
as their local agent. As a result, it was so easy to confirm all
of our tours and schedule with the lady who picked us up at the
airport. She immediately gave us a schedule of approximate times
when they would come get us at the hotel for all of our tours and
airport transfer back to the airport in Cusco. I was so impressed
with the Peruvians so far! Everything was very organized.
Once we arrived at the hotel, I saw they had the typical coca tea in the lobby to help combat the altitude sickness. Cusco is at around 12,500 feet so many travellers do experience the shortness of breath there. I had a little heavy breathing once I landed, but I was OK for the most part. The coca tea is brewed from the leaves of the plant that cocaine is derived from. It is safe to drink however. Actually, my wife and I bought enjoyed the tea. The hotel upgraded us to a nice courtyard room with a patio because of my HHonors Diamond Status. Moreover, they sent us a nice plate of chocolates with the Hilton Honors logo made out of spices. The hotel was a nice blend of modern yet colonial, and the original colonial foundations were preserved below glass in the conservatory for us to view.
We took a short nap before our city tour of Cusco. The tour guide arrived right on the dot to pick us up. We were shown the unique architecture of Cusco. The Spanish built the city on top of the Incan ruins. The original foundations done by the Inca were stone. Above the Incan stone foundations, one can see the Spanish stucco and the balconies which are trademarks of the Spanish colonial architecture. We were taken to a church above the city to take in amazing views of the city. Cusco is built upon hilly terrain.
Our guide took us to a market next where we saw local fruits, vegetables, meat, and cheeses. Peruvian corn has bigger kernels, and we even saw purple colored corn! The potato was originally grown in Peru. I did not know that. I always thought the Irish were the ones who planted the potato first. When the Spanish came to Peru, they built their churches on top of the Incan temples to force the locals to convert. We saw some old Incan ruins inside a large church in Cusco next. Cusco has lots of large churches, and the Spanish built most of these churches around the 1500s and 1600s. Afterwards, we went to the Cathedral of Cusco. That was a huge church with lots of gold and silver alters. It was beautiful inside, but we could not take any pictures. There was a famous painting of the Last Supper too which showed a guinea pig on the platter since that is a local delicacy to make the painting more relevant to the Incan people. This church also had the "Black Jesus." This statue of Jesus is paraded around the main square during the feast of Corpus Christi in June.
After our tour was over, we enjoyed a welcome beverage at the hotel compliments of them. I got a pisco sour. The bartender gave me a good lesson in the different quality of pisco. Pisco is a liqour made from grapes, and it is unique to Peru. Later, we took a taxi to the main area of Cusco where we had dinner reservations at a top steakhouse called Uchu. I enjoyed a trio of beef, chicken, and alpaca that was cooked on a hot stone! Yes, I said alpaca. Alpaca tasted like a mild and lean red meat.
The next day, our tour guide picked us up around 4:25 AM for our expedition to Machu Picchu. The hotel packed us a breakfast since it was too early to eat breakfast there. The van took us to the town of Ollantaytambo where we took the Inca Rail to Aguas Caliente. In the rainy season, the train can not come all the way to Cusco so one must drive two hours to Ollantaytambo. We went at the end of the rainy season, and we got pretty much no rain. The weather was beautiful! The Inca Rail cars were nice, and we enjoyed our one hour and forty five minute journey to the base of Machu Picchu. On board, they served us a snack and beverage. One of the travellers seated across from us was from Bolivia. She appeared to be in her twenties, and she was a pilot for a regional airline in Bolivia. She received her high school education in Santa Barbara too so she spoke very good English with almost no accent. I asked her about the current political situations in South America including the problems in Venezuela. She told us that she hates socialism, and she is fearful for what will happen in her own country because of the socialist bastards. It was refreshing to see the youth not buy into this socialism crap like many in the US are now. Socialism does not work! It is not right to steal from the hard working and wealthier classes. A lot of South Americans we met were against socialism and communism.
After arriving in Aguas Caliente, our guide met us at the train station. We took a thirty minute bus ride to the top of the mountain where we started our tour. The guide was very good. He explained a lot of the history of Machu Picchu. The views were stunning. We even saw llamas grazing on the grass. Our tour guide took us all over the Incan citadel, and we saw the food storage areas as well as living quarters. It was amazing to see how the Inca could build the terraces and carry all those heavy stones up the mountain back then without modern day equipment. We got quite a work out that day. I think my iPhone said we climbed about 81 stories. The Inca had three main symbols. The condor represented the heavens or after life. The puma represented the present. The snake represented the underworld. We saw some temples at Machu Picchu, but the condor temple was the most impressive because they carved the shape of a condor from these large stones. I was able to see the Urubama River too from the top of the mountain area. This river feeds into the Amazon basin. Machu Picchu is where the Peruvian Amazon jungle begins. Peru has three major regions. The coast is where Lima is. Then, there is the Andes region. The Amazon jungle is the largest region of Peru.
We enjoyed a Peruvian lunch in Aguas Calientes after getting back from Machu Picchu. Our train took us back to Ollantaytambo where the van picked us up to go back to Cusco. We saw a lot of cool glaciers and mountain scenery on the way back to Cusco.
The next day, we toured the Sacred Valley. Our first stop was in Pisac. The market there had lots of local alpaca garments and blankets. Moreover, there was lots of other hand made items for sale. We got a great deal on an alpaca blanket. This baby alpaca blanket was less than $40. The baby alpaca is the wool from the first shearing of the alpaca so it is the softest! The chocolate museum and coffee shop in the market was great too. I loved the mocha I had there. Peruvian coffee was very mild, and I loved the taste! The chocolate in Peru is amazing too. Combining both into a hot beverage was out of this world! We saw cuy or guinea pig being sold on the street on our way to the Incan museum. At the Incan museum, we saw how the ancient peoples dyed their garments using vegetables. Moreover, we saw how mud bricks were made.
Our final stop on the tour was the ancient Incan ruins in Ollantaytambo. These ruins were amazing! We hiked all the way to the top, and it was quite a work out again! The views were spectacular from the top. The Andes are the most beautiful mountains that I have ever seen so far! After returning to Cusco, we went to Kion for dinner. Kion was a "Chifa" or Peruvian Chinese restaurant. Chifa is the word for Chinese in Peru. We enjoyed dinner a lot. We walked around the Plaza de Armas in Cusco too before dinner, and we even stopped in to Starbucks to get a drink.
The next day, we flew back to Lima. After checking into our hotel in Miraflores and unwinding a little in our one bedroom suite with two full bathrooms, we enjoyed a snack in the Executive Lounge. The hotel arranged to take us to Mangos Restaurant at Larcomar Mall via their house BMW car service. Mangos had a great brunch! The seafood was so fresh, and we loved the ceviche. We had our private guide show up around 5:00 PM at our hotel to take us on a night tour of Lima. He took us to Central Lima first to see San Martin Square. San Martin Square is where people can go and speak their mind as well as protest against anything. Afterwards, we went to the Plaza de Armas and saw the Cathedral of Lima. The Presidential Palace was here too. Afterwards, we went to the Park of the Reserve. It was redone a few years ago with lots of water fountains. They had a magic water show which broadcast images onto water at night. We saw that show before returning to the hotel. The Executive Lounge was still open, and I tried a local beer. Since I was hungry, I decided to see if Uber Eats was available in Lima on my iPhone. I was able to order some great Indian food.
We enjoyed our breakfast in the comforts and privacy of the Executive Lounge. The attendant took my order, and she brought the food up from the main restaurant. Afterwards, we had our private tour guide pick us up to give us another tour of Lima. We went to see the catacombs underneath the San Francisco Church in Lima. It was so freaky to see all the skulls and femur bones organized into neat piles for the most part. We continued on a walking tour of Central Lima where we saw lots of colonial style buildings. Many of the buildings had the trademark balconies too. We saw the Peruvian Congress building also. Our guide took us to Barranco also. This district of Lima is by the ocean, and it is known for being an artsy district. A lot of Peruvian artists and poets live here. The buildings looked kind of art deco, and it was a nice spot to catch the ocean breeze. We enjoyed some espresso from a coffee cart in a park before continuing on our tour. Our guide took us to a ghetto area to get some pisco too before returning us back at the hotel.
The El Pardo Doubletree BMW car took us to our next hotel that evening. We decided to stay in another district of Lima on the last night of our trip. Surco is an upper class suburb of Lima. The Lima traffic is terrible so it took us a while to get to Surco from Miraflores. The car service dropped us off at the five star Hilton Garden Inn in Surco. This was the first five star Hilton Garden Inn property that I saw anywhere. We were upgraded once again to a suite, and they sent us up a nice treat too. That evening, we enjoyed our welcome drink at the bar again. The Pisco sour was great. Afterwards, the hotel arranged for a taxi to take us to dinner at Osaka El Polo. This Japanese restaurant was amazing! We started off with an omakase before having more sushi. The dessert was a home made coconut ice cream.
We toured Surco on Tuesday. We started out at the Gold Museum in Surco. This museum had lots of artifacts including lots of gold and silver items from hundreds of years ago. A lot of the items were before the Incan civilization too. We also saw mummies there. Afterwards, we walked around Surco and explored the nice parks. We tried a local chain restaurant called Tanta for lunch. The lomo saltado was great. I also enjoyed a lucuma milkshake. This milkshake was made from a tropical fruit found in Peru. It was so delicious! I even had some lucuma ice cream later on that day at a French style bakery. We checked out one of the malls in Surco too, and I got a four hands massage. Moreover, we checked out the Starbucks too over there since I loved the Peruvian coffee.
Our airport transfer by Lima Cab arrived on the dot at 7:00 PM to whisk us away to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima. The Lima traffic was so bad that it took a while to get there via the Pan American Highway. The Pan American Highway stretches from Alaska to the tip of Argentina and Chile. One can technically drive it the whole way except for a small part in Panama which is not accesible by cars. Our flight out was at 11:52 PM, but we had lounge priveleges at the VIP lounge in the International terminal area. The food and drinks were decent. Once we boarded our American Airlines 757 and took off, we were served our dinner.
Once we arrived at the hotel, I saw they had the typical coca tea in the lobby to help combat the altitude sickness. Cusco is at around 12,500 feet so many travellers do experience the shortness of breath there. I had a little heavy breathing once I landed, but I was OK for the most part. The coca tea is brewed from the leaves of the plant that cocaine is derived from. It is safe to drink however. Actually, my wife and I bought enjoyed the tea. The hotel upgraded us to a nice courtyard room with a patio because of my HHonors Diamond Status. Moreover, they sent us a nice plate of chocolates with the Hilton Honors logo made out of spices. The hotel was a nice blend of modern yet colonial, and the original colonial foundations were preserved below glass in the conservatory for us to view.
We took a short nap before our city tour of Cusco. The tour guide arrived right on the dot to pick us up. We were shown the unique architecture of Cusco. The Spanish built the city on top of the Incan ruins. The original foundations done by the Inca were stone. Above the Incan stone foundations, one can see the Spanish stucco and the balconies which are trademarks of the Spanish colonial architecture. We were taken to a church above the city to take in amazing views of the city. Cusco is built upon hilly terrain.
Our guide took us to a market next where we saw local fruits, vegetables, meat, and cheeses. Peruvian corn has bigger kernels, and we even saw purple colored corn! The potato was originally grown in Peru. I did not know that. I always thought the Irish were the ones who planted the potato first. When the Spanish came to Peru, they built their churches on top of the Incan temples to force the locals to convert. We saw some old Incan ruins inside a large church in Cusco next. Cusco has lots of large churches, and the Spanish built most of these churches around the 1500s and 1600s. Afterwards, we went to the Cathedral of Cusco. That was a huge church with lots of gold and silver alters. It was beautiful inside, but we could not take any pictures. There was a famous painting of the Last Supper too which showed a guinea pig on the platter since that is a local delicacy to make the painting more relevant to the Incan people. This church also had the "Black Jesus." This statue of Jesus is paraded around the main square during the feast of Corpus Christi in June.
After our tour was over, we enjoyed a welcome beverage at the hotel compliments of them. I got a pisco sour. The bartender gave me a good lesson in the different quality of pisco. Pisco is a liqour made from grapes, and it is unique to Peru. Later, we took a taxi to the main area of Cusco where we had dinner reservations at a top steakhouse called Uchu. I enjoyed a trio of beef, chicken, and alpaca that was cooked on a hot stone! Yes, I said alpaca. Alpaca tasted like a mild and lean red meat.
The next day, our tour guide picked us up around 4:25 AM for our expedition to Machu Picchu. The hotel packed us a breakfast since it was too early to eat breakfast there. The van took us to the town of Ollantaytambo where we took the Inca Rail to Aguas Caliente. In the rainy season, the train can not come all the way to Cusco so one must drive two hours to Ollantaytambo. We went at the end of the rainy season, and we got pretty much no rain. The weather was beautiful! The Inca Rail cars were nice, and we enjoyed our one hour and forty five minute journey to the base of Machu Picchu. On board, they served us a snack and beverage. One of the travellers seated across from us was from Bolivia. She appeared to be in her twenties, and she was a pilot for a regional airline in Bolivia. She received her high school education in Santa Barbara too so she spoke very good English with almost no accent. I asked her about the current political situations in South America including the problems in Venezuela. She told us that she hates socialism, and she is fearful for what will happen in her own country because of the socialist bastards. It was refreshing to see the youth not buy into this socialism crap like many in the US are now. Socialism does not work! It is not right to steal from the hard working and wealthier classes. A lot of South Americans we met were against socialism and communism.
After arriving in Aguas Caliente, our guide met us at the train station. We took a thirty minute bus ride to the top of the mountain where we started our tour. The guide was very good. He explained a lot of the history of Machu Picchu. The views were stunning. We even saw llamas grazing on the grass. Our tour guide took us all over the Incan citadel, and we saw the food storage areas as well as living quarters. It was amazing to see how the Inca could build the terraces and carry all those heavy stones up the mountain back then without modern day equipment. We got quite a work out that day. I think my iPhone said we climbed about 81 stories. The Inca had three main symbols. The condor represented the heavens or after life. The puma represented the present. The snake represented the underworld. We saw some temples at Machu Picchu, but the condor temple was the most impressive because they carved the shape of a condor from these large stones. I was able to see the Urubama River too from the top of the mountain area. This river feeds into the Amazon basin. Machu Picchu is where the Peruvian Amazon jungle begins. Peru has three major regions. The coast is where Lima is. Then, there is the Andes region. The Amazon jungle is the largest region of Peru.
We enjoyed a Peruvian lunch in Aguas Calientes after getting back from Machu Picchu. Our train took us back to Ollantaytambo where the van picked us up to go back to Cusco. We saw a lot of cool glaciers and mountain scenery on the way back to Cusco.
The next day, we toured the Sacred Valley. Our first stop was in Pisac. The market there had lots of local alpaca garments and blankets. Moreover, there was lots of other hand made items for sale. We got a great deal on an alpaca blanket. This baby alpaca blanket was less than $40. The baby alpaca is the wool from the first shearing of the alpaca so it is the softest! The chocolate museum and coffee shop in the market was great too. I loved the mocha I had there. Peruvian coffee was very mild, and I loved the taste! The chocolate in Peru is amazing too. Combining both into a hot beverage was out of this world! We saw cuy or guinea pig being sold on the street on our way to the Incan museum. At the Incan museum, we saw how the ancient peoples dyed their garments using vegetables. Moreover, we saw how mud bricks were made.
Our final stop on the tour was the ancient Incan ruins in Ollantaytambo. These ruins were amazing! We hiked all the way to the top, and it was quite a work out again! The views were spectacular from the top. The Andes are the most beautiful mountains that I have ever seen so far! After returning to Cusco, we went to Kion for dinner. Kion was a "Chifa" or Peruvian Chinese restaurant. Chifa is the word for Chinese in Peru. We enjoyed dinner a lot. We walked around the Plaza de Armas in Cusco too before dinner, and we even stopped in to Starbucks to get a drink.
The next day, we flew back to Lima. After checking into our hotel in Miraflores and unwinding a little in our one bedroom suite with two full bathrooms, we enjoyed a snack in the Executive Lounge. The hotel arranged to take us to Mangos Restaurant at Larcomar Mall via their house BMW car service. Mangos had a great brunch! The seafood was so fresh, and we loved the ceviche. We had our private guide show up around 5:00 PM at our hotel to take us on a night tour of Lima. He took us to Central Lima first to see San Martin Square. San Martin Square is where people can go and speak their mind as well as protest against anything. Afterwards, we went to the Plaza de Armas and saw the Cathedral of Lima. The Presidential Palace was here too. Afterwards, we went to the Park of the Reserve. It was redone a few years ago with lots of water fountains. They had a magic water show which broadcast images onto water at night. We saw that show before returning to the hotel. The Executive Lounge was still open, and I tried a local beer. Since I was hungry, I decided to see if Uber Eats was available in Lima on my iPhone. I was able to order some great Indian food.
We enjoyed our breakfast in the comforts and privacy of the Executive Lounge. The attendant took my order, and she brought the food up from the main restaurant. Afterwards, we had our private tour guide pick us up to give us another tour of Lima. We went to see the catacombs underneath the San Francisco Church in Lima. It was so freaky to see all the skulls and femur bones organized into neat piles for the most part. We continued on a walking tour of Central Lima where we saw lots of colonial style buildings. Many of the buildings had the trademark balconies too. We saw the Peruvian Congress building also. Our guide took us to Barranco also. This district of Lima is by the ocean, and it is known for being an artsy district. A lot of Peruvian artists and poets live here. The buildings looked kind of art deco, and it was a nice spot to catch the ocean breeze. We enjoyed some espresso from a coffee cart in a park before continuing on our tour. Our guide took us to a ghetto area to get some pisco too before returning us back at the hotel.
The El Pardo Doubletree BMW car took us to our next hotel that evening. We decided to stay in another district of Lima on the last night of our trip. Surco is an upper class suburb of Lima. The Lima traffic is terrible so it took us a while to get to Surco from Miraflores. The car service dropped us off at the five star Hilton Garden Inn in Surco. This was the first five star Hilton Garden Inn property that I saw anywhere. We were upgraded once again to a suite, and they sent us up a nice treat too. That evening, we enjoyed our welcome drink at the bar again. The Pisco sour was great. Afterwards, the hotel arranged for a taxi to take us to dinner at Osaka El Polo. This Japanese restaurant was amazing! We started off with an omakase before having more sushi. The dessert was a home made coconut ice cream.
We toured Surco on Tuesday. We started out at the Gold Museum in Surco. This museum had lots of artifacts including lots of gold and silver items from hundreds of years ago. A lot of the items were before the Incan civilization too. We also saw mummies there. Afterwards, we walked around Surco and explored the nice parks. We tried a local chain restaurant called Tanta for lunch. The lomo saltado was great. I also enjoyed a lucuma milkshake. This milkshake was made from a tropical fruit found in Peru. It was so delicious! I even had some lucuma ice cream later on that day at a French style bakery. We checked out one of the malls in Surco too, and I got a four hands massage. Moreover, we checked out the Starbucks too over there since I loved the Peruvian coffee.
Our airport transfer by Lima Cab arrived on the dot at 7:00 PM to whisk us away to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima. The Lima traffic was so bad that it took a while to get there via the Pan American Highway. The Pan American Highway stretches from Alaska to the tip of Argentina and Chile. One can technically drive it the whole way except for a small part in Panama which is not accesible by cars. Our flight out was at 11:52 PM, but we had lounge priveleges at the VIP lounge in the International terminal area. The food and drinks were decent. Once we boarded our American Airlines 757 and took off, we were served our dinner.