Lcuy's first visit to Peru; Machu Picchu, Iquitos, and Lima
Jul 21st, 2011, 01:15 AM
#41
Original Poster
<b>Cusco</b>
The next morning, our hotel looked a lot better than it did the night before. The room had a 60’s look about it. The bedspreads were a gold and white brocade, and had a blanket stitched inside. I thought the beds would be uncomfortable, but it turned out they were okay, and that there was an alpaca blanket inside a duvet cover, so I didn’t have to sleep with the heavy bedspread. The hotel consists of several buildings all connected by decks, stairs and landings. Lots of interesting potted plants and small fountains made it feel like an oasis in the city. We were on the third floor, so it was a bit of a climb, but not bad. We had a big window with a pretty view of the doorways and courtyards on our property and a view of the homes on the hill above. The bathroom looked newly remodelled and everything was very clean. My complaints were the tiny, rough bath towels and the two tiny foil packets of shampoo that weren’t replaced on the second day. Plus, the water sitting on the desk, looking like comp that looked like the free bottles most hotels gave us, were actually charged as mini-bar items.
Breakfast was good; a small but tasty selection of fruits and cereals, and eggs could be ordered at no extra charge. Teas and coffee were left out all day.
Oddly, I realized that the altitude was only now starting to affect me. All this day and the next I had a continuous headache and a lack of appetite, as well as more noticeable shortness of breath. I drank a lot of Coca tea and took Tylenol all day. I was okay, but did not feel great.
Our hotel offered to do our laundry for 7 soles/per kilo, but we had noticed about 6 shops advertising laundry for 3 soles/kilo. We weren’t feeling particularly loyal to the Rumi Punku, so we dropped off a bag a couple of doors down on our way into the Plaza. It was only about a block and a half to the Plaza Major, and the weather was just gorgeous.
We toured one of the churches, then sat on a bench in the Plaza for a while. The flowers were all blooming, tourists were taking photos in front of the big fountain, and about every 3 minutes someone would offer us a shoeshine, artwork, or etched gourds. The vendors were obviously breaking a law approaching us, they’d all sort of sidle up, and when we said “No, gracias”, most would keep on moving. If anyone was too obvious, a whistle would blow and all of them would melt off across the street. It kept things interesting, and low key. We were able to chat with some of them, without any hard selling. Occasionally the whistle would blow when a kid (or adult) got too close to the grass. Guess that was illegal too!
At one end of the Plaza, a noisy demonstration was going on. Lots of signs and chanting, and across the street was a display of posters detailing all the sins of the Fujimoto Clan. Father Alberto is in jail, but his daughter, Keiko was in the run-off election scheduled for the beginning of June. According to some of the signs, the four or so Fujimori kids all went to prestigious universities in America, all of them being brilliant enough to win full-ride scholarships from the Peruvian government.. Oddly the youngest sibling seemed to have attended a no –name junior college to the tune of about $400,000. Out of country tuition must have been quite high..
We did a little shopping here, picking up some alpaca purses at a good price, then headed down the main street. (It changes name about every two blocks). There were a lot of schools in this area; lots of kids from K up to college age. Each school had a distinctive uniform, either the traditional plaid skirt and white shirt, or brightly colored athletic pants with zippered jackets.
Our goal was the Mercado San Pedro. On the city map it looked quite far. In reality it was about a five minute walk. Nice! This indoor market is clearly set up for the locals. There are vegetable sections, meat, bread, and flower aisles, groceries, festival wear, baby clothes, and shoes, and many booths of wool and alpaca clothing. There was a long section of stalls that each had a tailor with an old foot pedaled Singer, and racks of aprons and the full skirts the older women wear. In the middle was a “food court “, and the soups and stews being served looked really good, as did one booth that had about a hundred layered yogurt parfaits with every mix of syrups and nuts or candies that exist!
We bought some nice alpaca hats for our cold weather cousins and the skiers in the family, as well as a couple dozen soft baby alpaca socks ($3 each). We also picked up some bags of coca leaves and a few bags of the local corn nuts.
After we had our fill of shopping, we strolled slowly back up to the Plaza Major. I had written down the name of a recommended restaurant that was overlooking the Plaza. We walked completely around the Plaza, fighting off the kids with menus but never spotted it. Instead, we stopped in at the Bagdad Café. It was your typical tourist restaurant with a huge menu divided up into Peruvian, Italian, and Mexican, and of course, pizza and hamburgers.
We had a nice seat in a bay window overlooking the Plaza, so it was very pleasant, and our food was pretty good. Unfortunately, I was really feeling really exhausted at this point, so I left my husband with the view and walked home. I climbed into bed and took a nap until he returned a few hours later, and he’d even remembered the laundry. He had discovered the Monastery Hotel and Inca museum and had a nice afternoon as well. For dinner, he headed down the block to try Jack’s restaurant. Apparently it’s quite popular, and the line to get in was huge. He returned to our café from the previous evening and bought a take-out dinner for both of us.
The next day we had a 3:30 flight to Iquitos. After breakfast, we paid our bill, then left our bags at the hotel. We walked over to the Monastery Hotel again (gorgeous!) and wandered up to the San Blas area, where I finally broke down and had my husband take a picture of me with two women and their llama. I thought it was a beautiful area, but it had a very different feel than the Plaza area. Every restaurant seemed to have banana pancakes and American cocktails on their menu, a sure sign the ratio of locals to foreigners is quite low….
There was a little bakery on the right side as we came back down the hill. It’s hard to miss the smell of fresh bread. We each had a delicious ham sandwich on a roll then split a dessert. I made the mistake of ordering a hot chocolate, forgetting that they like them very strong and bitter. ;- ( I had some sweetener packers in my purse, but there was no amount of sweetener that was going to make that drink even slightly sweet! On the way out the door, we brought 2 more sandwiches in case the menu options in Iquitos were limited.
We walked down to the Plaza Major again, then took a cab home. Cabs anywhere in the historic area are just 3 Soles, which is good, as it takes twice as long in a cab as on foot, due to the narrow and one -way streets!
Back at the Rumi Punku, our driver appeared promptly at 1:30 and we were at the airport about 15 minutes later. Our flight was only a little late, and so an hour or so later we were back in Lima airport for the third time.
Oddly, our flight didn’t appear on the departure screens. I looked at the actual boarding passes and they had changed us to a flight 90 minutes later. Apparently our earlier flight had been taken off the schedule. Oh well. At least there was a later flight to be on!
Our flight was very unremarkable except that it got pretty bumpy about 10 minutes before landing. They had the TV screens showing the plane’s flight path, and counting down the distance to Iquitos. I was watching it as it counted down…10 miles to destination… 6 miles to destination… 3 miles to destination… 6 miles to destination… 8 miles to destination… WHAT?
About this time the pilot came on and made an announcement in very scratchy Spanish. I guess he said we couldn’t land in Iquitos, because the screens started tracking our distance to Lima after that. We landed in Lima and followed the crowd back to the front desks, where we were issued new boarding passes for 9:30 the next morning. No hotels, no meals, but I asked if someone could help me call our Amazon company to tell them of our delay and I was given a couple of telephone cards. Too bad nobody could every get them to work in the public phones!
We didn't want to sleep in the airport like many of the other passengers seemed to be forced to do, so we walked back to the Ramada and got a room there again. The desk clerk asked what I had paid the week before, and gave us that same rate. Meanwhile, no one was answering the phones or emails at Explorama. I finally called their US number and left a message that we would be coming in the next morning.
Our fifth trip through Lima airport was much more successful. We left on time and landed on time at Iquitos, where we were met by Armando, our guide for the weekend. Poor thing. He’d waited for our cancelled flight, then the aborted flight, and then came back to check out this flight. At first he seemed a bit peeved we hadn’t called, but after I pulled out my cell phone to show him all the incomplete calls, he was fine.
We headed out to the ancient wooden school bus that would take us to the boat dock. Iquitos seemed a lot like I imagine Havana, Cuba. Very few cars on the roads, mostly all three wheel tuk tuks. Nearly all of them had intricate plastic cords knotted in intricate design across the front of the passenger section. They looked like exotic spider webs in neon pink, yellow and every other color of the rainbow. I was in the front seat, and able to get lots of clear photos, primarily because the windshield of the bus was a fully functioning window and the driver liked it “open”!
The next morning, our hotel looked a lot better than it did the night before. The room had a 60’s look about it. The bedspreads were a gold and white brocade, and had a blanket stitched inside. I thought the beds would be uncomfortable, but it turned out they were okay, and that there was an alpaca blanket inside a duvet cover, so I didn’t have to sleep with the heavy bedspread. The hotel consists of several buildings all connected by decks, stairs and landings. Lots of interesting potted plants and small fountains made it feel like an oasis in the city. We were on the third floor, so it was a bit of a climb, but not bad. We had a big window with a pretty view of the doorways and courtyards on our property and a view of the homes on the hill above. The bathroom looked newly remodelled and everything was very clean. My complaints were the tiny, rough bath towels and the two tiny foil packets of shampoo that weren’t replaced on the second day. Plus, the water sitting on the desk, looking like comp that looked like the free bottles most hotels gave us, were actually charged as mini-bar items.
Breakfast was good; a small but tasty selection of fruits and cereals, and eggs could be ordered at no extra charge. Teas and coffee were left out all day.
Oddly, I realized that the altitude was only now starting to affect me. All this day and the next I had a continuous headache and a lack of appetite, as well as more noticeable shortness of breath. I drank a lot of Coca tea and took Tylenol all day. I was okay, but did not feel great.
Our hotel offered to do our laundry for 7 soles/per kilo, but we had noticed about 6 shops advertising laundry for 3 soles/kilo. We weren’t feeling particularly loyal to the Rumi Punku, so we dropped off a bag a couple of doors down on our way into the Plaza. It was only about a block and a half to the Plaza Major, and the weather was just gorgeous.
We toured one of the churches, then sat on a bench in the Plaza for a while. The flowers were all blooming, tourists were taking photos in front of the big fountain, and about every 3 minutes someone would offer us a shoeshine, artwork, or etched gourds. The vendors were obviously breaking a law approaching us, they’d all sort of sidle up, and when we said “No, gracias”, most would keep on moving. If anyone was too obvious, a whistle would blow and all of them would melt off across the street. It kept things interesting, and low key. We were able to chat with some of them, without any hard selling. Occasionally the whistle would blow when a kid (or adult) got too close to the grass. Guess that was illegal too!
At one end of the Plaza, a noisy demonstration was going on. Lots of signs and chanting, and across the street was a display of posters detailing all the sins of the Fujimoto Clan. Father Alberto is in jail, but his daughter, Keiko was in the run-off election scheduled for the beginning of June. According to some of the signs, the four or so Fujimori kids all went to prestigious universities in America, all of them being brilliant enough to win full-ride scholarships from the Peruvian government.. Oddly the youngest sibling seemed to have attended a no –name junior college to the tune of about $400,000. Out of country tuition must have been quite high..
We did a little shopping here, picking up some alpaca purses at a good price, then headed down the main street. (It changes name about every two blocks). There were a lot of schools in this area; lots of kids from K up to college age. Each school had a distinctive uniform, either the traditional plaid skirt and white shirt, or brightly colored athletic pants with zippered jackets.
Our goal was the Mercado San Pedro. On the city map it looked quite far. In reality it was about a five minute walk. Nice! This indoor market is clearly set up for the locals. There are vegetable sections, meat, bread, and flower aisles, groceries, festival wear, baby clothes, and shoes, and many booths of wool and alpaca clothing. There was a long section of stalls that each had a tailor with an old foot pedaled Singer, and racks of aprons and the full skirts the older women wear. In the middle was a “food court “, and the soups and stews being served looked really good, as did one booth that had about a hundred layered yogurt parfaits with every mix of syrups and nuts or candies that exist!
We bought some nice alpaca hats for our cold weather cousins and the skiers in the family, as well as a couple dozen soft baby alpaca socks ($3 each). We also picked up some bags of coca leaves and a few bags of the local corn nuts.
After we had our fill of shopping, we strolled slowly back up to the Plaza Major. I had written down the name of a recommended restaurant that was overlooking the Plaza. We walked completely around the Plaza, fighting off the kids with menus but never spotted it. Instead, we stopped in at the Bagdad Café. It was your typical tourist restaurant with a huge menu divided up into Peruvian, Italian, and Mexican, and of course, pizza and hamburgers.
We had a nice seat in a bay window overlooking the Plaza, so it was very pleasant, and our food was pretty good. Unfortunately, I was really feeling really exhausted at this point, so I left my husband with the view and walked home. I climbed into bed and took a nap until he returned a few hours later, and he’d even remembered the laundry. He had discovered the Monastery Hotel and Inca museum and had a nice afternoon as well. For dinner, he headed down the block to try Jack’s restaurant. Apparently it’s quite popular, and the line to get in was huge. He returned to our café from the previous evening and bought a take-out dinner for both of us.
The next day we had a 3:30 flight to Iquitos. After breakfast, we paid our bill, then left our bags at the hotel. We walked over to the Monastery Hotel again (gorgeous!) and wandered up to the San Blas area, where I finally broke down and had my husband take a picture of me with two women and their llama. I thought it was a beautiful area, but it had a very different feel than the Plaza area. Every restaurant seemed to have banana pancakes and American cocktails on their menu, a sure sign the ratio of locals to foreigners is quite low….
There was a little bakery on the right side as we came back down the hill. It’s hard to miss the smell of fresh bread. We each had a delicious ham sandwich on a roll then split a dessert. I made the mistake of ordering a hot chocolate, forgetting that they like them very strong and bitter. ;- ( I had some sweetener packers in my purse, but there was no amount of sweetener that was going to make that drink even slightly sweet! On the way out the door, we brought 2 more sandwiches in case the menu options in Iquitos were limited.
We walked down to the Plaza Major again, then took a cab home. Cabs anywhere in the historic area are just 3 Soles, which is good, as it takes twice as long in a cab as on foot, due to the narrow and one -way streets!
Back at the Rumi Punku, our driver appeared promptly at 1:30 and we were at the airport about 15 minutes later. Our flight was only a little late, and so an hour or so later we were back in Lima airport for the third time.
Oddly, our flight didn’t appear on the departure screens. I looked at the actual boarding passes and they had changed us to a flight 90 minutes later. Apparently our earlier flight had been taken off the schedule. Oh well. At least there was a later flight to be on!
Our flight was very unremarkable except that it got pretty bumpy about 10 minutes before landing. They had the TV screens showing the plane’s flight path, and counting down the distance to Iquitos. I was watching it as it counted down…10 miles to destination… 6 miles to destination… 3 miles to destination… 6 miles to destination… 8 miles to destination… WHAT?
About this time the pilot came on and made an announcement in very scratchy Spanish. I guess he said we couldn’t land in Iquitos, because the screens started tracking our distance to Lima after that. We landed in Lima and followed the crowd back to the front desks, where we were issued new boarding passes for 9:30 the next morning. No hotels, no meals, but I asked if someone could help me call our Amazon company to tell them of our delay and I was given a couple of telephone cards. Too bad nobody could every get them to work in the public phones!
We didn't want to sleep in the airport like many of the other passengers seemed to be forced to do, so we walked back to the Ramada and got a room there again. The desk clerk asked what I had paid the week before, and gave us that same rate. Meanwhile, no one was answering the phones or emails at Explorama. I finally called their US number and left a message that we would be coming in the next morning.
Our fifth trip through Lima airport was much more successful. We left on time and landed on time at Iquitos, where we were met by Armando, our guide for the weekend. Poor thing. He’d waited for our cancelled flight, then the aborted flight, and then came back to check out this flight. At first he seemed a bit peeved we hadn’t called, but after I pulled out my cell phone to show him all the incomplete calls, he was fine.
We headed out to the ancient wooden school bus that would take us to the boat dock. Iquitos seemed a lot like I imagine Havana, Cuba. Very few cars on the roads, mostly all three wheel tuk tuks. Nearly all of them had intricate plastic cords knotted in intricate design across the front of the passenger section. They looked like exotic spider webs in neon pink, yellow and every other color of the rainbow. I was in the front seat, and able to get lots of clear photos, primarily because the windshield of the bus was a fully functioning window and the driver liked it “open”!
Jul 25th, 2011, 01:34 PM
#44
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is there a particular reason lcuy can post a trip report on SA within a short time of returning home, but she has not posted reports on some asian trips for years even?
the curious wish to know??
the curious wish to know??
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