Culinary Experience

So Katie got to Peru about three days ago, and we`ve been on a whirlwind tour ever since. There will be more about our adventures to come, but right now, I have to describe one of the best culinary experiences I`ve ever had.

The coast of Lima is build on a cliff overlooking the beach. I don`t really know how this particular geologic feature came about, but the results are dramatic. It makes the perfect backdrop for walking along the cliffs and looking at the ocean. It also makes a perfect spot for paragliding as we have already seen. Well, Katie and I were walking along this perfectly situated spot and spied a long pier that held what looked like a fine restaurant. Our curiosity was peaked and so we wandered down to the beach to look at the menu. The restaurant was called the Rosa Nautica and it was a very fancy seafood restaurant built out over the water. It was beautful and Katie immediately fell in love with it, so we got reservations for that night and returned.


We walked out on the pier that night and the first thing we encountered was a little monkey. Actually, it was one of those pet monkeys, and it had an owner who would have the monkey give you fortunes for 10 soles apiece. I, being gullible, didn`t understand that this little piece of paper filled with illegible Spanish was going to cost me ten soles. We reluctantly paid the man and walked into the restaurant. It was beautiful inside. It was a combination of an old lighthouse and a ship. You could feel the waves crashing against the pilings below. The server took us in and sat us down in a waiting area to wait for our table. I was a little miffed because I had made reservations and our table wasn`t ready. But, that`s not really the way it works down here. Most people take a few minutes and have a few drinbs before they head for food. I relaxed a little and asked the wine specialist for a recommendation. We settled on a nice white chardonnay and then the server came with our seats.


The view was incredible. We were seated right next to the window that overlooked the pier and the lights of the city reflected off the water. The waves lapped gently below the window and the abiance was just perfect. Our bottle of wine came and both Katie and I were very pleasantly surprised. It was delicious. I have had wine a few times since I`ve been here and it`s all been brutally sweet. It`s like drinking alcoholic soda. This was perfectly dry and sweet. I`m not a wine conossiuer or anything, but this was great. Fresh bread was brought in a wicker basket and Katie and I sat back and basked in the opulence.

We had already decided what we were going to eat. We had seen it earlier when we stopped in. It was the seafood special. It had shrimp, crab, octupus, fish, and squid. It sounded awesome. We ordered that when we first sat down and the food was brought out at the perfect time, right as the wine started to go to our heads. The waiter brought out a gleaming tray and when he lifted the lid, our noses and tastebuds were assaulted with a delicious flavor. We dug right in, and although I don`t eat seafood often, this is probably the best meal I have ever had in my life. The food just absolutely melted on your tongue. The crab was especially good. I have no other way to describe the flavor except that it was amazing. Just writing about it makes me very hungry.



The dessert menu was brought out, and I didn`t understand a word. So I just took a chance and ordered something that looked big. Just when we didn`t think anything could possibly top the food, the dessert was brought out. It was three flavors of chocolate wrapped in chocolate and set in different flavored sauces. At the risk of sounding redundant, it was amazing. Katie and I sat there and savored the dessert and the last of the wine, and reflected on what couldn`t possibly have been a better culinary experience. If you ever go to Lima, make sure you go to the Rosa Nautica. It`s expensive, but I would`ve paid ten times what it cost for the meal we got.

The Long Downhill

I`m going to publish this without pictures really fast so people can see what I`m up to. Pictures to follow soon.

I made the joke a while back that I was tired of this crappy bus service and I was going to bike back to Lima. Well, somehow the idea got stuck in my head and I have biked some of the way back to Lima. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I don`t think I`ll ever take the direct bus again.

It started with the trip to the mountains where I realized that I could bike most of the way faster than our car could drive us. This lead to the realization that maybe I could make it all the way from the high sierra of Huancayo to the coast of Peru. I started to look at maps and sure enough there was a back way to Lima. It took a more cental route through the country and didn`t involve major roads. There were lots of little villages along the way and I decided to head out that way.

The trip started at 4am on Tuesday morning. The car for my destination city of Yaryos left at 5am in the morning and I had to bike to the location in order to get going. I had planned ahead a little and sent my backpack by way of bus to Lima and I only had my small backpack to carry the necessities of water, food, and my sleeping bag (which I have yet to use). I biked with this to the small city of Chupaca (like the Star Wars character), and I set off in a cab. Fortunately, there was a very friendly couple who I was traveling with. He, apparently, was the former Mayor of one of the small towns on our trip and seemed to know everyone on our journey. Everywhere we stopped, he got out and greeted someone that he knew. It was kind of endearing because everyone called him "Tio" or "uncle." Absolutely everyone. They also gave me some very good food and attempted to talk to me in English.





After a very scenic ride over the sierra`s highlands, we made it to the top of the moutains and it was time to get biking. To the bewildered stares of the locals, I hopped on my bike and started downhill. The first hour was all fun. I was biking down a road and flying past rocks and obstacles. It was a rough road, but I was doing fine. The second hour was a little rougher. The vibrations started to travel up my hands and into my shoulders. I quickly learned to grip the handlebars as loose as possible to avoid the bone jarring vibrations. The third hour brought blisters on my hands and a numbness in my feet. This is where I stopped at my first destination, had a little lunch and bought some water.

The descent from the highland sierra into the desert was palpable. I could feel my mouth dry out and could taste the tangy mixture of cactus and dust. My route followed the river the whole way down and the views were incredible. The canyon towered over the river thousands of feet and near the top, there were gigantic rocks that made me salivate to go and climb. It looks completely untouched and amazing.



Another two and a half hours of biking brought me to another small village where I stopped for some more food and to talk to the locals. I went into a small tienda and atracted quite a crowd. I bought a few things and settled in to relax and just hang out. I was able to converse quite easily with the locals. They informed me that the next village had some kind of festival going on and that I should stay there for the night. Initially, I thought maybe this was a good idea, but then the rest of the people in the tienda started to try to sell me stuff. This immediatly made me wary of the previous advice and I decided to hop back on my back. After another hour of riding, I arrived at the party.

It was quite a bit more than I expected. People were packed into the streets so tight that I could barely get by with my bike. There were churches, vendors, food, music, and a whole lot of people. I had grossly underestimated this party. These kind of situations always strike a little fear in my heart because they are perfect breeding grounds for gringo abuse. There are so many people that there are bound to be a few bad apples in the bunch, and the anonymity of the crowd, gives the thief a good cover. I did manage to make it out in one piece and decided to head to the next village to sleep.

By this time, the sun had almost set and I was facing the prospect of biking in the dark. I had forgotten that the seasons are swiched down here and the days are getting shorter instead of longer. Curse you tilted Earth! I did manage to make it to the next village before it got dark, but the city was completely booked up for the festival I had just escaped from. Now I was in an interesting pickle. I could try to bike to the next village and probably have to bike in the dark, or I could catch one of the many combis streaming away from the festival. I decided on the latter option and I`m very glad that I did. I hopped into a combi that was going all the way to my destination city. I`m happy that I did that because as I was riding in the combi, the route started to get flatter and flatter and we even had to climb a few times. This would`ve sucked on my bike. So after getting up at 4am, riding in a car for 5 hours, biking for about 7 hours, and sleeping in the combi for some unknown period, I was deposited at my destination and promptly fell asleep.

The next day, I hopped back on my bike and headed to the beach. I was really looking forward to putting my feet in the waters of the Pacific after having biked down from the mountains. I figured that would be a rather unique experience. I made it to this really cool beach town called Cerro Azul. The beach was black sand and completely empty...except for a ton of seabirds and some local fishermen. I walked along the beach, watched the fisherman haul in some ray-looking creatures, and enjoyed the sunshine.



Unfortunately, as I was leaving the beach, I had my first casualty of the trip. I discovered that the pocket that I kept my little MP3 player in was open and the player was gone. Oh well, every trip has its casualties. It kind of balanced itself out with a stroke of luck immediately afterwords. I caught an insanely fast cab back to Lima. I don`t really know how fast 170 km/hr is, but it felt darn fast. We were flying around cars and swerving wildly in and out of traffic. Most people wouldn`t call this a stroke of luck, but we made it back to Lima in about an hour. The trip is supposed to take at least two. The driver dropped my right off at my hostal and I`ve been hanging out in Lima ever since.

I kinda feel like a cheated on the biking thing. I wanted to bike the whole way back, but it was a lot longer than I ever thought, and the second half of the ride would`ve really been pretty crappy on my bike. Next it`s on to the desert coast and then to Macchu Picchu. Hasta Luego.

Into the Mountains (Part 2)

If I`ve said it once, I`ll say it again. This is one of the most amazing countries I`ve ever even heard of. There is every single type of geography that you could possibly want here. The city I`m in right now is nestled into a high mountain valley and is great for agriculture and has it`s own music and culture. There are beaches, swamp, jungle, rain forrest, cloud forrest, desert, and of course, my personal favorite, mountains. The Andes spring up right on the coast of Peru and soar up to altitudes of more than 18,000 ft. You can see a short stretch of those mountains called Nevado Huaytapallano from my city. They just barely peak over the foothills, tantalizing me from a distance. Yesterday, we decided to go see them.



They really don`t look that far away, and in reality they`re not. They are only about 40km from the city, which in the US would take only about 20 minutes to get to. Here, unfortunately, it takes an hour and half because the road is complete crap. It`s pockmarked with holes and rocks and there were several sections the only bridge across a river was a couple of logs. It was more like a mountain biking trail. That being the case, it`s very hard to find public transportation there and cab rides are rather expensive. We decided to go with a cab ride because it cut the time to get there from three hours to 1 and a half. So we bargained the price down to something reasonable and me, my teacher, and her neice piled into the cab and off we went.



The road being in the condition it was didn`t really seem to be much of a deterent to the cab driver. He sped down the road bouncing over rocks and teetering dangerously close to the edge of the road where there was a rather substantial drop into the river (no guardrails of course). I probably should`ve been a lot more scared, but I`ve found out that when you get on what would be considered extremely hazardous transportation in the US, you just kinda accept it because there`s not much you can do about it. And I was more distracted by the view of the beautiful green valleys that spread out behind us.

After many potholes and a lot of grumbling by our driver at the unfair price, we did eventually arrive at the at our destination. It wasn`t much of a destination, but it`s a good thing appearances are a deceiving. There was only a small little building at the top of the pass that was part restaurant, part grocery store, and part tourist information. The place has some of the best food I`ve had since I`ve been here. We quickly decided where we were going and set out to climb the pass. Our cab driver decided to come with us and I was quickly impressed with his stamina and strength. We scaled the first pass and were greeted with a beautful view of the glacier capped mountains.

We kept climbing and the view just kept getting better. A beautiful, blue glacier lake came into view and I just stood there kinda stunned for a minute. I`ve never seen a glacier lake before. It`s kind of a shame that most of these glaciers are going to be gone or significantly reduced by the end of this decade. Gotta try to see as many of these as I can before they`re gone. Unfortunately, the weather kept getting worse and the girls decided to turn around. I really wanted to go all the way around the trail and get down to the glacier lake to take some pictures and just admire the blue water. So the cab driver and I decided to continue and blazed a trail down to the lake.




My cab driver and I started a rudimentary conversation. I had a lot of trouble understanding him because Castillano was his second language. I found out his first language is Quechua, which a local highland dialect descended from Ancient Inca. I was again impressed by his stamina and strength as we both started to flag as we descended the glacier valley. There were lots of sheep in the valley and lots of angry dogs that didn`t like us very much. We also saw some of the huts that the local sheep and alpaca herders live in during the year. It`s hard for me to even contemplate such an existence.


After another hour, we eventually worked our way back to the hut, where a steaming bowl of soup was waiting for us. I was the happiest gringo for hundreds of miles. Our group gathered for some photos, paid the restaurant guide and started the descent. Going back down the road was rather uneventful, if you can call speeding along at 40mph next to the edge of a cliff uneventful. We got back to the city totally exhausted, and I surprised the cab driver with a very generous tip. I like our culture where we reward people for extraordinary service. Everyone is very surprised when I give them what would be considered a normal tip in the US. Overall, one of the best side trips that I have done since I`ve been here. The next adventure is going to be biking back to Lima. Hasta Luego.

The Third World Diet Plan

That`s right folks. You can do it too. Lose hundreds of pounds without ever consciously thinking about what you`re doing. Eat healthier, exercise more, and watch the pounds melt off all for a fraction of the cost of those expensive weight loss programs. All you have to do is buy a plane ticket right now and get your fat butt down to a third world country. The more intestinal parasites, the better. I personally guarantee that you will lose 5 pounds in the first week and receive your very own, complimentary colon cleanse. It`s only gets better from there. You will be eating all natural, organic foods bought only minutes from your doorstep. You will be walking miles everyday to get to the places that you need to go. The best part is all the ridicule and pressure you will receive for being the only fat person in the entire country.

All right, all joking aside. There really aren`t that many fat people down here. I made an observation when I left the US. I was in the Atlanta airport, riding up the escalator and I just looked around. I didn`t take a count or anything, but pretty much everyone I saw was at the very least overweight. Most people had large bellies overhanging their pants. I`m not saying I`m better, and I probably just fit in with the crowd, but I made the same observation when I got to a crowded area in Lima, and while there were a few overweight folks, the vast majority were thin and healthy. It was an amazing observation.

So what makes Peruvians less obese than Americans. The first and most important factor seems to be food. The major meal here is lunch and people eat pretty healthy. You go to a local market where most of the people get their food and you only see vegetables, fruits, and meats. You don`t see anything like the supermarkets we have in the States. There aren`t the gigantic, calorie laden, frozen foods, cereals, breads, dairy products, or any of the other processed crap that Americans consume on a regular basis. The only bread you can buy is these little small pieces of "pan", and dairy products are almost non-existent because of the general lack of refrigeration. It`s got kind of a beautiful kind of symmetry. Peruvians are too poor to afford the technology that we take for granted, but as a consequence, they are healthier.

The second factor also relates to the poverty. There are a lot of cars in Peru, but most of them aren`t owned by individual Peruvians. The majority of the vehicles you see are taxis, busses, and bicycles. People are forced to walk some distance to get to the bus stop, combi stop, or just to work. They also have to pay everytime they ride one of these vehicles. This lends even more incentive to just walk. Also, there is a general lack of television around here. Most people have TV`s but can`t afford cable, hence there is not much on. This forces them to go out and do something active to have fun. There are always soccer games in the streets and fields around town, and on the weekends, it`s diffcult to find a field to play anything on because they are all taken. Peruvians love soccer, volleyball, handball, and basketball. Even the poorest family here has some kind of ball to play a game with. It`s a necessity. All this means that Peruvians burn more calories and less gasoline.

So America, how do we fix our epidemic of obesity (and have no doubt that we have an epidemic on our hands...just look around). The first thing is to fix the food. Try only buying vegetables, meat, and fruit and the smallest amount of bread that you can in the grocery store. Learn how to cook with these ingredients, and only buy dairy when a recipe requires it. I know, I`m going to have trouble giving up milk and cheese. I LOVE these things, but I`m only going to buy the smallest amount possible.
Next, try to use your car as little as possible. Even better, get rid of your car and use the money you will save on gas, insurance, and payments to ride public transportaion. Doing these two things, I guarantee you`re BMI will drop along with your monthly bills. Save money, and lose weight, what could be better. It`s time to change before we become a bunch of walking whales.

What I have learned in Peru

1). Only the small dogs will attack you. You have nothing to fear whatsoever from the big dogs.

2) "I`ll be there at 5" really means "I`ll be there at 7:30...or 8...or never"

3) Small children absolutely love large, plastic bottles...and drool.

4) That`s not real chocolate.

5) The city sucks, live in the country.

6) Family is really, really, ridiculously important.

7) No matter what combination of keys you use, you will never be able to get the computer to understand that you just want it to type an "at" symbol. Hence, Myspace and Facebook are forever out of reach.

8) Skype is the coolest thing for travelers ever created.

9) Peruvians have no concept of "noise"

10) No matter how poor you are, a ball, a game, and family and friends can make you the richest man in the world.

Oh yeah...and a little Spanish, which is not called "Spanish" but "Castillano." And unless you want to lose your tongue, you´ll call it Castillano.