Trip Report: Eating Good In Cusco, Aguas Calientes and Lima in Peru

There are some places worth visiting in Cusco, Aguas Calientes and Lima aside from Machu Picchu, but these places are nothing to write home about if you are an avid world traveler. So I have decided to write about the good food we ate in these places instead.

Cusco sure has some great places to eat despite its size. We loved the following spots:

1. Granja Heidi, Cuesta San Blas 525, Cusco, Peru
A restaurant that serves up healthy dishes. Perfect spot for your first meal in Cusco as you are adjusting to the high altitude. Never eat too full will help.

2. LIMO Cocina Peruana & Pisco Bar, Portal de Carnes 236 | Second Floor, Cusco, Peru
They dish up great ceviche and believe it or not, decent sushi here. The ambiance is of a five star establishment in NYC but the price sure does not reflect that.

Being the capital of Peru, Lima sure has some world-class restaurants dishing up Peruvian and international dishes. We loved the following spots.

1. Alfresco, Malecon Balta 790, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
Seafood restaurant in Milaflores. Best are its ceviche and black ink squid risotto. The price won't break your bank.

2. Chifa International, Eleonor Roosvelt, Lima, Perú‎
There are at least 300 Chinese restaurants here in Lima since there are approximately a million Chinese living here. Many serve up the not so traditional dishes, but luckily for us, Chifa International whipped up some traditional ones like steamed fish and sauteed Chinese greens for us since we were craving Chinese badly. Yes we were hopeless (or at least I was!).

3. Palachinke Panqueques, Jr. Jr Schell 120 Int. 1, Miraflores, Lima, Perú‎
Website: http://palachinkepanqueques.com/
Great place for crepes. They dish up both sweet and savory ones. Warning - big portions!

4. Manolo's, Avenida Larco 608, Lima
Who doesn't love some churros dipped in hot chocolate? They seem to have the best ones here. They also serve other food like sandwiches and salads.

We ate at a few places in Aguas Caliente but found the best food at the restaurant of our hotel (Sumaq, http://www.sumaqhotelperu.com/). Sure we tried the CUY (guinea pig) and alpaca meat at another restaurant but find them rather disappointing.

Trip Report: Chronicle of Our Inca Trail Hike.

At almost 9000 feet above sea level in Cusco, I scrubbed and cleaned myself hard in anticipation of three days without access to any shower facility. I don't think my hiking mates did the same, but they were all getting ready for this big hike one way or the other. Some, like Susan, Alison and myself, started working out months ago in preparation for this. Others like Howard and Alex appeared to be hiking pros and had nothing to worry about. Then there was Ein who assumed it would be an easy hike and preferred not to train beforehand.

We used Llama Path (http://www.llamapath.com/) for our hike and had nothing but praises for them. We signed up for a private hiking tour and there were 11 porters, one cook and one guide to support us during the hike. Donned in bright red uniform, our porters looked like an impressive bunch. When moving in unison, they resembled a line of red ants walking uphill, carrying our personal items, tents and sleeping bags. Our cook would made us tasty meals of different variety everyday even though he didn't have a proper kitchen to work with. Our guide Roger had a great sense of humor and spoke good English. He also displayed such patience for us. These people had no doubt helped make our hike easier.

Day 1 was relatively easy. This was perhaps Roger's attempt to ease us in. We started at 8923 ft and hiked up to Ayapata at 10,829 ft. Along the way we saw different plants. We also had to dodge animal poop, mostly of llama's and donkey's, along the way. For a second there I thought I was hiking up the "Shit" trail. Our excremental experience continued that night at our campsight. The toilet facility featured the squatting toilets and many campers did not know how to use them. A lot of them had "missed the target". It was not a pleasant experience if you ask me.

After spending a rather restless night (a lot of us had to get used to sleeping in the wild without the police siren going off in the background), we set out for the second day of our hike. This was considered the most challenging day since we had to trek up "Dead Woman's Pass" at 13779 feet followed by the second pass at 13123 feet. It must be the excessive amount of coca leaves I had ingested since I was the first one among the 400 hikers to reach these two passes. Months of strength training and working out to "Body by Jake" dvds had paid off. The rest also did well. It took Ein longer than others to complete the hike but at least she trudge on and completed it . Kudos to her determination (but not to her unwillingness to train and exercise beforehand)!

Some of us started off day 3 with sore knees, calf and thigh muscles. It was an easier hike compared to the one on the previous day. We descended down to 8792 feet and immediately felt the warmer climate. We visited a couple of Inca sites along the way before resting at our camp site. This camp site had a restaurant which also housed a shower facility so we all took advantage of it. It was sure a great feeling being clean after 3 days of only wiping ourselves.

Day four was the final and big day of our hike. Today we were supposed to arrive at the Sun Gate followed by Machu Picchu. Even though we would only hike for a couple of hours today, we had to get up before the crack of dawn since we wanted to watch the sun rise at Machu Picchu. Despite leaving our campsite at 4am, we were the second group in line waiting for the entrance to Sun Gate to open. We relied on our headlights to trek in complete darkness for an hour before we got sunlight. We arrived at the Sun Gate with the view of Machu Picchu in our sight . We then hiked for another hour and reached Machu Picchu just before sunrise. After four days of hiking, bitching, eating and more hiking, we finally got to this famous UNESCO world heritage site. We then toured the site for a couple of hours and headed to our hotel in Aquas Calientes for a good rest.

In my opinion, the trip was definitely worth all the planning I did leading up to it. I am sure the thousand other young Asian Americans I encountered on the hike would agree with me. I had never seen that many Asian Americans visiting a destination like Machu Picchu other than the outlet malls and casinos in the States. Machu Picchu must be a rite of passage for them.

Aside from hiring a reliable and efficient tour company like Llama Path, here are some tips to help make your hike a smoother and more comfortable one..

Tip 1: Do not be overly active on your first day of arrival in Cusco or overeat during the first couple of days of your hike to avoid altitude sickness. Also avoid drinking alcohol.

Tip 2: Train for the hike (running and strength training exercises help)

Tip 3: Apply some Tiger Balm ointment under your nose before you use the campsite's lavatory (trust me, it helps!).

Tip 4: Bring a small towel for the hike (you will get to shower on day 3 and trust me, you will need it badly!)

Tip 5: Layer yourself. You will experience weather that ranges from 30F to 85F during your hike. It's like experiencing four seasons in a day.

Most importantly, think positive and always take that one step ahead of another, be it at a fast or slow pace. Never take a long break. It will only tire you down.

We are all so glad we did it. We burned a lot of calories in the four days and probably offset some if not all of the calories burned by binging in Lima after our hike. My blog entry on Lima and Cusco will follow shortly.

Trip Report: Weep for Me, Argentina!

Weep for me Argentina, for this diva is leaving town!

I think I should be doing the crying actually. After my week-long trip to Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls, I really find it hard to leave these two wonderful places.

Buenos Aires reminds me of a European city like Paris or Madrid. Never mind the dog poops on the sidewalk, this Port City of Argentina is beautiful, energetic and seductive in every sense. From the cobbled streets to the old cafes, travelers will get to experience and appreciate the uniqueness of this city that the Portenos (a term used when referring to the locals, it means "People of the Port") take so much pride in. In fact, the Portenos look very European too, mainly due to their Italian and Spanish roots. These folks are mighty attractive.

I was really looking forward to Buenos Aires after having spent a few days in Santiago (honestly Santiago is nothing to write home about). Actually, to be fair to Santiago, Bush was there for the APEC meeting when I was there so naturally there were many anti-war protests. I did not enjoy the choas, road blocks and the closure of numerous important tourist attractions (just because Bush was dining in the vicinity). I left Santiago with slight disappointment and was hoping to have a much better time in Buenos Aires since it was Bush-free and all. Sure enough I did.

Where to start? First of all I did what a typical tourist would do. I checked out Casa Rosada, attended a performance at the Teatro Colon, visited the sunday market at San Telmo, saw Eva Peron's graveyard at the Recoleta Cemetery, went to Eva Peron's museum in the Polermo district (that woman had some outstanding outfits I have to say), enjoyed a traditional tango performance at the historical Cafe Tortoni and purchased a leather jacket from my favorite store Bensimon (www.bensimon.com).

The Portenos lead a Spaniard lifestyle. They don't have dinner until 10pm or so and they stay up until 2am-3am even on a week night. You will feel this late-night vibrancy if you stay in the Palermo Viejo area. There are many great boutique hotels and B&Bs here. One of my favorite is the Malabia House (www.malabiahouse.com.ar). Book early and it tends to fill up quickly. If you desire more elegance and tranquility, you should consider staying in the Recoleta district. The century old buildings here will no doubt remind you of the buildings in old European cities like Paris or Madrid.

As expected I partied a lot in Buenos Aires. I also ate a lot. Meals in Buenos Aires are very inexpensive. A nice meal consisting of grilled meats and a bottle of wine at a local restaurant would cost you USD8-10 or so. My most humble and memorable experience in Buenos Aires would be a dinner I had at a local steak/buffet house. Since I didn't speak any Spanish and the staff there didn't speak much English, I had problem ordering from the menu. The owner of the restaurant, an asian lady, came out and started conversing with me in Spanish. I gave it a shot and asked if she understood Mandarin. She did and we started conversing in Mandarin. She told me how she came to this country from China and started working as a cashier at a grocery store (and her experience during the riot in the city). She saved up enough money to open this restaurant. It may be a classic immigrant story, but for an Asian like me who does not exhibit any positive Asian stereotypes such as hardworking, smart and modest, I find this story awe-inspiring. Ha ha!

No trip to Buenos Aires is perfect without a side trip to Iguazu Falls. Stretching along the borders of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, this famous fall is often chosen by many as a side trip destination when visiting Buenos Aires. A modern circuit of footbridges and natural paths allow visitors to penetrate into the dense jungle, as well as to contemplate the fall of the water from inside the cascades. There are boat trips that will take you to the biggest waterfall (The Devil's Throat) that reaches a 80m height. You can also travel to the Brazilian side (you will need a visa) to enjoy the spectacular views of the fall. Believe me, Iguazu Falls put Niagara Falls to shame. The falls are located in Puerto Iguazu which is a 2 hour flight from Buenos Aires.

If you get a chance, please visit Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls soon. Enjoy the devaluation of the country's currency (Peso) before the country becomes a more expensive place to visit. I guarantee you will have a blast here. I sure did. In fact, I am planning on another trip down there soon. The clothes at Bensimon are calling me...