Post: #1

I grudgingly walk back to my hostel at 3am in Bogota, Colombia, after an amazing last night out where I absolutely would have brought the girl I met that night back to a motel had I more time. Still, its a good way to leave on a high note like that. I grab my bags, call a taxi, and exchange goodbyes with friends.



The taxi driver is delusional, blasting poppy techno all the way to El Dorado while banging his head back and forth for laughs. Like always, I make it to the airport with lots of time to spare. My jeans reek of spilled beer and my hair is greasy from a long day. I look out of place amongst the South Americans with clean clothes, not reeking of beer and cologne.

I step off the plane in Lima, Peru, around 9am and follow the yellow path that is built like a maze into the actual airport.



I execute my first plan of action as I rush to customs to beat the long line.



Soon after I withdraw cash from the ATM and book round trip tickets to Cuzco.

Even if the only reason I am in Peru is because of a free stopover on the way to Brazil, i'll be damned if I don't take advantage of my time here. The Inti Raymi festival, the biggest celebration, is taking place in in Cusco. Despite an expensive domestic flight to Cusco, being able to participate in the festival and a chance to visit the Machu Pichu makes the decision worth it.

I negotiate with a taxi to take me 40 minutes into the city to Barranco, where I sleep the night in The Point Hostel before returning to the airport the next morning.



This driver, like many in South America, welcomes me to his country and tells me about his brother who lives in Jersey. Instead of techno, his choice of music is American oldies. But like the last driver he also turns the music up way loud and quizzes me on each song, expecting me to know each song.

I wake up to see the hostel in full swing. Loads of foreigners are playing pool, ping pong, watching tv, and drinking at the bar in anticipation for big night. I am tempted to join in on the fun but remind myself I am in new country and have barely stepped outside yet.



I grab my wallet and a business card from the hostel and go exploring for a few hours. A favorite part of travel is tasting new foods. I settle on this one place with a unique set-up. The restaurant is almost like a co-op as tens of chefs diplay their dishes. I point at fish platter and regret my decision as I watch her pop the one on display into a microwave. But she hands me a ticket and I look at her bewildered until I realize that I need to pay someone else at a different part in the restaurant. So I pay for my food and sit down to eat my fish, served cold. Apparently fish needs more than 20 seconds to heat up. Who knew? I am offered a drink and opt for the Inca Cola, another Peruvian specialty. Same deal. I receive ticket and search the restaurant for the bar where I pay for my drink.

Post: #2

Another early flight lies ahead and I take the night easy, eating a hostel cooked BBQ of steak, chicken, pork, potato salad, etc. and nap until its time to ride to the airport.

Cusco feels like a different world altogether.



While Lima is a modern city, Cusco streets (just the center of the city) are lined with stones and many homes are build of mud or adobe bricks. The city is full of hills and combined with the altitude at over 11,000 feet, breathing becomes a chore.

Loki hostel is full and so I am left homeless in the streets on a hill with all my belongings. This is nothing new. 1/2 later I stumble upon a "rustic" $4/night hostel with space. My 2 roommates are Australians. One of which decided to lay his dirty underwear on my pillow on a consistent basis the next few days. The floors are dirt, showers are cold, the mattress is made of hay stacked on stones, and the receptionist is a 10 year old girl...though very competent. Paying $4 a night is a bargain!



I quickly leave the place to go exploring.

Some kind of gambling


Street vendors cooking rice, beans, stews, etc.


They even named a street after 2Pac




I am here in Cusco at just the right time as festivities begin at night. The Inti Raymi festival is the second largest festival in South America. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on Cuzco from other parts of the nation, South America and the world for a week long celebration marking the beginning of a new year, the Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun.

Just around the main plaza are a bunch of rather expensive restaurants. But most of these restaurants have balcony seating and I manage to get a table overlooking the parade. I manage to spend a few hours at Baghdad Cafe only spending $7 on a small appetizer.

Post: #3

The parade.

Post: #4

Later in the night I join in on the festivities and drink wildly with local families dressed in the typical traditional clothing. It's a sight to see short, toothless men dressed in rainbow colored ponchos stumbling around with a bottle of wine in their hands. Or women carrying their baby in a sack, dancing while forcing down dixie cups of beer. The place is packed and maneuvering through the crowd is not working.











I wake up rather late the next morning in a shivering state. It's freezing in this city when the sun is hiding behind the clouds. A cold shower is even worse.

I casually stroll back to the main plaza expecting to see the festivities. I am absolutely unaware that they take place at the ruins a nice hike up away from town. I am honestly the only person in the entire city who made this mistake.

I climb a massive hill in order to watch the Inti Raymi parade, celebrating the Incas. As i begin my climb a group of police rush down the steps past me.

Post: #5

Old women walking llamas and alpacas effortlessly pass me and other tourists on the way up.





I pass local vendors cooking up cuy (guinea pig) and other tasty meat as I continue uphill for a solid hour.



Everyone gathers on these massive rocks to watch the procession down below. I never experienced so many people in the same place at once until I reached Brazil. It was packed. The rocks are slippery and people constantly fall, knocking down others in their path.





My favorite stereotypical ugly tourist



I wake up the early at 4am to catch a train to the Machu Pichu! While many people opt to hike the Inca trail, I cannot be bothered to do that as I am on vacation. I know what it is like to go trekking at high altitudes and while worthwhile, it is not easy. I told myself I would never do it again after trekking in the Bolivian andes a few year back.

The train ride is freezing as I opted for a third class ticket on the "Backpacker" train. The train only takes passengers to a town close to the Machu Pichu at Aguas Caliente.

Post: #6

From there I board a bus full of Japanese package tourists up to the ruins.



Towards the end of the day I wander alone into one small hut and jump back as two alpacas are just chilling. The three of us spend the next hour staring at each other as we escaped the heat.





I board the bus back to Aguas Caliente with a bunch of old British package tourists this time, and board the train back to Cusco. I board the second class train this time as the other is sold out. A long and deep conversation with a middle aged American tour agency owner is interrupted by a fashion show performed by to lovely train attendants.



I wandered a bunch walking all around Cusco each day. But the next day was solely that.

Post: #7

I wake up late after a long day at the Machu Piccu and wander into a market for lunch.





I buy a bag of coca leaves and force the woman to explain how to properly use them. My cluelessness is rather absurd because she and everyone she knows has been chewing them their whole life. Stupid Gringo. Chewing is done softly, trying not to crush them totally, only enough to break the cell membranes and then let them dissolve slowly in the saliva. When the half crushed leaves are sufficiently dampened (10-15 minutes), the chewer adds the llijta or any other alkaline agent (such as sodium bicarbonate).



A few minutes later, there is an intense anesthetic effect in the cheeks, throat and tongue. It is certain that the ingestion of the juice exerts an anesthetic effect on the lower intestinal tract and at the systemic level. This would explain the custom in Andean countries to chew coca leaves or take coca infusion to alleviate pain over a wide range: headaches, toothaches, intestinal cramps, etc. Its use is frequent as a dressing topically applied on the painful areas, for instance in the area of a broken bone or arthritis.

The absorption of alkaloids is rapid and the elimination of fatigue, a feeling of euphoria or antidepressant action is felt within 15 to 20 minutes, with the appearance of an increase of psychomotor action, a state of tension typical of alertness, there is an increase in activity or the desire to do something. Sensorial functions become more intense. The higher intellectual activities are faster, there is a slight feeling of consciousness expansion (which could explain its use during religious rituals). In the emotional area, the effect is stimulating, the individual feels euphoric, happy, optimistic, and willing to undertake action. Corporal needs, such as hunger, sleepiness, and restful are postponed by the energetic impulse of the time.

Just as I pop the first leaves in my mouth I run into a friend I met a month back in Colombia. Turns out he is shopping for the San Pedro Cactus to create a traditional hallucinogenic drink.

As I continue on wandering through Cusco I see a sign advertising bungee jumping. I make an impulse decision to go for it, and costing only $60, was a bargain.





http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=oH3B_I83qPw

Post: #8

At this point I had enough with my hostel and managed to move up in the waiting list and secure a bed at a proper hostel with wooden floors and hot showers. A bunch of us (Europeans and Australians) pound a few $5 bottles of rum and walk to Cusco's most popular discotec, Mama Africa's.





It is almost a tourist attraction in itself because it always came up in conversation when I was traveling in other countries like Colombia or Ecuador.



I taxi it back to the airport in Cusco for my third flight that week for another day in Lima. My bargaining skills fast improve as I instead opt to walk completely away from the airport and hail a cab off the street, where I pay only 25 soles compared to 40 last time.

Lima is actually a city worth spending more days then people seem to recommend.

I begin my day with a visit to the Catacombs at a church, which served as the first official Catholic cemetery in Lima, at a time when the dead were laid to rest in catacombs beneath the church. I visit the catacombs and view the hundreds of centuries-old bones and scores of skulls as part of the guided tour.





Next stop is a black market.

Post: #9

I eat a big plate of fish ceviche for lunch.



I return back to downtown Lima to have a walk around the area.











I end up in Miraflores for stroll through the park and catch a free concert.

Post: #10

I return to my hostel just in time to join in on the festivities.









No one should leave South America without sampling the women. Peruvian women do not come close to competing with Colombian or Brazilian, but there are still a few gems.



Overall I enjoyed my time in Peru. Like any country in the world, visiting for only 1 week meant I only scratched the surface of what Peru has to offer.

Feel free to ask any questions

Post: #11

Very nice report... it was a nice trip down memory lane. You even got the coco and cuy squeezed in there.

I also didn't take the inca trail and a lot of other gringos got on my case about it ("you should have done it"). I just don't care for 4 days of hiking.

Post: #12

Cool! Did you come across anything related to Sendero Luminoso?

Post: #13

(09-14-2008 08:48 PM)Steve Lurkel Wrote:  Cool! Did you come across anything related to Sendero Luminoso?

No, nothing. But I only visited Peru for a week and did not get to know or see much of the country. I did see a policeman dropkick some vagrant while in a taxi driving back to the airport...

Post: #14

These chics are pretty hot. Are there lots of Peruvian girls that look like that? The girl on the left almost looks Indian(India not Incan).

Great writeup! I really need to make it to S. America. I don't think I'd be brave enough to eat microwaved fish that's been sitting around awhile in S. America, or even in the U.S. for that matter!

Post: #15

(09-15-2008 04:06 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  These chics are pretty hot. Are there lots of Peruvian girls that look like that? The girl on the left almost looks Indian(India not Incan).

While those girls may not be really Peruvian looking, they are the type of girls you can expect to meet as a foreigner (ie upper middle class girls who go to discotheques). But really, avoid Peru if you are going just for the women. I can name a bunch more countries with far better looking women.

Post: #16

^^^ point taken. But man, I'd love to bang those two for days.

Post: #17

Well, i'll put you in contact with them if you ever get down to Lima

In the meantime, you can enjoy another photo of them.

Post: #18

Damn nice, the girl in pink has a nice ass, and nice face. Did you get to hit that?

Hablas Espanol? Share some tips on openers to a Latin girl. I really want to do south America sometime soon, in more ways than one.

Post: #19

(09-16-2008 12:53 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  Damn nice, the girl in pink has a nice ass, and nice face. Did you get to hit that?

Hablas Espanol? Share some tips on openers to a Latin girl. I really want to do south America sometime soon, in more ways than one.

Na, not her.

I really did not do well until the end of Brazil since I was a big puss for a lot of the time. I mean, I did alright but I never really initiated anything myself until Brazil.

I was really successful asking situational questions. For instance, "Why are they playing so much American music in the clubs here" or "why is there a huge party in the street tonight. Is it like this every friday night?"

Those questions basically showed that I was a foreigner and once they know that the rest is pretty easy.

Post: #20

Yeah peruvian girls more closely resemble native americans in your high school history textbook. The whiter ones are cuter thanks to spanish ancestry.

Post: #21

(09-16-2008 01:10 AM)Roosh Wrote:  Yeah peruvian girls more closely resemble native americans in your high school history textbook. The whiter ones are cuter thanks to spanish ancestry.

I agree for the most part, but that dark skin girl in the photo is obviously of native ancestry and she's damn cute. But I'm questioning whether she's full Peruvian, because I swear she looks like E. Indian or Pakistani or something, I could be wrong.

Post: #22

(09-16-2008 12:37 AM)jmb Wrote:  Well, i'll put you in contact with them if you ever get down to Lima

In the meantime, you can enjoy another photo of them.

Lol. Can you put me in contact with them?

I am Cusco right now but I am going back to Lima next week.

Any other recommnedations on Cusco nightlife / places to game?

Post: #23

btw they name the street after http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%BApac_Amaru_II not 2Pac.

Post: #24

Peru last July/August yes, I am finally posting my reflections and fell quickly in love with the landscape..



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