Sunday, Dec 20
Couldn't fall asleep until almost 2:00 am since I was still on West Coast time and was up around 8:00 am and hungry! My flight to Cusco wasn't until mid-afternoon so I had some time to explore Miraflores. After some searching I found a popular sandwich place called La Lucha Sangucheria a short walk from the hotel. They serve a variety of sandwiches, with their most popular one the chicharron. There was a line when I got there but it moved pretty fast and after a quick temperature check and spritz of hand sanitizer I ordered a chicharron sandwich with a papaya juice and took a seat.
Outside
Menu
Dining room
Chicharron sandwich with papaya juice
The sandwich was fantastic with the bread crispy outside but soft inside. The meat was juicy and flavorful with just the right amount of fat. After being thoroughly satisfied with my meal I kept walking up the street and eventually reached Central Park, which along with the adjacent Kennedy Park are full of cats.
Central Park
We will see more from this guy later
Just chillin
Church
After snooping around a bit it was time to head back to the hotel and off to the airport for my flight to Cusco. During my walk back I noticed quite a number of Chinese restaurants known as chifa. I always knew Peru had a large Japanese population, hell their former president was Japanese, but didn't know there were so many Chinese as well.
Only interesting to me since I used to live in Hong Kong
The ride to the airport took an hour due to the ridiculous amounts of traffic. Once I got there there was a never-ending line to check in. Luckily I had no checked bags so I used used the automated kiosk, got my boarding pass and headed for security. I had booked my ticket directly from the LATAM Peru website for the local fare and I had no issues as all. Took about 15 minutes to get through security and when I got to my gate there was a sea of humanity swarming it.
LATAM allows families and those needing extra time to pre-board, which seemed like half of the plane. Ironically, those of us with priority ending up boarding somewhere in the middle of the scrum. On a side note, Peru requires everyone on public transport (planes, trains, bus) to not only wear a mask, but also a face shield. I found out the hard way when I boarded and they asked me to wear my face shield. When I told them I didn't have one they kindly handed one to me. Flight was a short hour or so with some great views of the Andes.
LA 2015
LIM-CUS
A321
Seat 5F
LIM gate
Andes
Approach into Cusco
Met my driver on the gates outside the airport as only passengers are allowed in. There are a number of great hotels in Cusco and I chose the Palacio del Inka. It's right in the heart of the city across the street from the Santo Domingo church. Ride took about 10 minutes from the airport. The hotel doesn't seem like much from the outside, but once inside it is absolutely stunning. It is like a museum inside as there are paintings all throughout the hotel as well as these fantastic courtyards. My room was tiny, but the view more than made up for it. Service, just like the JW Marriott, was excellent.
Hotel exterior
Lobby atrium
Courtyard
View from balcony
I dropped my bags down and headed out to explore the city. Cusco is a very charming city with its cobblestone streets and these little alleys you explore for hours. I headed down the hill from the hotel to the main street, Ave Sol. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a lady with a cart on the street grilling something. Those who know me know that I'm a sucker for street food. Hell if McDonald's ever opened a stall on the street I would be first in line. Anyway, I wandered over and saw that she was grilling anticuchos, the popular Peruvian meat skewers which is commonly beef heart. Of course I had to try some so I ordered one chicken and one beef. Her beef skewers were not heart, but rather the meat. That'll do for now. With some potatoes and hot sauce on the side it was a perfect snack.
Looking up toward Santo Domingo
Street vendor
Ready to eat
After wandering for an hour I decided to head back to the room and relax. Watched some Sunday Night Football and soon enough I was getting hungry. I really wanted to try pollo a la brasa, Peruvian roast chicken, and the concierge gave me a good recommendation so off I went. It was only about a five minute walk to a place called Los Toldos Chicken in the Centro Historico district. Ordered an avocado salad and a 1/4 chicken and my goodness I have to say that was one of the best chicken dishes I have ever had. It was just so juicy and flavorful from all the spices. It was the perfect meal to cap the day. Headed back to room to try and get some sleep because tomorrow was going to be a big day, but was thwarted by the altitude. I had been fine ever since I landed so of course being arrogant idiot that I am I doubled down by not drinking much water and by 1:00 am I was wide awake with a throbbing headache. Oh well, lesson learned.
Pollo a la brasa
Evening view