Category: Earth

Quick facts: Locals built runways here for aliens; GPS: -14.82759, -74.93705; GMT-5; Altitude: 1710′

Today is when I officially kick of the ancient aliens tour; I’m going on a Nazca lines flight with Aeronasca. I have heard several people say they wouldn’t go up in one of those planes if someone paid them to. I’ve been on many small airplanes before and don’t see the issue but I guess there were problems back in the day. I decided not to get a real early flight so I could have breakfast before since I like my routine. I ate at the hotel and then caught the shuttle at the hotel (the owner of the hotel happened to own the flight tour company too) to the airport at just before 10:00 for a tour flight at 10:00-10:30. As I would have expected given the time frame and how relaxed he was driving, we were rushed through security and onto the plane for a not on time departure.

Once in the air it was only a minutes before I could start seeing lines in the ground. We were flying in a Cessna 207 and although the plane was full with 6 passengers the windows were large and it was easy to see the ground. For most of the flight the pilot would fly by one of the lines, dip the wing down quite a bit so the one side could see and swing around and do the same for the other side.  The flight lasted about 30 mins and we probably saw maybe 15-20 different drawing type lines and tons of the straight lines. At the end they also swung by the aqueducts and the castle. I didn’t feel unsafe at all on the flight and given what I know about small planes even safer probably than the big jets. The lady at the hotel warned against eating breakfast or even having coffee but I did not feel sick at all afterwards. I wanted to go find a bumper sticker or something that said, “I survived a Nazca lines flight.”

After the flight I looked around a bit at a couple of the small shops near the airport and waited for the shuttle to return. Some of the people on our flight went to Mom’s cafe in town and I decided to join them for a quick lunch. The food was good, I tried some different empanadas and not too long after finishing the shuttle came back by so I jumped on it and I went back to the hotel and hung out for a little while. I mostly worked on some planning for later and wrote a little for the blog. It was about 16:00 by the time I called my guy and even though they’ll tell you 5 or 10 minutes it almost never is. So after 30 minutes he showed up, drove me to Rico Pollo again for an early dinner since I was catching the Peru Hop again at 18:45.

This time around instead of being experimental I decided to try some of the chicken which everyone was eating last night and raves about in most of the reviews. It was pretty good and while chicken is not my favorite as long as it’s not all the time I do enjoy it. Mom’s cafe was basically next door and also the pickup spot for us catching the bus. I waited around for about 45 minutes before the bus showed up pretty much on time and we all loaded. This leg of the journey is one of the few that is an overnight ride. It left Nazca right about 19:00 and will arrive in Arequipa at 5ish in the morning.

Quick facts: Locals built runways here for aliens; GPS: -14.82759, -74.93705; GMT-5; Altitude: 1710′

Nazca – The next morning I got up and tried to have breakfast somewhere but most places didn’t open until 07:30 or 08:00 so it was a little later than I would have liked. I found a place near the beach and ate quick so I could get back to my room and get ready to catch the next leg.

I opted to skip this part with Peru Hop and the bus company I did find only had one bus going to Nazca, however it left at 09:45. So because of that I couldn’t go on the Ballestas Islands tour which would have been cool as it’s called the poor man’s Galápagos.

I caught the bus with no issues and made a bee line for Nazca. I decided to do this because I was much more interested in seeing the Nazca lines than going to Huacachina for a day like I would have if I had followed the Peru Hop itinerary. The bus ride went by pretty quick and I was in Nazca before too long even though it was several hours later. From the bus stop I caught a taxi and went to check in at my hotel.

After checking and getting some laundry started I walked around Nazca a little. There are a few things to see here other than the lines but really I wasn’t interested in them and decided to take it easy instead. After having dinner at this place called Rico Pollo, I went to the Nazca Lines Hotel and checked on the tour/light show that the hotel offers. The English show started at 19:30, so I just waited around the 45 minutes or so looking at the photos and enjoying a Pisco sour.

At 19:30 the guide came and got the group. We started by looking at the big scale model that is in the lobby, pointing out where the lines are, why they are there, and some of the history behind them. After that he took us to see the outside of the room where Maria Reiche lived for the last 25 years or so of her life. She’s an interesting woman and it was cool to learn a bit about her and what role she played there in Nazca and with the Lines themselves. The main attraction though is a light show in the planetarium and the guide talks more about the history and how the lines were discovered. Over all it was worth the hour and S/20 for the ticket even though he never collected them. I’d do it over again. By the time the show at the planetarium ended it was getting late so I caught a taxi and went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Quick facts: Capital of Paracas District; GPS: -13.83522, -76.25047; GMT-5; Altitude: 18′

Paracas – From here on out in Peru I’ll be using Peru Hop with one exception. From Lima the bus will take us all to Paracas south of Lima. Since they are located in Miraflores and most tourists probably stay close by they’ll usually come and pick you up at your hotel. The little shuttle bus was there to pick a few of us up at 06:30. It was only a few blocks away and there we boarded a pretty big tour bus. It was quite larger than I thought it would be. All the pictures I saw were small to medium sized buses and I figured that’s what it would be like. Peru Hop is moving up in the world.

Once everyone was on board we headed out. It was nice to see the coast line in the day light as I had mostly only seen it at sunset or when it was pitch black. We traveled down the highway for a couple hours and then they stopped for us to get out and stretch and get some breakfast. I tried all three they had to offer which were: chicharrones, egg and cheese, and avocado sandwiches. They were all pretty good but I think the best would’ve been all three together in one.

From there we got back on the road for probably 2.5 hours or so before making the first actual touristy stop at Tambo Colorado. We toured around this site for about an hour and learned some history of how the people lived and what this place was used for. It’s old and wasn’t preserved very well until recently so there isn’t much to see now but I’m sure it was wonderful back then.

Back on the bus we were only an hour or so away from Paracas and it went quickly. When we arrived I opted to skip lunch with the group and take a tour of the national park near by since I would not get a chance to do it tomorrow as normally scheduled.

This was a pretty cool tour. It was two hours long and only made 3 stops at certain places in order to see the cliffs, the ocean, and the peninsula. The park itself is mostly made up of a sandy desert and looks a lot like what I expect Mars looks like. Some day maybe I’ll be able to add another category, Mars, similar to the Earth one I have on here 🙂 Out in the water at one of the stops we saw some dolphins swimming around, that was pretty cool. I didn’t expect to see them so close to shore. There were also several species of birds, the biggest being some turkey vultures.

Once the tour was over it took maybe 15 minutes to get back to Paracas since it’s really close. I grabbed my bag from the storage room and went and checked into the hotel, Hospedaje Racs. Paracas is a really small town and you can walk it end to end in 10 minutes or less.

The rest of the evening was pretty laid back since there is so little to do. I watched the sunset on the beach and then waited around for the group from Peru Hop to meet for Dinner. I had hoped to go to a more traditional place for dinner but we wound up at a pizza place. It was about what you’d expect for pizza in a tiny town in Peru. We did get a free drink out of it for being with Peru Hop though so I guess that was nice. After dinner some of our group went to another hotel/bar and had some drinks. Most of this party left fairly quick since they were getting up sort of early for a tour. I went back to my room and hit the rack just a bit after midnight.

Quick facts: Capital city of Peru; GPS: -12.046374, -77.042793; GMT-5; Altitude: 456′

Today was a little more successful. I tried the little cafe across from Larq’a for breakfast. It saved some time and the food was good.

From there I walked to the nearest Movistar store which was only only about 10 minutes away. I got there right when it opened and tried to find out what I could do about my phone. One guy told me that I had to go back to the other store. Another guy told me I couldn’t do anything there and had to go next door. It really seemed like a repeat of yesterday. I tried to go to the supermarket after getting that all I needed to do was recharge the number. I couldn’t understand everything the guy at the counter was saying and I didn’t want to take a chance so I went back to the store and talked to a 3rd guy. He said I could do it from the phone but when I looked I didn’t see the plan I wanted and it was then that I decided I would give up on Movistar.

From there I walked to the next choice which was Claro and within maybe 20 minutes I had a SIM, a plan and I was already online on my phone. Also a big plus was I didn’t have any issue using my card there. So from my experience, the obvious choice for mobile internet in Peru is Claro. I just hope their coverage is good throughout the country.

Even though they’re not my favorite, after I got my phone working it was much easier getting a ride since I could just get an Uber. Heading downtown again seemed like it was going smoothly until we got back down near el centro and the roads were closed again. I had hoped to make it to the changing of the guard but with the phone issues, the traffic, and more problems downtown again I missed that by a few minutes. This time I walked around the other way around the center and after several minutes managed to talk my way past the police. Finally inside the square I could go to the Choco Museo which is the only place I was really trying to go yesterday.

This place was pretty cool. It’s not very big but it’s got a little store you can buy stuff in and a small cafe if you just want to chill after spending a whole day trying to get past the barricades. However, the biggest reason to come to this location, there’s one in Miraflores too, is because this is where the classes are held.

I decided to take the “bean to bar” class as this was the only one that appealed to me. This class was super cool. We started by learning about the cacao tree and how the beans are extracted from the pod. We then learned how the beans are processed and what it actually takes to turn cacao into chocolate. After getting the details we then proceeded to do it ourselves. This was really fun. The instructor told us to pick 10 beans and we worked those into a paste. With that paste we made several different kinds of drinks that the natives drank and also molded some chocolate they gave us into shapes that we could pick from. This was great. I’m glad I found it in the Lonely Planet or I might have missed out.

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After the chocolate museum the next thing I wanted to see was Chinatown (Barrio Chino). I had hoped to find some open markets where I could buy some fruit or something unique to Peru but I didn’t really find what I was looking for. If I had more time I probably could have gotten what I wanted but this area is big and it was getting late in the day again. I needed to make my way to the coast if I was going catch the sunset on my last night in Lima.

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Fearing I would run into a problem like last night with the roads being blocked and so many people all over the place I walked to a larger road and within 15 minutes I was in a car heading to the coast. It was about an hour drive through the city to La Punta which is a small peninsula that sticks out from Lima. There I caught the sunset and enjoyed the scenery for a little bit. By chance my driver had stayed behind and I got a ride back to Miraflores with him. I should say lucky for me, and smart on his part as I might not have gotten another car so quickly if he didn’t wait.

Back in Miraflores it was time for dinner and even as good as Saqra was I wanted to try a different restaurant. One of the drivers had recommended a ceviche place in Lince but the guy at the hotel said this place nearby was much better. So I ended up at Punto Azul. The Pisco sours here were good and I had one until a table was ready. Since I have a fondness for octopus as an appetizer I ordered the Pulpo al Olivo. It looked kind of weird with the sauce on it but it was really good! Then for dinner I ordered the Ceviche de Mixto and that was great as well.

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It’s been kind of surprising that the prices for food have been all over. This place tonight was high-end and amazing quality but not what I would consider expensive. On the flip side others were average at best and cost more than I would have expected.

After dinner it was time to call it a night and after a short walk back to the hotel I was back in my room. It’s an early day tomorrow as I’m catching the Peru Hop bus and heading south to see more of Peru.

Quick facts: Capital city of Peru; GPS: -12.046374, -77.042793; GMT-5; Altitude: 456′

Lima – For the maiden voyage of this site the first stop was here in Lima. It was picked mostly as a stopover point on the way to the actual destination, but Peru packs a lot to see into one country so I’ll actually be here the longest.

From the US the flight arrived late at night and it took awhile to get through the line at customs. For Americans, it’s easy to get the visa for Peru and it’s good for 90 days. I arranged a car from the hotel beforehand so that much went smoothly. Since it was pretty late by the time I got to the hotel, Larq’a, in Miraflores, I checked in and went straight to bed. By then I had been up for almost 21 hours.

For breakfast the next day this place called La Lucha Sangucheria near the hotel was recommended. I ordered what I was told was the traditional breakfast, el mixto. This is essentially a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. It was good but I had asked for bacon instead of ham and didn’t get it. I think if I were to try it again I would get the chicharrón. Ironically, even though Peru produces coffee it is not a popular drink here. If you find it, it’s most likely going to be instant.

After breakfast the biggest task for the day was to get a SIM card so I could get around easier while I’m here. I walked around for a little bit to check out the area of Miraflores. It is a nice area and there’s even a park, JFK park, near the hotel. A little while later I got a car to the Movistar store to get my SIM card. I told the guy what plan I wanted and he sent me to the cashier to pay. After 10 minutes of the card reader not working I wound up paying in cash. Turned out all I was paying for was the SIM card which was a whopping S/5 (soles) or about $1.5USD. The guy then told me I had to go somewhere else to get the data plan. He wasn’t very helpful explaining what he meant so I decided to leave, expecting that I would find one on my own.

I checked with Lonely Planet for somewhere to have lunch and found that a place they recommended and wasn’t too far. El Pan de la Chola was as good if not better than what I expected. I got a caprese which looked liked a panini to me with tomato, pesto, and mozzarella. The bread was done perfectly the way I like it, crispy and crunchy but soft on the inside!

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After lunch I tried to get down to the downtown area to see the sights. Little did I know that was going to become a real ordeal. The driver dropped me off a block from the downtown square because the roads were blocked and he couldn’t get any closer. Not only were the roads blocked but they weren’t letting any pedestrians in either. After walking around several blocks and trying many different times to get into the square I gave up and started looking for a way out.

After quite some time I was finally able to get a car to pick me up. By that time I had missed the chance to make it out to the coast to see the sunset so I just headed back to Miraflores for dinner. Tripadvisor showed this place called La Plaza as having good Peruvian food so I went there but when I got there I realized it was a restaurant inside of a fancy hotel and the menu was not very authentic looking. I only stayed for a drink and then left for another place I found online that was around the corner.

The place I found is called Saqra. I am so glad I found this place because not only was it a nice setting but the food and Pisco sours were considerably better! I ordered the Tenderloin Steak Anticuchos for the main course and it was amazing. After dinner and some more Piscos I decided to order dessert and since I like tapioca I got the Rice pudding ball filled with manjarblanco and a strawberry sorbet.

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After dinner, it was a short walk back to the hotel and off to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more productive. I’m really glad I ended today on a good note and found such a good restaurant.