Peru - Week 2 in Arequipa

We hopped a quick 2 hour flight from Lima to Arequipa, a city of 1 million people, the 2nd largest in Peru. We were met at the airport and taken to our hotel: La Hostería Boutique Hotel located very near the historic center, a UNESCO Heritage Site. The hotel is gorgeous…bougainvillea and great views of the snow-capped mountains everywhere. 

 

The city of Arequipa is at 7700 feet. It takes a while for people from sea-level (like us in Lima) to adjust to the thinner air. And this is doubly true of people who are older (again, like us). So once at the hotel, we drank a cup of coca tea, went to our room, relaxed, eventually went to lunch/dinner at a nearby restaurant, and finally returned to our room for a good night’s sleep. We are such party-goers! Now don’t get all excited about the coca tea. Yes, the leaves are related to the leaves from which cocaine is derived, but the ones we used for tea are a separate species grow for their stimulant and medicinal purposes and are used as an aid for mountain sickness. 

The next morning, we found a beautiful breakfast buffet waiting for us on the hotel patio. Scrambled eggs, meat, potatoes, coffee cakes, granola and yogurt, flan, tropical fruit juices, fresh papaya, melon, pineapple, meats and cheeses, coffee and teas. This lovely assortment greets us each morning. We eat on the patio in the center of the building which has the largest bougainvillea tree we have ever seen. It acts as a sun umbrella covering the entire patio. 

This week has been one of exploration. One day we explored the historical center, including the Plaza de Armas said to be the prettiest plaza in Peru. We ventured into the open-air market to see stalls filled with a small portion of the 3000 varieties of potatoes, all kinds of fruits, vegetables, meats and fish…pretty much everything you would want to buy. 

On Sunday, we walked to Yanahuara, a nearby neighborhood with a plaza filled with food/handicraft booths, great views of Misti (one of the volcanoes), and a first-annual celebration (we don’t know what everyone was celebrating) that featured traditional dancers from various parts of Peru. The dancing was lively and the costumes were beautiful. We left the square and headed to a “picantería” (restaurant) called Sol de Mayo. There we sampled traditional Peruvian dishes: avocado relleno (chopped vegetable stuffed avocado) and rocoto relleno (ground beef stuffed red pepper—a little hotter than our red peppers). Arequipa is the food capital of Peru, so we are trying everything. Many people here eat “cuy” (or guinea pig) or alpaca for special occasions, but so far we have not tried it. 

We dedicated one day to a walking food tour. It started at the central market where we tasted different tropical fruits. We then moved to a picantería where we again tried the rocoto relleno (a little different this time) and ocupa arequipeña, a potato dish with a delicious yellow sauce. These two dishes were served with chicha, a purple corn drink (3% alcohol). Our guide next led us to a tiny sushi place in order to demonstrate the fusion of Asian foods with traditional Inca/Spanish tastes. The sushi was delicious! Our final stop (we were already full!) was another picantería. At this restaurant, we were introduced to a pisco drink called chilcano (pisco, ginger ale and lime juice) with estufado de carne (beef stew) and a potato and cheese salad. The tour ended with a shared queso helado (local ice cream) and sweet corn cake—yummy!

Another day, we walked to a university that houses a museum of 550 year old Incan artifacts. The star attraction is the frozen body of “Juanita, the Ice Maiden,” kept at -4 degrees Fahrenheit in the exhibit and extremely well-preserved. She was found on Mt. Amparo. She was killed by priests as a human sacrifice to appease the gods. Natural events, like earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, were seen as punishments by the gods—the sacrifice of a child of high status brought peace. Juanita is incredible in her glass freezer: the cloth she wore 550 years ago, though dirty, was still fully intact. Sadly, no photos allowed. But we snagged this one from the web. 

We also took in Mundo Alpaca (Alpaca World, in English). It told the story of how the alpaca wool industry got started here in Peru. We learned about the 4 camelids in Peru—alpaca and llama are domesticated, vicuñas and guanacos are wild. Peru raises 80% of the world’s alpacas, using their wool for clothing. Locals also eat alpaca. After the tutorial on camelids, we were given the opportunity to pet the alpacas and llamas. But they were having none of that. Food was on the table and much more appealing than being mauled by tourists.

It’s cold here. We wear long sleeve shirts and Kathy wears a jacket once the sun goes down. The hotel rooms have no heat, so we wear more clothes when in the room and in bed. But hot tea is available 24/7 so we can always warm up. We didn’t bring enough warm clothing. We may have to buy an alpaca something because it’s going to get colder as we move to higher altitudes. (Brrr!)

Summer 2024 - Our First Week in Peru

 This year we are escaping the 100 degree plus heat in St. George by traveling to Peru. In past years, when we planned our trips, we booked our own modest lodging and arranged activities and internal transportation on our own—a lot of work! This year we decided to be kind to ourselves and let Rough Guides select accommodations, arrange for all internal transportation and a few tours. As you will note, we ended up staying in hotels much more lavish than we normally book. But oh well, we will “suffer” through it!

6/20 - We arrived in Lima on Roger’s birthday. I don’t think either of us fully appreciated the fact that this is Peru’s winter. We thought Peru was a tropical country, near the equator and would be either rainy or dry, but warm.  As a result, we were taken aback when we arrived to cool (60 degree) cloudy and misty weather—there were no blue skies or sunshine in Lima. Now I realize that we shouldn’t complain about being cool as the alternative in St. George is extreme heat. Weather aside, we cleared customs non-stop (that means there was no check of our luggage) and were met by a friendly Mario who would be our guide for our first week in Peru. He and a driver took us to our hotel, the Blu Hotel Boutique (bluhotelboutique.com) a delightfully small hotel in the Miraflores district of Lima. We arrived at 11:30 pm tired from the full day of travel. 

6/21 - Our first full day in Lima, we were on our own. We enjoyed a beautiful hotel breakfast served at the cafe adjoining the hotel. The breakfast included fresh juice (papaya, strawberry, etc.), yogurt, granola, eggs and your choice of coffee—cappuccino, Americano, flat white, etc. We selected the “huevos Peruanos,” (scrambled eggs with spicy sausage) and cappuccinos.  Delicious! 

Then we explored the streets of Miraflores while searching for a bank with an ATM to obtain local currency. Navigating without a map was a challenge as we were told that we could only trust one kind of ATM. But eventually we found the bank. As we walked back to our hotel, we found the “cat” park (AKA Kennedy Park or 7 June Park) and a great little outdoor cafe (El Parquetito) for lunch/dinner. The park is known locally as the cat park because hundreds of cats live there in little cardboard boxes decorated by the locals. The cats are adored here and are very friendly, even wandering through the cafes hoping for a handout. On our walk back to the hotel, we found a large grocery store with a huge produce section and everything else you could possibly need. It would be easy to live in Lima except for the 5 months of mist and the horrible traffic. The good news is the mist is wonderful for our dry St. George skin. We got our 10,000 steps on this first day.

6/22 - After breakfast at the hotel, we had a half-day city tour. It took us an hour to move through traffic to Lima city center. On the trip to the center, we stopped at a huge pre-Inca archeological site. It was constructed of adobe bricks stacked vertically to withstand the area’s frequent earthquakes.  In fact, several pre-Inca civilizations left ruins in Peru. We knew nothing about these early people prior to this tour.

     

We then drove through the San Ysidro residential area of Lima with large colonial mansions (sometimes a full block in size) and interspersed parks of olive trees brought to Peru by the Spaniards. Finally, we arrived at the central plaza (Plaza de Armas) with its cathedral, president’s house, mayor’s house and paved central square. Most of the buildings had been restored since the turbulent 1980s when far left groups stressed by economic conditions tried to overthrow the government and frequent earthquakes. We toured a nearby monastery/church with catacombs and a beautiful wood-lined library with more than 25,000 books, some dating from the 16th century. The library especially brought out the historians (both of us have B.A.s in history) in Roger and me.

     

After the city tour in the early evening, we walked to Punto Azul for dinner. Had to wait 45 minutes for a table. We were served small (Costco-sample size) Pisco Sours for the inconvenience. It really wasn’t much of an inconvenience as we met a lovely Chilean woman, her husband and daughter who were celebrating her 83rd birthday. She was delighted that Roger nearly shared a birthdate with her. Again, we tried local specialties. Kathy had causa pollo and Roger had tacu tacu. The causa pollo had layered yellow potatoes, chicken salad and avocados. The tacu tacu was a rice-bean-onion mixture with herbs and all kinds of fish (baby octopus, shrimp, mussels) shaped like a football. Are we making you hungry yet?

6/23 - Today we had a long 4-hour drive with Mario (our guide) and Victor (our driver) south to Paracas. We passed landscapes with no vegetation—just sand, dirt and rocks—and a few beach communities. There were some flat areas of irrigated farmland, but not much. We had been advised that western Peru was largely desert, but seeing it was still a surprise. Paracas, our destination, is known for its beaches and the natural reserve, so we had expected the clouds and mist to evaporate. But it remained cool, cloudy and very humid. We stayed at the beautiful Aranwa resort but couldn’t enjoy the cold pool. We did have marshmallows roasted on an open fire that evening, a nice dinner of soup at the restaurant and then retired to our room to read. 

6/24 - The following day after breakfast, we drove 2 hours inland towards Ica to a huge 800-acre vineyard with a resort in the middle: Hotel Viño Queirolo. Here we found the sun! We couldn’t check in immediately, so we had a tour of the property’s car museum. The 30 or so cars in the museum dated from a 1905 Ford to two 1960s pickups. All the cars ran and were meticulously maintained—looked as if they had just come off the showroom floor. They called the 1957 Chevy an antique, but we remember it from our teens (hmmm..what does that make us?). The 4th picture below shows a 1904 car with kerosene headlamps. This tour was followed by a tour of the vineyard and the tasting cellar where we tasted 2 wines (Chardonnay and Malbec) and 3 Piscos (wine brandies). 

   

After, we moved into our room, we took a swim in the large heated pool, ate a quesadilla and relaxed until our trip with Mario and Victor to Huacachina Lagoon—an oasis located on the outskirts of Ica in the middle of sand dunes. We strolled around the lagoon (to which the community has added water due to years of drought) and then queued up for a dune buggy ride at sunset. We were joined in the 6-seat dune buggy by two women from Argentina and Uruguay and at the last minute a middle-aged man. We strapped up (I must say the driver was not terribly concerned about the tightness of our seat belts) and took off. What appeared from a distance to be flat desert was really a bumpy, terrifying ride up one side and down the other accompanied by the delighted screams of the girls sitting in the front seats…kind of like a roller coaster. The screams of the girls seemed to encourage the driver to find steeper and faster dunes to conquer. (Am I sounding old????) We stopped (gratefully) for views of the dunes at sunset—absolutely stunning—and for those adventurous enough to snowboard down the dunes…Roger being one of them.

Full of sand and great memories of the ride in the dunes, we returned to the resort for a lovely dinner and a great night’s sleep.

    

6/25 - Mario and Victor picked us up at 6am the next morning for the ride back to Paracas (still cloudy) and a boat trip to the Ballestas Islands (the poor man’s Galapagos). As we queued up for the boat trip, we met a young couple with their two children from Colorado who were at the end of their stay in Peru. They sat near us on our boat adventure, a 40-minute ride over flat ocean to the islands. On the way to the islands, we saw a Nazca drawing on the sandy hillside—quite astonishing that the lines remain visible after 1000s of years. The islands are fairly barren, but contain beautiful layers of colorful rock, arches, and sea stacks. We saw Humboldt penguins 🐧, cormorants, terns, boobies, pelicans and a few other birds we could not identify. There were lots of sea lions both in the ocean and on the rocks and buoys. The Ballestas Islands do not compare with the pictures we have seen of the Galapagos, but we thought the tour was well worth it. After the tour, we had coffee with Mario and Victor, hopped in the van and headed back to our hotel in Lima.

     

     

For us, this was a busy entry week. But now we look forward to two weeks in Arequipa (7,700 ft elevation) with nothing planned.

Kentucky to Missouri to Home - Weeks 10 and 11

The Cumberland State Park Resort did not offer breakfast on Mondays, so we hit the road hoping to find something to eat along the way to Mammoth Caves.  We traveled curvy two-lane roads, passing small and often dilapidated homes in the forest with a few communities sprinkled here and there.  This was the first time on the trip that we had encountered such consistent poverty. About 1½ hours later, we came to Columbus, KY.  We drove downtown to find a beautiful (but boarded up) town hall/courthouse.  We parked on the road that encircled the courthouse and asked about a place that served breakfast.  Many of the surrounding storefronts were also boarded up.  The ladies we spoke with were hard-pressed to think of a breakfast place, but finally directed us to the pool hall just up the block in an alley.  Surprise!  We had an excellent breakfast of an omelet and two cups of coffee (no decaf) at the pool hall, served by a cheery older waitress.  When she lifted the omelet onto a plate for us, a guy seated at the counter said, "What's that? I want one too!" Evidently it was the first omelet served at the pool hall and the first one made by the cook--I think they'll add omelets to the menu now.  The open kitchen counter, cooks, and customers were in close proximity, so we all chatted as we ate. The two pool tables were assigned to the back of the establishment along with crates of eggs and other food items. A sign on the wall said "You don't have to be crazy to work here. We'll train you!"  Another great unexpected experience.  

   

Later in the day, we arrived at our destination, Bowling Green, KY, near Mammoth Caves National Park.  Bowling Green is home to the National Corvette Museum (which coincidentally has a fast charger located in its parking lot).  The Museum is designed to educate people about the evolution of the Corvette.  Evidently, it is fun because the parking lot was crowded. The General Motors Assembly Plant that produces Corvettes was across the street.  We passed on the museum and the factory tour in favor of a float into the Lost River Cave.  This cave is unique for several reasons.  1. You float on the river into the cave.  2. The cave used to house a nightclub at the entrance and still is a venue for special events.  3. According to local lore, Jesse James hid out in the cave after robbing banks in two nearby cities.  Our tour was led by an environmental science grad student at Western Kentucky University whose focus is cave invertebrates (crickets, centipedes).  Knowledgeable fellow.  It was a cool (in both senses) and interesting way to spend the afternoon.

 

        Inside the cave                           The nightclub                                 Inside the cave

  

                Entrance to Cave.         Jesse James marker.                     Our tour guide 

On our way back from the cave to the motel, we stopped to see downtown Bowling Green.  It has a beautiful square at its heart surrounded by little shops.  Most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday, but we peeked into an open used bookstore housed in the old Capitol Theater.  The bookstore is run by Friends of the Library.  All proceeds go to children's projects.  A volunteer at the bookstore was a wealth of information about Bowling Green and the surrounding area.  She has lived all over the world and chose Bowling Green to settle down.  Interesting woman!  Of course, we walked out with a used book!

    

The next day, we headed out early for our 9 a.m. tour of Mammoth Cave.  Honestly, Mammoth Cave was a bit of a disappointment.  It is a World Heritage Site and is touted to be the longest cave system in the world, with over 400 miles of tunnels.  It seems to underlay most of Kentucky.  However, the part of the system we saw had no stalagmites or stalactites because there is a sandstone cap above that prevents water from percolating down to create those formations.  (Other areas of the Mammoth have these formations, but on our tours, we didn't see any.)  The part we did see had huge "rooms" with limestone ceilings.  We took a second tour to the Wondering which included a walk through the woods and a plunge into a small cave not connected to the larger Mammoth Cave system.  It had a few interesting formations which we tried to capture with our iPhone.

    

                Mammoth Cave Tour                                Wondering Wood Cave Tour

On our way back from the caves to the motel, we stopped at hard-to-find Jackson's Orchard renowned for its peaches, according to the lady at the used bookstore.  Unfortunately, their peach crop failed this year due to a freeze...so no local peaches.  But they did have Michigan peaches, local apples and peach ice cream.  It was definitely worth the effort to find the place.

The drives in this part of Kentucky were in forested rolling hills.  Some areas had corn--now ready to be harvested, soy, and tobacco.  The entire nation has devoted itself to growing corn for ethanol, feed and corn syrup.  We saw very little sweet corn growing on our trip.  Do we grow food anymore? While Bowling Green seemed like a prosperous community, many small communities in Kentucky are struggling.

Our next stop: Branson, MO.  We were surprised by Branson.  We expected a Laughlin-like community where attractions were walkable and clustered along the river or lake.  Instead, the attractions in Branson are scattered...you cannot walk between them.  Moreover, we expected music to be the central theme of the place.  Instead, there are waterparks, roller coasters, and other amusement park rides, again scattered around the area.  It is definitely a magnet for children. It also is a center for time-share sales which offer discounted tickets to entertainment venues and amusement parks to visitors for listening to a sales pitch.  (Been there. Done that!)  That said, we had fun in Branson.  We played mini-golf at one of the best courses ever: Pirates Cove Adventure Park.  Roger beat me by one stroke, but he promised me a rematch.  We also loved our lake cruise on the Showboat Branson Belle (paddle-wheel).  We had a delicious 3-course dinner, enjoyed outdoor entertainment on the top deck while cruising around the lake, and finally watched excellent singers and dancers at the indoor theater.  A totally enjoyable day.

    

    

Barring unforeseen calamities or surprises, this will be our last post.  We head directly home from Branson.  We will take freeways (blasphemy, we know).  We are tired of constantly moving, of driving, and of not eating the right foods.  In sum, we're ready to be home.  Thank you for joining us on the Summer 2023 trip and for holding us in your thoughts as we faced new experiences each day.  We have had a wonderful time.  We feel privileged that you have shared it with us.  R&K