Sacred Valley/Inca Trail April 2015 Trip Report
May 26th, 2015, 10:56 AM
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Days 11-12 Miraflores
The morning of our flight from Cusco back to Lima we arrived at the airport to find out that our flight had been delayed. The airport was noisy and chaotic and by this point the fatigue of traveling had set in and I was ready to just not be around people for a while...which obviously wasn't an option. Luckily I had my Kindle with me, so I grabbed a seat in the waiting area and tuned the world out until our flight was ready to board, about 30 minutes after the originally scheduled time. Our flight to Lima was uneventful (always a good thing when it comes to air travel), and the taxi ride from the airport to our hotel in Miraflores took about an hour.
Our lodgings for the next night (J and J2) or two (me) was the San Antonio Abad hotel. After the disappointment of Hostal Wara Wara this hotel felt positively grand. The lobby was filled with beautiful heavy Spanish-style wood furniture and the rooms, which were really nothing special by first-world standards, were clean and good-sized. The bathrooms were large and the nicest of all the hotels we stayed in. Also, it bears saying that the service at this hotel was impeccable. The only potential negative was that my room didn't have air-conditioning (the guys' room did). This wasn't a problem for me because I like things warm, but it probably would have been uncomfortable for most people.
Our original plan had been to catch a taxi into the historic district of Lima, but we were all tired so we decided to scrap that plan. J2, who wasn't with us on the very first day of the trip, went out and spent a couple of hours walking around Miraflores while J and I rested in our respective rooms. As much as I love to get out and see the world and make use of every available moment when I travel, there comes a point when the best possible use of time is a few hours in the hotel room reading, napping, and FaceTiming with family. I really need to learn to just build these "do nothing" days into my travel plans.
That evening we went to the upscale Larcomar mall for dinner at Tanta. After Ucuchuta in Ollantaytambo this was probably the second best meal of the trip. I got ravioli (boring but it's what sounded best), J2 got the Tanta stew, and J got a quinoa dish with shrimp. We were all really happy with our meals. The guys even paid for my meal in appreciation of the work I'd done to plan the trip...even though I told them that it wasn't necessary because I really like planning trips.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some snacks. J2 bought a granadilla, a fruit that looked like an orange with a stem. We weren't exactly sure how to eat it, so J2 peeled off the tough outer skin, which revealed a gray jelly-like substance that looked like brain...or at least what I imagine brain to look like. It certainly didn't look appealing, but it tasted great! It turns out that granadilla is a fruit closely related to passion fruit.
The guys left to fly home early the next morning, so I was on my own for the day. After eating at the hotel's breakfast buffet, I headed out to find the chapel to attend church. Everyone was really welcoming, and it was really fun to attend church in Spanish again.
I had toyed with the idea of taking a taxi into the historic district so as not to miss some of Lima's main sites, but in the end I decided that a leisurely day in the park would be just as memorable and probably more enjoyable than trying to fit in more tourist attractions. I made my way toward Parque Central, aka cat park. Diagonal to the park is a sandwich shop I'd read good things about: La Lucha. I got the preferido, a sandwich with asado, cheese, and avocado, and a smoothie, which was all mouth-wateringly good.
Once I was finished with my meal I found a spot on the grass in the park. I just happened to sit near the laziest cat alive. When I first saw this cat is was sound asleep on its back. I know that it was alive because a while later it got up and moved a few steps away to another spot, where it promptly fell back asleep. People came up and pet it, kids tugged on its ears, I took its paws and waved them around, this cat didn't react. At all. Laziest cat alive.
I stayed in the park for several hours, slowly catching up in my journal as I people and cat watched. As the sun sunk lower and it got a bit cooler, I decided it was time to leave. I wasn't hungry enough for a full meal, but I knew that once I got back to the hotel I wouldn't feel like going out again for dinner. As I walked back toward the hotel I discovered that I was in close proximity to Manolo, which is said to have the best churros in Lima. This was my last day of vacation, after all, so I decided to stop in. The little restaurant was super busy, but I was able to snag a small table. I ordered the chocolate and churros, which came as a whole bunch (maybe 8) of little churros and a teacup full of thick dark chocolate. It was good, but I'd be lying if I said that the chocolate fulfilled my expectations; the texture was thick but the actual taste of the chocolate was thin. I guess I'll have to go to Spain to find chocolate and churros that live up to my high expectations!
The tables in the restaurant were very close together, and about half-way through my snack an older gentleman came and sat at the table next to mine. We got to talking a bit about travel. A few minutes later two of his friends showed up. This group of three seemed the typical "coffee shop men," the ones who frequent the same shop and sit for hours discussing politics and philosophy. I could tell from our conversation that they were well-educated, and because of the level of conversation I struggled a bit putting my ideas into Spanish. It was a delightful exchange and I'm sad that I was too lazy with my camera by this point to have gotten any photos or videos.
I was back at the hotel by 7, and I snuggled into the bed and spent the next several hours watching TV on the hotel's many English-language channels.
The next morning I was up super early for my flight from Lima to the US and then, after a four-hour layover, a second flight home. It was a looooong day of travel (I finally got home at 1am). Ten years ago my biggest wish would have been a six-month travel experience, but as I've grown older I've discovered that a two-week trip is about the perfect length of time. It's long enough to really get away and experience a place, but by the end of that time I'm tired and ready to go home. Which is to say, I loved this trip and I also loved coming home!
The morning of our flight from Cusco back to Lima we arrived at the airport to find out that our flight had been delayed. The airport was noisy and chaotic and by this point the fatigue of traveling had set in and I was ready to just not be around people for a while...which obviously wasn't an option. Luckily I had my Kindle with me, so I grabbed a seat in the waiting area and tuned the world out until our flight was ready to board, about 30 minutes after the originally scheduled time. Our flight to Lima was uneventful (always a good thing when it comes to air travel), and the taxi ride from the airport to our hotel in Miraflores took about an hour.
Our lodgings for the next night (J and J2) or two (me) was the San Antonio Abad hotel. After the disappointment of Hostal Wara Wara this hotel felt positively grand. The lobby was filled with beautiful heavy Spanish-style wood furniture and the rooms, which were really nothing special by first-world standards, were clean and good-sized. The bathrooms were large and the nicest of all the hotels we stayed in. Also, it bears saying that the service at this hotel was impeccable. The only potential negative was that my room didn't have air-conditioning (the guys' room did). This wasn't a problem for me because I like things warm, but it probably would have been uncomfortable for most people.
Our original plan had been to catch a taxi into the historic district of Lima, but we were all tired so we decided to scrap that plan. J2, who wasn't with us on the very first day of the trip, went out and spent a couple of hours walking around Miraflores while J and I rested in our respective rooms. As much as I love to get out and see the world and make use of every available moment when I travel, there comes a point when the best possible use of time is a few hours in the hotel room reading, napping, and FaceTiming with family. I really need to learn to just build these "do nothing" days into my travel plans.
That evening we went to the upscale Larcomar mall for dinner at Tanta. After Ucuchuta in Ollantaytambo this was probably the second best meal of the trip. I got ravioli (boring but it's what sounded best), J2 got the Tanta stew, and J got a quinoa dish with shrimp. We were all really happy with our meals. The guys even paid for my meal in appreciation of the work I'd done to plan the trip...even though I told them that it wasn't necessary because I really like planning trips.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some snacks. J2 bought a granadilla, a fruit that looked like an orange with a stem. We weren't exactly sure how to eat it, so J2 peeled off the tough outer skin, which revealed a gray jelly-like substance that looked like brain...or at least what I imagine brain to look like. It certainly didn't look appealing, but it tasted great! It turns out that granadilla is a fruit closely related to passion fruit.
The guys left to fly home early the next morning, so I was on my own for the day. After eating at the hotel's breakfast buffet, I headed out to find the chapel to attend church. Everyone was really welcoming, and it was really fun to attend church in Spanish again.
I had toyed with the idea of taking a taxi into the historic district so as not to miss some of Lima's main sites, but in the end I decided that a leisurely day in the park would be just as memorable and probably more enjoyable than trying to fit in more tourist attractions. I made my way toward Parque Central, aka cat park. Diagonal to the park is a sandwich shop I'd read good things about: La Lucha. I got the preferido, a sandwich with asado, cheese, and avocado, and a smoothie, which was all mouth-wateringly good.
Once I was finished with my meal I found a spot on the grass in the park. I just happened to sit near the laziest cat alive. When I first saw this cat is was sound asleep on its back. I know that it was alive because a while later it got up and moved a few steps away to another spot, where it promptly fell back asleep. People came up and pet it, kids tugged on its ears, I took its paws and waved them around, this cat didn't react. At all. Laziest cat alive.
I stayed in the park for several hours, slowly catching up in my journal as I people and cat watched. As the sun sunk lower and it got a bit cooler, I decided it was time to leave. I wasn't hungry enough for a full meal, but I knew that once I got back to the hotel I wouldn't feel like going out again for dinner. As I walked back toward the hotel I discovered that I was in close proximity to Manolo, which is said to have the best churros in Lima. This was my last day of vacation, after all, so I decided to stop in. The little restaurant was super busy, but I was able to snag a small table. I ordered the chocolate and churros, which came as a whole bunch (maybe 8) of little churros and a teacup full of thick dark chocolate. It was good, but I'd be lying if I said that the chocolate fulfilled my expectations; the texture was thick but the actual taste of the chocolate was thin. I guess I'll have to go to Spain to find chocolate and churros that live up to my high expectations!
The tables in the restaurant were very close together, and about half-way through my snack an older gentleman came and sat at the table next to mine. We got to talking a bit about travel. A few minutes later two of his friends showed up. This group of three seemed the typical "coffee shop men," the ones who frequent the same shop and sit for hours discussing politics and philosophy. I could tell from our conversation that they were well-educated, and because of the level of conversation I struggled a bit putting my ideas into Spanish. It was a delightful exchange and I'm sad that I was too lazy with my camera by this point to have gotten any photos or videos.
I was back at the hotel by 7, and I snuggled into the bed and spent the next several hours watching TV on the hotel's many English-language channels.
The next morning I was up super early for my flight from Lima to the US and then, after a four-hour layover, a second flight home. It was a looooong day of travel (I finally got home at 1am). Ten years ago my biggest wish would have been a six-month travel experience, but as I've grown older I've discovered that a two-week trip is about the perfect length of time. It's long enough to really get away and experience a place, but by the end of that time I'm tired and ready to go home. Which is to say, I loved this trip and I also loved coming home!
Feb 4th, 2016, 04:00 PM
#26
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I was just reading over this trip report I wrote and recalling what a fantastic time I had in Peru almost a year ago.
Here's a video I made of the trip: https://youtu.be/QvJXzih6_y0
And another one just of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu: https://vimeo.com/130285167
And finally, my very detailed discussion of how to prepare physically for the Inca Trail and what to pack: http://mel-bel.blogspot.com/2015/05/...-for-inca.html
Here's a video I made of the trip: https://youtu.be/QvJXzih6_y0
And another one just of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu: https://vimeo.com/130285167
And finally, my very detailed discussion of how to prepare physically for the Inca Trail and what to pack: http://mel-bel.blogspot.com/2015/05/...-for-inca.html
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