Tuesday, Dec 22
So do you remember how I said it was sunny and beautiful when I woke up yesterday? Well, today was…the complete opposite. I opened the curtains to wind and rain. Oh well. My flight back to Lima wasn’t until early afternoon so I had some time to explore the city.
After a quick breakfast of coffee, museli and fruit I grabbed an umbrella from the bell desk and was off! Last night Rehider had told me about the local market not far from the hotel. Now, the only other thing that compares to my love of street food are markets. I’m just fascinated by them. Any type market of really. Big, small, clean, dirty it doesn’t matter. I just love to watch people go about their daily lives and sample different things along the way.
After making my way to the main avenue I noticed huge lines wrapped around the block. I later found out that these people were waiting in line for their Covid relief money from the government. I was told some people starting lining up the night before to make sure they got their funds.
A short stroll later and I was at Mercado San Pedro. As with every type of business in Peru, your temperature is checked and hand sanitizer is given before you may enter.
This market did not disappoint. With soaring ceilings it seemed as if there were not that many people inside even though it was fairly busy. I just started wandering down the aisles seeing what the vendors were selling. The front half of the market was poultry, pork and other animals on one side with fresh fruit and spices and herbs on the other.
The back half of the market was dedicated to all different cuts of beef and food stalls. Now, pre-Covid I would have been all over these food stalls like a fat kid on a Snickers bar. But then I saw these people sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with no mask scarfing down food. As much as I wanted to grab a seat and join them, I just didn’t have it in me. Practicality won this battle so I just watched as everyone enjoyed their caldo de pollo and lomo saltado while I settled for a piece of coca candy.
Waiting for Covid relief funds
On the way to the market
San Pedro church
Mercado San Pedro entrance
High ceilings
Sausage making
Pork, the other white meat
Cuy, the other other white meat
Not sure what animal this is from
Hooves and snouts
Food stalls
I had hoped that the rain had subsided by the time I left the market, but no such luck. So, with umbrella opened, I forged ahead to Plaza de Armas a few blocks away. It was practically deserted due to the rain so I snapped a few pics and moved on.
As I had mentioned, Cusco has these great little cobblestoned side streets to wander down. I just started walking and found a couple shops selling little trinkets so I picked up some little things for my kids. After 30 minutes or so I decided to head back to the hotel to pack and get ready to leave. But I had one more stop to make.
We had passed by this little chocolate shop near the hotel on our way to Ollantaytambo yesterday and I vowed to go back before I left. I arrived at Origen Artesanal Chocolate and chatted with the owner who told me all the cocoa bean are grown in Cusco and processed right inside their shop. I tried many different kinds of chocolate and ended up buying way more than I should have, but it would make great gifts and also help a local business at the same time.
Plaza de Armas
Cathedral
Alleyway
Origen Chocolate Artesanal
I finished packing and grabbed a cab to the airport. Because of the rain traffic was backed up, but the driver found a bunch of side streets and alleys to bypass the congestion. Cars and non-passengers are not allowed inside the airport I got dropped off outside and walked in.
Again, the automated kiosk and security were quite fast and I was airside with plenty of time to spare. Except I didn’t see my flight listed on the screen. After about 30 minutes of waiting my flight finally popped up on the screen with the dreaded words “Delayed.”
Now, it’s one thing to be delayed, but it’s another to not know how long we were going to be delayed. The screen simply said delayed with no mention of when we would actually depart. To make things worse all the shops were closed and I was running low on battery for my phone. Luckily I found a charging station and just waited. About 30 minutes later the screen showed a new departure time 45 minutes after the scheduled time. I’ll take it.
Boarding was similar to LIM where at least half the plane was families and those needing assistance. Once on board and settled in and were soon pushing back only to have the pilot come on and tell us we would have to sit on the tarmac for an hour because of an air traffic controller strike in LIM (gulp).
I thought maybe it was some type of miscommunication and we would be on our way after 15 minutes, but we literally sat there for the full hour before wheels up for Lima.
LA 2062
CUS-LIM
A321
Seat: 5A
Departures area at CUS
Liftoff from CUS
Approach into Lima
It was an uneventful flight to Lima and once outside I grabbed a taxi to the JW Marriott. Traffic again was horrendous, taking over an hour to get to Miraflores. But once inside the hotel they greeted me warmly and thanked me for coming back. I was again “upgraded” to an ocean front room and that breakfast will be provided as well.
I was hoping to get into Lima with a little time to walk around but it was now past 6:00 pm and I was pretty hungry. I wanted to try some Japanese or "nikkei" food in Lima so did some researching and found some good choices. The first was Maido, which is on the World's Top 50 Best Restaurants list but they didn't have anything after 5:00. My second choice was Matsuei, which is where one young chef from Japan named Nobu Matsuhisa first started when he arrived in Lima. I decided to just walk in and see if I could get a table.
The walk took about 15 minutes and was great to people watch as they got ready for Christmas. The restaurant has a beautiful modern decor and I was seated promptly. All of the restaurants I went to in Peru did not have physical menus. You scanned the QR code with your phone to see the digital version.
I wanted to order a couple types of sushi, but it was not available so I just went with a wakame (seaweed) appetizer and the premium sushi set which included 12 pieces. Now, I'm not a snob by ay means but what followed was probably my most underwhelming meal the whole trip. The wakame salad wasn't even real wakame, but the packaged seaweed stuff you could get at 99 Ranch Market for three bucks a pound. The sushi was completely fine, but I guess I was expecting more from a "premium" sushi set. In their defense I probably should have taken a little more time to browse the menu after my first choices weren't available, but I was starving at that point. The dishes that were coming out for the tables around me looked much better so I probably just ordered the wrong things.
Entrance
Sushi bar
Wakame salad
Premium sushi set
After leaving thoroughly unsatisfied I was on the search for dessert. I had passed a place walking to dinner that sold churros so I made my way back, but took a leisurely stroll through Central Park first. It was very festive and lots of people were out and about.
I arrived at Manolo after they had stopped seating inside so I got an order of churros con chocolate to go and walked back up to the park to eat it. As soon as I sat down on the bench my little furry friend from the other day wandered over to sniff what I had. This clearly wasn't his first churro rodeo so he sat there patiently as I took a couple pics and dug in. Holy Sh!t that is good! The churros were hot and crispy, but when dipped in the thick, drinkable chocolate it became phenomenal. I'll put up with mediocre sushi if I could have this afterward any day! I had plenty so I offered up some to my buddy. He clearly was loving it too as he reached into my bag and helped himself to an entire one.
On a major sugar rush, I strolled through a small Christmas market they had set up next to the park. With nothing catching my eye I figured it was time to head back and call it a day. Tomorrow will be my last day in Lima and I've plenty more planned.
Central Park
Manolo
Churros con chocolate
Churro burglar
Christmas market