Friday 4/5
Breakfast at hotel with views of coastline, almond croissant, eggs Benedict.
Walked to Barranco neighborhood with some nice old buildings. Saw Bridge of Sighs, a crumbing church next to it with huge birds nesting there. Some drinking establishment with a cannon on the roof.
Library and another church next to town hall. Museum of contemporary art and a couple of street markets.
Amano textile museum - a very nice private museum.
Huaca Pucllana Restaurant for lunch, ceviche, quinoa bowls.
Huaca Pucllana guided tour - pre-Incan ruins.
Back to hotel, relaxed by the rooftop pool, watched sunset.
Went for a quick walk along Malecón, stopping by Larco Mar shopping mall.
Dinner at Costanera 700 - ceviche, scallop and foie gras nigiri, salt crust baked chita fish for main course.
Saturday 4/6
Too foggy in the morning so plan to take a walk along the Malecón had to be postponed.
Quick coffee at Starbucks a few minutes walk from our hotel, then a 30 minute Uber ride to Centro - historic center of Lima.
Plaza Mayor, Cathedral de Lima, tomb of Francisco Pizarro.
Convento de Santo Domingo and museum, tombs of 3 Peruvian saints.
Presidential palace, changing of the guard
Convento de San Francisco.
Mercado Central - meats, fish, produce, had empanadas and fresh fruit juices.
Took Uber to Indian Market in Miraflores, shopped for some souvenirs, bought Sofia an alpaca snood.
Another Uber ride to Rosa Nautica restaurant on a pier in Miraflores, very nice light and late lunch - ceviche and heart of palm salad.
Walked to Parque de Amor, watched paragliders, then walked back to hotel along Malecon.
Dinner at Osaka Pardo y Aliaga -Japanese Peruvian fusion restaurant.
Sunday 4/7
Early 5am pickup from the hotel. We already stored our bags with them the night before so it was a quick checkout. Our tour guide Juan Pablo and driver Stirling had a fairly comfortable Chinese SUV.
3 hour drive to Paracas - a picturesque fishing village. Took a boat tour to Ballestas which was very nice - saw a bunch of different birds, sea lions, and Humboldt penguins.
After boat trip we went to Paracas National Reserve - a desert landscape with beautiful sand dunes and colorful coastline. Saw fossils or megafauna, some interesting rock formations, and several nice beaches. The water was of course too cold for swimming.
Back to Paracas village for lunch at Delfino Dorado, where we split ceviche and a half kilo grilled corvina. Onto Ica for pisco and wine tasting, with was fun. Then another 2.5 hours’ drive to Nasca, which was delayed by a pretty bad accident.
Dinner at D’Gula restaurant, followed by a walk around Plaza de Armas where we saw a fun religious procession.
Monday 4/8
Breakfast at the hotel followed by a short drive to Nasca airport. Then we waited about an hour for our flight to Nasca lines.
Boarded a small single engine Cessna with 4 other passengers and spent about an hour flying over famous Nasca lines - monkey, condor, astronaut, hummingbird, cat, etc.
Drive to Huacachina Oasis for a super fun dune buggy ride and sand boarding. Great lunch at Desert Nights in the oasis - lomo saltado and chicken.
Long drive from Huacachina back to Lima - didn’t get back until 8:30 pm. Quick shower and out to a light dinner at Panchita Miraflores. Then walked back to hotel through a park full of cats.
Tuesday 4/9
Foggy again this morning, so another excellent breakfast in the hotel but with no view. Then walked a bit along the Malecón and caught Uber to Museo Larco - an outstanding archaeological museum displaying artifacts from Inca and pre-Inca civilizations. Great lunch at museum restaurant, then another Uber ride to San Francisco cathedral for a guided tour of the church and catacombs underneath.
Walked a bit to get out of heavy traffic area, then a ride to Inca market for some souvenir shopping. Back to hotel just in time to watch sunset from the rooftop pool deck.
Walk through Barranco to Merito restaurant for an amazing dinner at chef’s table.
Wednesday 4/10
5am wake up for 8am flight to Cusco. Easy Uber ride to airport, and flight was on time and quick 1.5 hours. Took taxi to our hotel Casa Andina San Blas, checked in and room was ready. Hotel is very nice with an open area with fire pits downstairs.
Met our tour operator Ramiro at 11:00 am and got all the info for next 2 days. Great lunch at Kusykay restaurant a few minutes walk away. Then we met our tour guide Miguel and driver Oscar and spent next several hours visiting Temple of the Sun and several Inca sights close to Cusco - Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Tambomachay, and Puka Pukara.
Altitude was getting to us, so we took a 2 hour nap upon returning to our hotel. Then a delicious dinner at Nuna Raymi restaurant followed by a walk around Plaza Mayor and some light shopping.
Thursday 4/11
Great breakfast at our hotel and early 7:00 am pickup. First we went to a local place with llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, guanacos, and condors. Then on to Sacred Valley of the Incas, starting with a tour of Pisac archaeological site.
Then we visited a silver craft workshop and store, followed by a lunch at Tunupa restaurant in a picturesque setting by the river. On to Ollantaytambo town and archaeological site which used to be Inca temple and fortress.
Then a 1.5 hour train ride to Aguas Calientes town next to Machu Picchu. Checked into our hotel Jaya, and then went for a walk around town and a solid but unremarkable dinner at Full House. Our room had a view of a soccer field, and some local teams played well into late evening.
Friday 4/12
Early start today - woke up at 5:30 am, had a quick breakfast, left our backpacks at the hotel, and got on a bus to Machu Picchu. The bus ride took about 25 minutes and we couldn’t see much due to fog and light drizzle. By the time we got off at Machu Picchu entrance, the rain stopped and the fog started lifting. We explored various parts of Machu Picchu site - agricultural sector, urban sector, stone quarry, temples, and houses. The views were spectacular despite crowds of tourists.
Afterwords we took the bus back to Aguas Calientes where our guide Miguel treated us to coffee at his friend’s restaurant Sami with nice river views. Then we went for a nice lunch at Chullos restaurant next door, also with river views from second floor. Since we still had time until train departure, we went for an hour long massage next door. Then picked up our backpacks from Jaya hotel and got on the train to Ollantaytambo which was delayed. Once there, switched to bus to Cusco which was also slow. At Cusco bus station, a driver met us and drove us to our hotel Casa Andina San Blas. After a quick shower we finished this long day with a light late dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.
Saturday 4/13
First day in Cusco without morning drizzle! After a great breakfast at our hotel - almond pancakes with local blueberries and strawberries - we stored our luggage at reception and went to explore. Visited Regional Historical Museum and then two very large and beautiful churches - Convento de la Merced and the main Cusco Cathedral on Plaza de Armas. Then a quick delicious lunch at Kusykay - trout tiradito, antichuchos, and pork belly. Then back to hotel for our luggage and taxi ride to the airport for 14:55 flight to Lima.
Got to Lima, stored our luggage and headed out to Grau park in San Isidro / Miraflores. Traffic was horrible as always so we missed the sunset, but still caught some beautiful views walking along the Malecón. Then an Uber ride to Museo Larco restaurant for last dinner in Peru, and another ride back to the airport.
Adios Peru, hasta luego!
