Our day started with a very early morning flight…we woke at 3am, our arranged driver picked us up at 330am, and made the drive through the eerily quiet streets of Lima, quite a contrast to the previous day’s chaotic commute. We made our 550am flight on Star Peru…. one thing I started noticing about Peru, was that everything seemed to run on time. Check out the model of aircraft listed on the Safety Card:
I really don’t want to be flying in an aircraft called a "boing"……….sounds like you’d be bouncing to your destination!
The flight to Cusco was short, but beautiful. You could see the snow capped peaks of the Andes
rising above the billowy clouds. We arrived in the former Capital of the Inca Empire at 7am. We had made most of our Cusco arrangements using the travel agency of a friend of a friend of the Missus. The name of the company is Skomundo. I’m not one to provide "plugs" for businesses, but I can’t say enough good things about Oscar, the Owner and Operator of Skomundo. He is dependable, on time, very helpful, and by the end of our trip had become a friend. Oscar made arrangements for our tours, and the flights to and from Cusco. I made the Hotel arrangements. I had tried getting a suite at the highly recommended Casa San Blas, but they were booked solid for months. My second choice was Rumi Punku, located several blocks away from the ultra busy Plaza de Armas. Oscar picked us up from the airport and drove us to our hotel…..he ensured that things started off well for us, with a nice cup of Coca Tea:
By the time we left Cusco, the Missus had gotten into the habit of drinking 4-
5 cups of Mate de Coca(Coca Tea) daily, along with chewing Coca leaves. Oscar got us settled, and told us to get some rest. Of course being so excited, we didn’t listen. We immediately set off to do some exploring, and grab something to eat. The Hostel Rumi Punku was located on a little cobblestone street called Choquechaca. The street dead ends a block later, where a school is located. Every morning, we’d be walking down Choquechaca, and would be greeted with a warm "Buenos Dias" or "hola" from the kids and their parents walking to school. We came to love this little street with a large personality.
The doorway of Hostel Rumi Punku is an honest to goodness Inca Doorway, and considered a historic site by the City of Cusco:
As we walked down Choquechaca, in search of the historic Iglesia de San Blas, we had one of what would turn out to be many, memorable encounters with people in Cusco. The Missus, using Her "survival Spanish", asked a very neat, and sharp looking young lady(maybe 8 years old) wearing a school uniform, for directions to San Blas. The young lady, pointed us in the right direction, and headed off…only to stop a few yards down the street. The young lady had waited for us, to make sure that we were headed off in the right direction!
The directions included a climb up these stairs:
Which even at sea level, would be enough to get me puffing along…..at an altitude of 11,500 feet……
We finally made it…….and had a short visit at the Church of San Blas(admission s/9), and the famous wood carved pulpit.
I had an ulterior motive for walking up to San Blas:
Pachapapa is a restaurant highly recommended by both the Lonely Planet and Footprints guides. We would soon find out that the food, tastes, and restaurant recommendations made by these guides were a really mixed bag.
We arrived right when the restaurant opened at 1130am, and decided to take a seat in the pleasant outdoor courtyard, where we had a nice view of the oven.
It seems that the pizzas here are really popular……..
We started with a few drinks…..a Chicha de Jora:
Chicha de Jora is basically a fermented maize beer. We really enjoyed this, the flavor is a bit sour, and yeasty, but very refreshing. It felt like the alcohol content was pretty low. I believe we ordered another one of these. There will also be a more interesting, and tasty version of Chicha de Jora in a future post.
Of course we tried a Pisco Sour:
Not too good.
Chicha Morada:
This version of the popular purple maize-fruit-sugar drink didn’t taste as "kool aid" sweet as other versions I’ve had, but was also a bit on the "watery side" when it came to overall flavor.
Give me the Chicha de Jora……….
The Missus looked over the menu and ordered the Olluquito con Carne y Charqui de Alpaca (Olluco and potatoes stewed with Alpaca meat and Jerky – s/20):
The stew had a very earthy flavor, and the slices of Olluco Tuber had a crunchy texture. The Missus enjoyed Her stew, and the plantains. We found that the rice was really hard, and dried out.
Olluco is tuber that is grown in the Andes. It looks like a potato, but has a very crunchy texture.
I had the Adobo de Chancho (Pork stewed with Chicha de Jora – s/22):
The chicha flavored, and achiote colored broth was wonderful…a nice combination of spice and saltiness, with a slight hint of sweetness. The pork was a bit on the dry side. The Missus got the sweet potatoes (of course). Again the rice was dried out and hard.
Overall, not a bad meal. In fact, after having an awful dinner that we couldn’t bear to finish that same evening, we really couldn’t think of somewhere to eat, so we returned to Pachapapa.
The Missus ordered the Cuy Frito(s/25):
If this was the only Cuy(Guinea Pig) we had in Cusco, we would have returned thinking that Cuy tasted horrible. First off, the skin was extremely tough….like rubber, you couldn’t even cut it with a knife. The meat was quite dry, and had a fishy taste. We later learned, that much of the Cuy sold in restaurants are raised using various feed to make them larger, and fatten them up quickly, instead of alfalfa, which is what Cut is traditionally fed.
I ordered the Chicharron (s/18):
These pieces of deep fried pork had the unfortunate destiny of being bland, dry, and greasy at the same time. Maybe we should have gone for the pizza……
Pachapapa
Plazoleta San Blas 120
Right across from the Iglesias San Blas
But like most experiences in Peru, this one had a silver…make that gold lining. During dinner, we had a nice conversation with our Server…who shall remain nameless, since he pretty much filled us in on what is what in Cusco. His take was this, "if you want to eat local, you need to get away from Plaza de Armas, and as a matter of fact San Blas as well. Though the Novo Andina cuisine around here is good, it is pretty tame." He also could not, for the life of him, explain why so many people love pizzas in Cusco. He also told us that the Chicha de Jora at Pachapapa is made with Chicha with the addition of Black Beer and sugar to smooth out and sweeten the flavor. The really nice young man(who got a nice tip from us), also gave us some suggestions as to where to get some good local grinds, and though we weren’t able to make it to all the places, we managed to make it to a few.
More on on our hotel…..we really enjoyed Rumi Punku, though the rooms are small, they are very cozy and very clean. The staff is very friendly and helpful. There is a free breakfast (we never partook) that starts at 5am, for those going on an early trip to Aguas Calientes and Macchu Picchu. There’s always Coca Tea available, though the Internet connection can be flaky….I couldn’t access this blog at all from here.
The courtyard and surroundings are very peaceful and relaxing.
Like I mentioned, the rooms are small, but very cozy, and the beds comfortable…for $60(US) a night.
A couple of items to note….the water system is flaky, so if someone next door flushes the toilet….you get the picture. We also found that what is considered "Central Heating", is this:
Which worked just as well as other more advanced "central heating" systems w
e’ve encountered in US hotels. We returned to take a short rest…believe it or not, we still had entire half day of touring in front of us…..