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Huaraz to Lima, the beginning of the end of Bill and Marmelita’s Peru vacation

To your health from Lima

El Tumi Hotel

I got up early around 4:30am to write the latest blog post and answer emails, thanks to the wireless internet connection in our room here at El Tumi Hotel. This was a real test of whether my only requirement in a hotel is wi-fi. They assignied us the noisiest, ugliest, smallest, worst room in the building. I had to take the head board off the bed to access the only plug-in for my lap top. I should have complained and got a better room, but I didn’t. We were paying $50 for a double. That is too much for the sub-par room we had. If they want to get a good review from me they should have given us a better room with a bigger discount. Wireless internet in the room is my only requirement, that’s how it is.

LC Busre Airlines

We have our tickets with LC Busre Airlines who only have one small propeller passenger plane from Huaraz to Lima that leaves at 11:00am every day for $129 per person. It only takes one hour to get from Huaraz to Lima by plane and 8 hours by bus.

Lima

OK, now we are in Lima after a smooth easy flight. The plane only had one seat on each side of the aisle, and the roof of the plane was so low I had to bend doubled over at the waist to get to my seat. The Huaraz airport is new and spotless. Everything was professional and also personal. The woman that seemed to be in charge of everything also held the babies while the mothers sent their purses and luggage through the X-ray machine.

Pretty House Hostel

We made reservations for a matrimonial room at the Pretty House Hostel for $25 per night. We usually stay there when we are in Lima. It is located at Av. Mariátegui #1711 Jesús Maria District, 35 minutes by taxi from the airport. The taxi charged $13. We like the owner, and the price. It is clean, safe, and it will come as no surprise that every room has wireless internet.

Don Fernando Restaurant

This time we discovered a fantastic seafood restaurant only two blocks from the Pretty House, Don Fernando where I savored one of the best meals of our Peru vacation. It was simple shrimp saute in olive oil, but the catch was the approximately twenty shrimp were sauteed with 30 cloves of garlic for $10. It came with crusty French style bread to dip in the garlic flavored olive oil. Delicious; my breath was ruined for two days.

Here is the condensed version of our stay in Lima.

We came to Lima with two goals; to buy chairs and tables to put out in front of the Amazon Explorers Club Lounge, and to visit with the Peruvian Federation of Golf. We accomplished those goals and are ready to go home to Iquitos.

Peruvian Airlines

We reserved our tickets to Iquitos with the new Peruvian Airlines for $114.95 per ticket. They have some kinks to work out with their computer ticket sales. The line was very slow, but we were there early enough it did not adversely affect us. Baggage check in was efficient, the plane was nice, the food good, and the pilot and crew were professional.

Back home in Iquitos

When we got off the plane in Iquitos the warm humid air felt great. We saw friends at the airport, and on the boulevard before we unlocked our door, and were so happy to be back home. Bill and Marmelita’s Peru vacation is over. Time to get back to work.

Lima cake

Huaraz to Lima, the beginning of the end of Bill and Marmelita’s Peru vacation

Bill Grimes is president of Dawn on the Amazon, studying tourism in Huaraz and Lima.

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These are our favorite restaurants in Huaraz Peru, ranked by how much we enjoyed our meal and the ambiance.

If you only have a few days to spend in Huaraz I recommend dining at Mi Chef Kristof, California Cafe, La Brasa Roja, Pachamama, and El Horno. Read the reviews of our personal experiences at these restaurants.

Mi Chef Kristof

Mi Chef Kristof was easily our favorite restaurant in Huaraz. Kristof is a friendly guy, a good host, and a real, schooled chef originally from Belgium. He has embraced his new home in Huaraz Peru. We were warmly welcomed and served a complimentary “artistic liquor,” passion fruit mixed with pisco which caused a nice warm sensation as it went down. Half of the restaurant and bar is a lounge with comfortable sofas and chairs. There are several large windows with a nice view. Most importantly, the food was delicious

Kristof, making home made fresh pasta at My Chef Kristoff

Mi Chef Kristof specializes in home made fresh pasta and creative home cooking.

Kristof making the fresh pasta for our order right in front of us.

The pasta is so fresh Kristof waits to make it until the order for the meal is placed. That’s fresh!

Mi Chef Kristof has the best pasta in Huaraz and maybe the best in Peru. He makes it fresh himself

One of our favorite meals in Huaraz was Mi Chef Kristof’s pepper steak, served with a creamy sauce over fresh pasta. It was delicious.

Kristof pouring home made pomodoro sauce over fresh pasta, and the lasagna ready to serve.

The portions were so large we could not eat it all, and I can eat a lot.

Lasagna at Mi Chef Kristof's

The Lasagna was wonderful. It could not have been better.

Fresh pasta with home made pomadoro sause at Mi Chef Kristof in Huaraz Peru

The pomodoro sauce was good but I thought it would have benefited from more garlic and fresh basil. The fresh basil is something we enjoy in Iquitos but may be difficult to find in the higher altitude of Huaraz. I noticed fresh oregano is plentiful in the market.

Recommended!

Mi Chef Kristof is well located at the Parque del Periodista, (ask any taxi driver) Av. Luzurriaga 6 block, Huaraz.

California Cafe

I am in front of the California Cafe, one of my favorite restaurants in Huaraz Peru

The California Cafe is a cozy place for a great California style breakfast with home made whole wheat bread and fresh roasted coffee, uummmhhhuummmm. We went there two mornings and were impressed each time.

A plate full of perfectly cooked home fries and bacon at the California Cafe in Huaraz Peru

Marmelita ordered the same breakfast each morning, a simple scrambled eggs with fried potatoes on the side. It came with great whole wheat toast, and she drank steeped loose leaf tea. The breakfast agreed with her very well.

I ordered the home fries with bacon and a cappuccino the first morning and the home fries with a cappachino, without the bacon the second morning. The bacon was too salty for my tastes but the home fries and cappuccino were perfect.

Recommended!

The California Cafe is located at Jirón 28 de Julio, #562

La Brasa Roja

One of my best meals was at La Brasa Roja. Try the trout with the white cream French sauce. The place was full of locals eating chicken cooked over the coals. It must have been good because that is what nearly everyone ordered but my trout was very special. Marmelita enjoyed her trout a la plancha.

Recommended!

Located at Simon Boulevar #725

Pachamama Restaurant

My pepper steak and mashed potatoes were delicious. Marmelita enjoyed her chicken nuggets and salad. The bread was excellent.

We loved the ambiance, the service, the food, the decor, the owner, the games. This is a fun place to dine.

Recommended!

We had a great time playing ping pong after dinner.

Located at 687 San Martin St. A little difficult to find because it is set back off of the street several meters, and seems a little dark.

El Horno

Pizzas, Pastas, Parrilladas

El Horno serves a large variety of excellent pizzas seasoned with lots of fresh oregano. We each ordered different toppings. I got the vegetarian, and Marmelita ordered the Mexican. They were both delicious. The olive oil was great. They steeped hot peppers, fresh rosemary sprigs and I could have sworn it had the taste of mushrooms, but maybe not. What ever, it was very good.

Recommended!

El Horno is well located at the Parque del Periodista, Av. Luzuriaga 6th block

Bistro de Los Andes

Marmelita loved her fried trout and it was cooked to perfection. I liked the local delicacy wheat soup and the bread was good. My main course of beef and Andean potatoes was just average.

The decor and ambieance is comfortable, and it is well located across from the Plaza de Armas at Morales #823

Chifa Jim Hua

We ordered a fried rice with shrimp, pork, and chicken, for 18 soles. That would have been enough for us but we also got the quail egg stir-fry. Their hot sauce was some of the hottest I have ever been burned by. I lost my voice for a few minutes.

Located at Luzurriaga 645,

Piccolo

Piccolo serves a wide variety of Italian, international and Peruvian dishes.

I had the cuy, cooked in the oven with a nice hot sauce, and boiled Andean potatoes.

Marmelita ordered pork chops which were too fatty and not so good.

Located on Morales #632

Hotel El Tumi Restaurant

We ate breakfast here several times, and dinner once. The best part of breakfast was the pita style bread, and the coffee mixed half and half with hot creamy whole milk right out of the cow.

Dinner was interesting. I ordered rabbit. It was a little tough but flavorful. Marmelita sent her bowel of soup back to the kitchen, but she liked the chicken with the white sauce gravy. Not a great restaurant but convenient since we stayed at the hotel. Breakfast was not included in the price.

Located at San Martin #1121

We enjoyed the Andean cuisine

These are our favorite restaurants in Huaraz Peru, ranked by how much we enjoyed our meal and the ambiance.

Bill Grimes is the restaurant critic for Dawn on the Amazon in Iquitos Peru

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On Our Last Full Day In Huaraz, I got down on my knee and proposed marriage to the woman I love, Marmelita. Did she accept? Read on…

Marmelita and I after I proposed marriage in Huaraz Peru

Marmelita and I were exhausted by four long hard day trips in a row. This morning we slept in, ate a big breakfast, and went to the Huaraz Museum of Archaeology around 9:30. We found the museum to be small but interesting with displays of artifacts from several pre-incan cultures.

The outdoor courtyard at the Huaraz Archaeological Museum in Huaraz.

Our favorite part of the museum was the beautifully landscaped tranquil outdoor courtyard. It provides a setting for nearly 100 stone sculptures from the Recuay, Chavin, and Wari cultures.

Stone sculpture artifact in the garden of the museum in Huaraz

Since the beginning of our Peru Vacation I had been looking  for the best opportunity to propose formal marriage with Marmelita. Sitting in the shade of mature trees, on a quiet park bench with flowers gardens blooming beside us, birds chirping, and a fountain gurgling in the background created the most romantic setting in Huaraz.

I got down on one knee a little to the side and in front of her and said,”Marmelita, I’ve loved you for years, and I know you love me. Please, will you marry me?”

She said,”Bill, what is wrong with you? We are happy this way.”

“Marmelita darling,…my knee is hurting, Please say yes soon.” I begged.

She said yes and asked me to sit beside her before I hurt myself more. We hugged, we laughed, then we cried. Now we’re engaged, and we are happy.

A romantic park bench in the court yard of the Huaraz Archaeological Museum

We played in the court yard of the Huaraz Archaeological Museum for over two hours. We hugged, talked, planned, and listened to the birds chirp. I will never forget those happy hours.

Bill Grimes is a simple man associated with the tour company called Dawn on the Amazon.

Marmelita Flores is a complicated woman, also associated with the Iquitos tour company, Dawn on the Amazon

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Our day trip to the Pastoruri Glacier, and the Puya Raymondii, largest bromeliads in the world, from Huaraz Peru, with Teo Tours.

Marmelita on the Pastoruri Glacier

We met Teo, of Teo Tours, at 8:30am outside the El Tumi hotel to start our final day trip from Huaraz. I wanted to see the Puya Raymondii Cactus in bloom, and Marmelita wanted to touch snow and ice. To accomplish our goals required a 70 kilometer car ride over horrible roads full of pot holes, hairpin turns, switchback after switchback, and suffering freezing cold.

A village scene at the start of our day trip up to Pastoruri Glacier

At the beginning of our day trip we went through small villages with street scenes like the photo above.

Wheat drying in the sun along side of the road near the beginning of our day trip to Pastoruri Glacier

When Teo tried to tell me the golden grain drying in the sun was “trego”, or wheat, I said no. I used to be a farmer. I know wheat and that is not wheat. The joke was on me. It was partially cooked wheat, drying in the sun, as one of the steps to make a special local delicacy, wheat soup, which I ate a bowl of and it tasted delicious.

A pastoral scene on the way to Pastoruri Glacier

Farther along and at a higher elevation we saw sheep grazing. At night the sheep are herded into the stone walled corral next to the shepard’s grass roofed huts.

Shepard's huts and a stone wall corral for the sheep at night.

This is the way people have lived here for hundreds of years. Each hut might have 20 cuy for meat, living loose in the hut with the shepard and his family.

Shepard's huts and stone wall corral on the road up to Pastoruri Glacier

On the way up we stopped at a naturally carbonated mineral spring.

Naturally carbonated mineral spring on the road to Pastoruri Glacier

My favorite part of the day was the hour we spent in a grove of Puya Raymondii, admiring the largest inflorescence of any plant in the world.

Bill and Marmelita in a grove of Puya Ramondii bromeliads, showing off the largest inflorecense in the world

The Puya Raymondii only blooms once in its life after several decades, and then, after pushing up a spike 12 meters high covered in thousands of blooms, producing millions of seeds, it dies.

A grove of Puya Raymondii on the way to Pastoruri Glacier

We were lucky to see two species of hummingbirds feeding on Raymondii nector, and pollinating the blossoms.

A hummingbird sipping nector and pollinating the flowers of a Puya Raymondii bromeliad

At one point along side of the road we saw a sign that said we were 5,400 meters above sea level, but we went down to 5,240 meters to the glacier. That’s pretty high, I think it is the highest I have ever been on land.

Marmelita on horseback to the final accent of the Pastoruri Glacier

When we arrived at the parking place to continue on foot or by horseback to the glacier, I saw it was going to be a difficult treck up to the glacier, so I sent Marmelita and Teo on and I took a nap in the car. Marmelita rode a horse most of the way. She said it was hard hiking in the high altitude on the last stretch to the glacier. She was happy to have played in the snow for the first time in her life.

It was hard to get there, but worth the $50 we paid Teo.

Our day trip to the Pastoruri Glacier, and the Puya Raymondii, largest bromeliads in the world, from Huaraz Peru, with Teo Tours.

Our good guide Teo, of Teo Tours putting in perspective how large the Puya Raymondii inflorecense is

If you are in Huaraz and plan a day trip or two, I recommend Teo Pineda Poma of Teo Tours. Cel.# 943916208 or 943080595. We liked him.

Bill Grimes is president of Dawn on the Amazon, studying tourism in Huaraz Peru.

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About our day trip out of Huaraz Peru to Chavin de Huantar with Teo Tours.

The main temple at Chavin de Huantar on a long day trip from Huaraz Peru

We met Teo of Teo Tours at 8:30am for a long day trip to Chavin de Huantar, the center to one of the most advanced, civilized pre-Incan cultures. The road was rough, climbing through starkly beautiful Andean terrain.

A typical scene on the way from Huaraz to Chavin

Closer to Chavin was a terraced agricultural area, where all the work is still done by oxen or by hand.

Agricultural terraces near Chavin

Research at the archeological site confirms Chavin developed agricultural techniques ahead of their time by domesticating Llamas for meat, fiber, and as pack animals, guinea pigs, or cuy, for meat, and they cultivated potatoes, corn, and quinoa using advanced irrigation systems.

Columns of the black and white portal to the main Chavin temple

One of my interests is the prehistoric cultures of the world. The ancient civilizations of Peru are some of the most interesting. We know the most about the Inca civilization because they were the dominant culture in Peru when the Spanish conquistadors and priests came and conquered the region. The reason we know the most about the Incas is the Spanish kept written records. Of course the history was written from the view point of the conquerors, like all history.

The architects of Chavin channeled water into the temple under hydrological pressure to make sounds like a jaguar roar, or an explosion, for dramatic effect.

We don’t know as much about the most advanced civilization of the pre-Incan era, Chavin, which left no written records except some poorly understood hieroglyphics.

Stefan, the guide we hired to show us around Chavin de Huantar, taught us that Chavin was the artistic, educational, and spiritual center of a huge region. It was originally built around 900 BC, between two rivers that are the headwaters of the Marañón River which flows through the upper Amazon Basin until it’s confluence with the Ucayali River where they become the Amazon River. The location dissected major trade routes over the Andes, making it an ideal place to collect and spread new ideas, as well as material goods. Chavin was partially a spiritual center and partially an educational center where an advanced knowledge of astronomy, architecture, ceramics, sculpture, hydraulics, and acoustics all came together to create an influence without having to resort to military warfare to consolidate power.  Artifacts were discovered that were brought here from the Pacific, the Amazon, all over the Andes, and Ecuador. Funny, we thought it was hard to get to Chavin by car, imagine walking there on a “pilgrimage”  from Ecuador.

This original carved stone symbol, the Lanzon, is still on display in the temple

The Lanzon, a carved stone symbol representing the principle god of the Chavin, is the only major religious artifact still in it’s original location within a temple in South America.

There is a museum in the village of Chavin that has beautifully preserved artifacts recovered from the Chavin de Huantar archeological site. The ceramic pottery is exquisite, the carvings artistic, the story compelling.

The jaguar was the most important symbol and it was believed the priests, through the use of hallucinogenic drugs, such as mescalin from the San Pedro Cactus, could change into a jaguar. Other important symbols were the crested harpy eagle, the serpent, the caiman, and the giant jungle snail shell, indicating an origin in the Peruvian Amazon for many of the religious beliefs. The conch shell is also prominently featured from the Pacific coast of Peru.

The Chavin civilization began to disintegrate around 300 BC. I wonder what happened?

One of over 200 feline-human stone sculptures, known as tenon heads, that once decorated all around the main temple

This was our most interesting day trip out of Huaraz so far. Marmelita said she felt some unexplainable tingle of electricity several times as we toured the site. We had a long hard day, but it was well worth the $60 we paid Teo to take us there.

If you are in Huaraz and plan a day trip or two, I recommend Teo Pineda Poma of Teo Tours. Cel.# 943916208 or 943080595. We liked him.

About our day trip out of Huaraz Peru to Chavin de Huantar with Teo Tours.

Bill Grimes is president of Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises and is studying tourism while enjoying Huaraz.

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