July 14-16

Our flights went smoothly, and arriving around 5 in the morning in Lima, we cleared customs quickly, although there was some confusion as they asked to see our boarding passes from the flight, but as we had used our phones, those passes had expired and were removed from our devices.  Recognizing that we poised little or no threat to the country, they let us in anyway and then more confusion reigned as we were supposed to be met by a driver (a nice perk as part of the tour package) to take us to the hotel.

One is always a little tired and out of sorts after a long day of flying (particularly with the crazy start to ours) and this just added to that, likely a result of my having contacted Intrepid when learning about the cancelled flight and they may have cancelled our pickup.  None-the-less, what transpired was a peek at what we would encounter throughout the trip, local people willing to help.  A guy there to pick up another couple got on the phone with the contact we had called and, in the end, worked it all out, he being the one that would take us to the Pullman Lima Miraflores. 

It takes about forty minutes to get to the Miraflores district from the airport and upon arrival we quickly checked in and soon found ourselves in one of the nicer rooms we’ve occupied recently, spacious with a great shower and best of all, a teapot and coffee in the room.  And to make the morning even better. we were informed at the front desk that breakfast was being served in the second-floor dining room and so we made our way there to delight in one of the finest buffets of this type we’ve yet to encounter.  I had bacon every morning, it was that good. 

After sampling a bit of all that was offered, we returned to our room for a short nap before venturing out to see what we could see.  Miraflores is a residential and upscale shopping district south of downtown Lima and one of the wealthiest districts that make up the city.  It has several hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and department stores and is also known as one of the safer ones, providing assurance that it is safe to walk about freely in a city that visitors are warned has its dangerous areas. 

Peru, among other things, is known worldwide for its production of high-quality wool from Alpacas and Vicunas, but not from their better known relative, the Llama.  They are all members of the Camelids family which are even-toed ungulates classified in the order Artiodactyla, along with species including camels, whales, pigs, deer, cattle, and antelopes.  During our time in Peru, we would encounter countless outlets for Alpaca and Vicuna wool, from the street side sellers to posh outlets. 

Thus, our first stop was across the street from the hotel at Mundo Alpaca, which we entered to inquire if they sold skeins of wool as we know that Jessica knits and we were set on bringing her back some good quality product.  As one should do on a trip like this though, buying any souvenir at the first stop is usually not the best idea, nor does it lead to the best outcome, often overspending on an item one can find later at a lower cost, or with better quality.

We rambled on down Avenue Jose Larco, one of the main drags in Miraflores, stopping briefly at the large plaza overlooking the ocean, to take in the view amidst Saturday afternoon crowds out to enjoy the weekend, as well as the usual armies of buskers and hucksters aiming to liberate the unsuspecting from a few bits of Peruvian Soles, the country’s currency which trades at roughly 3.7 to the dollar. 

We then descended a set of stairs to the Larcomar Mall, a shopping center owned by Chilean company Parque Arauco S.A. and opened in 1998.  It is frequently visited by international tourists, as well as by locals from Miraflores and other parts of Lima.  Located at the end of Avenida Jose Larco and being situated next to the ocean (mar means ‘sea’ in Spanish) it is known as Larcomar.  It features indoor and outdoor areas, includes a cinema, bowling lanes, a food court, museum, tourist shops, Tony Roma’s, T.G.I. Friday’s, and Chili’s restaurants, bookstores, clothing stores, and electronics stores.  Kind of what you would find anywhere in the world. 

We wandered around the mall, debated on whether to see a movie to kill time, or maybe grab a bite (but we still weren’t hungry after our monster breakfast), or perhaps buy a short-sleeved shirt for me as it was much warmer and humid than we anticipated when packing for the trip.  In the end, we did none of it and instead began to walk back to the hotel, stopping for a latte and a slice of lemon blueberry bread at Puku Puku Café, a Peruvian based coffee roasting company that uses single-origin small batch coffees purchased from small farmers and communities throughout the country’s diverse coffee regions.

The name Puku Puku is Quechua for “bird that signs at sunrise”, Quechua being the indigenous language family spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Peruvian Andes.  We would learn so much more about these people as the trip proceeded as we would spend a week or more traveling through those mountains.  We returned to the Pullman and relaxed away the rest of the afternoon. 

Knowing we would have a very good meal the next night with the tour, we decided to have a go at the restaurant at the Pullman, and that turned out to be just the right decision.  As it was early, we were the only ones to be seated in the dining room on the first floor and a menu in English helped us order efficiently.  We started off with cocktails of course, a 15 de Agosto del 07 for Joanna, a Pisco drink consisting of Pisco Quebranta, Vermouth Rosso, fernet branca, and thyme (commemorating the Pisco earthquake that caused enormous damage in the department of Ica, south of Lima) and I went for the Black Fashioned (Black Whiskey, simple syrup, morado, and citrus bitters) with a delightful smear of crystalized sugar on the glass rim. 

Both were excellent.  For food we split a bowl of Crema de Zapallo (cream of Pumpkin) soup before enjoying our entrees.  For Joanna this was the Tiradito (Tiradito is a Peruvian dish of raw fish, cut in the shape of sashimi, and of aspect similar to crudo, and carpaccio, in a spicy sauce) comprised of Scallops, Catch of the day, Yellow chili cream, leche de tigre, grilled sweet potato, chalaca, cilantro, and grilled corn) while had my first taste of what many consider the be the Peruvian national dish, that is Lomos Saltado (Smoked beef tenderloin with onions, tomato, French fries, and rice with corn).  I enhanced the enjoyment of my dish with a glass of house red. 

I had this dish once before many years ago when my Dad lived in El Cajon.  He loved to try new places to eat and was excited to take me to a Peruvian restaurant which had opened nearby.  What I had was good but the version I ate that night in Lima was even better, the quality of the meat superb.  It brought back those memories of my Dad though, as food or music can so often do.  We closed out our tab at 295 soles, or $80, the first but not the last time we would have a very good meal at a very reasonable price.  Our trip was off to a good start. 

Links

Pullman Lima Miraflores: https://all.accor.com/hotel/B464/index.en.shtml?utm_campaign=seo+maps&utm_medium=seo+maps&utm_source=google+Maps

Larcomar Mall: https://www.larcomar.com/

Puku Puku Cafe: https://pukupuku.pe/