Lima, Peru: Family Time, Surfing, and Soccer

From Cuzco, I pulled a very un-backpacker-like move and flew to the capital of Lima (it is apparently a 24-hour bus ride and when I said never again, I meant never again. Or at least never again if there is an affordable flight).

Arriving in Lima, I headed to my friend Martín's apartment. Martin is a friend of mine that I met while studying abroad in Japan, 11 years ago (CRYY). He was one of my best friends - we basically did everything together while living in Osaka during Fall Semester 2004. He's Peruvian (like, actually from Peru - not in the way that I'm Chinese), and I'm pretty sure his stories about Peru are what inspired me to want to visit the country in the first place.

Martin now lives in Lima with his wife and 1-year old (adorable) baby, and they so-very-kindly let me stay with them for the weekend. Not only that, but Martin sent his work driver to pick me up from the airport - which was amazing (balllerrrr).

Look at the photo I managed to scrounge up from the depths of the internet!
Here is me and Martin at a takoyaki party in Japan; circa 2004. SUCH BABIES.

And here's Martin and I now!  Looking like we haven't aged a day (right?? ....RIGHT??)

And here is Martin with his adorable fam: his wife Adriana, and their daughter Olivia

What It's All About:

Lima is the capital of Peru with almost 10 million people, and is located on the Western Coast of the country - right on the ocean!  There's tons of neighborhoods that make up the city, with the two most popular neighborhoods for tourists being Miraflores and Barranco.  Both these neighborhoods are super nice and are located right on the coastline.

Looking out over the ocean from Miraflores

Besides having the coastline, Lima is also known for its restaurants.  It's kind of a gastronomic capital as well, and there are so, so many delicious, amazing places to eat - from sushi to seafood to ceviche.

I stayed with Martin in his apartment between the two neighborhoods (which has its own name, but which I've promptly forgotten) over the weekend, and then holed up in a hostel in Miraflores for two more nights before flying out.

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• Spent a couple of days just hanging out around Lima with Martin and his fam - eating delicious food, sprawling out in my own bed, taking walks, and catching up.  

We went to a super-trendy farmers' market (because everything was fancy and organic) - Martin claims these weird lumpy green fruits on the right are the most delicious fruit of all time, but I forgot their name and I accidentally left mine on his kitchen counter when I left. So rumor unconfirmed.

We went down to the neighborhood of Barranco for lunch. Seriously, they have this amazing ceviche here - just huge fat chunks of pink fish, giant corn (Peru is known for giant corn), onions, avocados, and some olive oil.  It's amazing. Why did I not take a photo.

Wandering around Barranco on a perfect day

Olivia loves music - so when we found these street musicians, she was enthralled. How adorable is she.

I think this is in Miraflores - overlooking the ocean.

We took a brief walk through the tons of parks that border the water in Miraflores.

On Sunday, Martin's brother hosted a BBQ at his apartment with the entire fam. I LOVED this - not only were the apartment and views and roof deck absolutely beautiful, but Martin had the most delightful, sweetest family ever. His brother and wife have three kids, and both Martin's parents were there as well. 

And it didn't hurt that the BBQ was delicious

Home-cooked meals are seriously the best. Especially when I'm not the one doing the cooking.

• After three days of living a proper Lima life with Martin, he had to head out of town on a business trip (actual..responsibilities..?) - so I checked myself into a hostel for my last two nights in town.  My friend Eddie and his friend had just arrived into Lima and met me at the hostel - my fifth time meeting up with him in South America (met in Buenos Aires, had dinner in El Calafate, bike riding in San Pedro, and a night out in Cuzco).  Seriously, so many people have such similar travel schedules that it's super common to be in a city at the same time someone else you met in a previous city.  

This is Parque Kennedy in Miraflores - which Eddie refers to as the "cat park", because there are tons and tons and tons of cats who chill at the park and have the run of the place.  It's like a cat wonderland. And as soon as the park ends, there are no more cats. It's like they know it's their territory.

Cats cats cats

It was actually a really nice park. Some of the cats were cozied up in parkgoers' laps and such.

• Eddie, Niclas (from Sweden; I'd met him already in San Pedro; he was on the canyon bike ride), and I went surfing right off the coast - a 10-minute walk from our hostel.  We seriously just sauntered down to the coast and there were tons of outfitters offering wetsuits/surfboard rentals and lessons.   Lessons were so cheap that the three of us signed up for a 2-hour lesson (50 soles a person, which is ~$15).  At this point, I've taken my fair share of surfing lessons - so arguably, I probably don't really need additional ones - but I'm terrible at picking waves and I like having someone there to tell me exactly when to paddle, when to stand up, and which wave to wait for. It's like the lazy man's way of surfing. 

The beach in Lima! This one is full of giant black rocks. And to avoid said giant rocks, you have to go out super super far into the water to catch the waves. Seriously, 90% of the day was me trying to paddle myself back out to the ocean against the current, which was EXHAUSTING. Arms almost fell off.  The surfing lessons basically paid for themselves near the end of the lesson, when our teacher, Robert, had to start swimming out to me to drag me further into the ocean, because my arms were rebelling.

Surf crew! L to R: Niclas, me, and Eddie

We were trying to figure out what the hand signal is that surfers do #clearlyauthentic

It was such hard work paddling back out to sea that it got to the point where you would catch a wave, and you'd stand up and surf and feel like you were king of the world, but deep down inside you were thinking "oh sht, the farther I ride this wave inland, the farther I have to swim back out afterwards ABORT ABORT"
Real Eddie quote: "You were doing so well surfing, but why did you just jump off the board in the middle of riding the wave?"

A fancy restaurant that juts out into the water

• My last night in Lima, Eddie and Niclas had checked into a different hostel because they had prior reservations - they sent me a message saying they'd drop by my hostel to pick me up and we were going to watch some soccer game.  I honestly assumed we were heading to a bar to watch some soccer game one of them cared about, but imagine my surprise when we got a cab and started heading way across town to the actual soccer stadium.  Two Peruvian teams were playing, and we easily picked up scalped tickets outside - because apparently the Peruvian teams aren't that good?

My first soccer match!  Which is obviously a game in super-high demand, judging by how full the stands are

The game was Sporting Cristal vs. Atletico Nacional.  Sporting Cristal seems to be the local team that everyone supports, and both teams seem to be absolutely terrible.

The final score of the game. Confession: I took this photo so I could later remember the names of the teams playing. 

Niclas (Sweden), Eddie (UK), me, and Sarah (Germany).
I've decided that I like watching soccer games!  I like that they are only 90 minutes. And I like the theatrics when the players fall over and pretend to be injured.

Terrible fuzzy photo of the opposing side's fans. When they scored the (one and only) goal, the fans went nuts and shoved each other and tumbled down to the front (typical move, apparently), which actually looked pretty dangerous.  Also, it is def a thing to be shirtless and swing your shirt above your head. 

• Five days in Lima passed by super quickly, and even though I clearly didn't pack my days full of activities per usual, it was absolutely perfect.  I loved that Lima smelled of the ocean. I loved that there were hip, trendy cafes and mega-supermarkets again. I didn't love how my arms almost fell off while surfing, but overall, my entire time in Lima just felt so much more local, and it was exactly what I needed.  

MVP of the Day:

OF COURSE this goes to Martin and his incredibly lovely fam. Spending family time with Martin and his family and getting a glimpse into life in Lima was my absolute favorite part of all.  There's something beautiful about knowing someone at a completely different phase of their life, and then seeing how different and amazing life has turned out for them.

So MUCHAS GRACIAS to each and every one of the Riofrios.  <3

Moment of the Day:

I love getting to a big, modern city after a long time without big-city conveniences. One of my top items of business was to chop my hair off - it's gone way too long without a cut, and it kept getting caught in my backpack straps when I'd put my backpack on.  So armed with a photo and rusty high-school Spanish skills, I wandered into a nearby salon and asked for a "corte; pero no demasiado corto" (cut; but not too short) (I think my high school Spanish teacher is out there crying somewhere).  And then prayed that the stylist (who spoke zero English) wouldn't shave my head.

IT'S MY BLOG AND I CAN TAKE MIRROR SELFIES IF I WANT TO

And there it is!  Points for not being bald!  The lady seriously cut off about 8 inches and I panicked briefly as huge chunks of my hair dropped to the floor, but it turned out fine - and you have no idea the sense of accomplishment I felt at having done this alone. AND IT WAS $10. And they threw in a manicure for $3.  It was the winningest moment ever.

$3 manicure, and a gratuitous shot of the arm bracelets, as they stand now.  I know it looks like a million, but you have no idea how many bracelets have snapped/fallen off/disappeared at this point.

Cuzco, Peru: Making Chocolate & Eating Guinea Pigs

After our tour of Lake Titicaca, Kevin, Marleen and I moved onto the famous city of Cuzco, Peru! (I make it sound easy. It was a 5-hour bus ride).

What It's All About:

Cuzco, Peru is famous because it is the jumping-off point for Machu Picchu!  The city itself is amazing - it's gorgeous and the historic cobblestoned streets are lined with old Incan walls and monumental buildings. Cuzco itself is a part of the Sacred Valley, where you can find TONS of amazing old-school Incan villages, ruins, buildings, temples, and history.  You can seriously spend a week here.

Cuzco's Plaza de Armas!  SO PRETTY

I've been to Cuzco before, about 5.5 years ago when I took a trip to Machu Picchu with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.  So while most backpackers spend a good chunk of time in the city, I breezed through for a couple days (Cuzco is on the way to Lima, which is where I was headed next - so it was on the way! Efficiency!).  And since I'd already seen all the main attractions/events, I spent my time doing whatever I wanted, which was AMAZING. Sometimes, it's good to not have a list of must-do's: not that seeing amazing worldly sites is hard work or anything, but it can sometimes be just as good to relax.

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• Spent the first night wandering the streets of Cuzco and playing interesting Dutch dice games with Kevin and Marleen.  To be honest, I remember so many of the streets/restaurants/hotels from way back when I visited.  But even in the span of 5, 6 years - Cuzco has gotten SO much busier. There are way, way more people and cars and tourists. And now I sound 100 years old. BACK IN THE DAY....

Plaza de Armas by night

Some of the old, narrow passageways - still have Incan walls as the base!

This is an incredibly strange Dutch game Kevin/Marleen taught me...I think it's called "Worms." And the goal is to roll dice and collect worms. At least the name is straightforward...

• Next day, other tourists went to visit historic Incan temples.....and I went to the Choco Museo (yep, it is exactly what it sounds like)(also, it wasn't just me - Marleen and Kevin joined as well). They offer these chocolate classes where you get to make your own chocolate - but in my defense, you also learn tons about the cacao plant and how to harvest the beans and the entire process, etc.  So really, it's incredibly educational. No, really.

I had this crazy fruit for breakfast, called a granadilla. It's kind of like a pomegranate with the juicy seeds inside, except it tastes a little like passion fruit and looks like a wonky orange.

I could watch this lady pipe chocolate all day

Part of the process is heating up the cacao beans

And you grind the toasted cacao beans into a paste. Though mine never really made it past the "fine grit" stage. I blame weak forearms.

Here is our choco teacher - we also made three types of chocolate drinks, including choco tea and spicy hot choco

And then we got to make our own chocolates! And add any kind of spice/crush-in/flavor we wanted! I meticulously diversified every kind of choco in my tray, but in the end, just wished I had filled every mold cup up with sprinkles and called it a day, because that was the best

So much chocolate magic being created

They let us lick the chocolate bowls when we were done with our molds. Marleen and Kevin and I maybe got in a tiny choco fight, hence the smudges

Finished product! Which I nommed down in like, 10 seconds.

• Because Cuzco/Machu Picchu has become such a popular tourist destination, it really is a traveller's paradise: cheap massages, shopping, delicious food, etc.  I spent the rest of the day shopping through Cuzco's handicraft markets, getting a 20 sole massage (WHICH IS $6 = BASICALLY FREE), drinking fresh juices, and losing myself in the maze-like streets.  

I love you, Cuzco

• If anyone is visiting Cuzco and is reading this blog post - there are SO many incredible sites to visit in Cuzco: Qorikancha (the Golden temple), Sacsayhuaman (amazing ruins with HUGE ROCKS), Pisac (nearby town with an amazing market and ruins), and a million other amazing, fascinating, awe-inspiring Sacred Valley sites (Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, etc.).  Not to mention Machu Picchu.  So you should def not come visit Cuzco and think the #1 sight is the chocolate museum. It's the #2 sight. Obviously.

Meal of the Day:
Finally! I got to try guinea pig (yes, even after I saw the small squeaky cute things running around our homestay family's floor in Lake Titicaca).  In Peru, guinea pig is a traditional dish called cuy, which they eat on special occasions in certain areas.  

I can't tell if it's adding insult to injury that the guinea pig comes out with a jaunty lettuce/tomato hat, mounting a potato and with a pepper stuffed in its mouth.

And it's big! Squeak squeak

So in the spirit of honesty, I have to say that it kind of tasted like chicken....but not as good. The skin was super rubbery/tough, the bones were super small, and there wasn't a ton of meat.  But it wasn't terrible. The consensus between Kevin and Marleen and I was that it was fine, but we probably won't ever feel the need to try it ever again. Ever. For the rest of time.

Puno, Peru: Lake Titicaca, Peruvian Side (With Floating Islands!)

After departing from Copacabana, I continued my way up North to the other side of Lake Titicaca: to the city of Puno, in Peru.  Lake Titicaca is shared between both Bolivia and Peru (the Peruvian side has more of the lake, ~60%), but the differences between the sides couldn't be greater.

What It's All About:

Puno is a city on the Western edge of Lake Titicaca, located in Southern Peru. It's actually Peru's second most popular tourist destination (after Machu Picchu, obvs) - mainly because of the unique island communities you can visit nearby.  Namely, the Uros Islands (floating man-made islands made of reeds!), Amantani Island (a very traditional island where you can stay with a homestay family), and Taquile Island (famous for textiles, and where the men knit everything!) - are three islands in Lake Titicaca that you can access from Puno.  Conveniently, these are the islands I visited on my trip!

A local woman hauling crops on Amantani Island

The one downside is that everything is incredibly touristy. There are a bajillion tours that offer trips/tours out to the islands, and it seems like many things are set up especially for the tourists - it's one of those places where when tourists appear, the locals (all wearing very traditional wear) will break into traditional song and dance (which they obviously probably wouldn't do if the tourists weren't there), and then try and sell you souvenirs. It does feel a little like 90% of the reason these locals maintain their traditional lifestyle, is for the sole purpose of entertaining tourists.

That being said, I was super glad I visited. Regardless of the song-and-dance you're presented with as a tourist, it is honestly amazingly interesting to see how these people used to live and how many still live today. Some parts feel like you're taking a step back in time; and even if some parts are a little contrived, there are equal parts where you can see authenticity sprinkled in. And it is fascinating. So cool to see, and it doesn't hurt that Lake Titicaca provides a breathtakingly beautiful backdrop wherever you go.

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• On the bus from Copacabana to Puno, I ran into a Dutch couple that had been on the Death Road bike tour with me in La Paz.  Kevin and Marleen are also traveling through South America for a couple months, and they are great.  Once arrived in Puno (4 hours later), I said good-bye to Nicky (he was headed further West to Arequipa), and Kevin, Marleen, and I decided to all head to the same hostel.  From the hostel, we booked a 2-day/1-night tour of the islands for the next day together.
• The next day, we were picked up bright and early from the hostel and shuttled to a boat in the harbor.

On the boat from Puno!  Right behind me are Marleen and Kevin

Bye, Puno!

The Peruvian flag majestically waving at the head of our boat

•  Our first stop was 30 minutes, out to the Floating Islands of Uros!  These islands are crazy - there's about 80 of them, they're man-made out of reeds that naturally grow in the area called totora, and the resulting reed islands float on top of the water.   The locals who live on the island have to constantly add layers of the reeds on top as the years go by, and each island will last for about 30 years - at which point they will create a new floating island and move to that one, as the old one will disintegrate into the water.

Arriving at one of the floating islands of Uros!  The various islands will take turns hosting the tourists that come out to visit, so that no one island is overwhelmed with tourism.

This island is home to about 6 families

Marleen and I on the floating island

We were given a demonstration of how an island is created (the process of making a new island takes about 5 years). They chop off these floating/buoyant chunks of land, then overlay it with the reeds. Each island is about 6 feet thick, and reed layers have to be added weekly, in order to maintain the island.  The reeds also bind together the chunks of floating land underneath.  The houses are also made of reeds and sit on top of the entire floating contraption.

Walking on reeds is weird. One thing for sure, there is definitely no running or exercising.

This is the island chief's home. The large silver pole is a solar panel, as they now get electricity into their homes.  

Inside the chief's home - just an area for sleeping. Now that there's electricity (a fairly recent development), the family also has a tiny black-and-white TV they watch sometimes. Our guide was explaining that having this access to the outside world has caused more children to want to move to the city and away from this traditional lifestyle (because living on floating islands you constantly have to add layers to and building new islands and not having easy access to anything is a tough life!)

Tourism is now the main industry for the people of Uros, as evident by the heavy selling of handicrafts and souvenirs

This is a boat made of reeds - which last about 2 years.  They kept calling this "the Mercedes-Benz of boats" and then offered us a ride on it around the lake (this is apparently a popular activity because you know, there's really not much else to do). And then once we'd taken a ride on it, they asked us for 10 Peruvian soles a person. 

Floating around on Lake Titicaca

Then we got back on our real boat (complete with sundeck!) and drove from the Uros Islands to the island of Amantani

• From the Floating Islands of Uros to Amantani was about 2-3 hours.  After arriving on Amantani, we were quickly divided up into groups to meet with our homestay families we'd be staying with for the night.

Kevin, Marleen, and I stayed in a house together - this was our host family's house!

Our host family was pretty baller and had a second-story.  The bathroom, however......another story

More of the house

My room!

Our family made us lunch.  Which consisted of quinoa soup, and 10 million kinds of potatoes. I'm not even kidding. A major, major part of their diet is potatoes. There were regular-looking ones, purple ones, long thing carrot-looking ones, etc. Kind of like Forrest Gump, and Bubba is naming all the shrimp dishes - but potatoes.
Biggest regret: not getting a potato photo.

View from our seat in the kitchen. Yes, those are tons of guinea pigs running all around the floor. They seriously were running amok; squeaking like crazy and running into each other and darting in and out from under the table.  It was like watching our own version of the nature channel during mealtimes. Seriously.
We were maybe hoping they were family pets (as Peruvians do eat guinea pig, which they call cuy) - but were too afraid to ask. But our questions were pretty much answered when Marleen asked how many they had, and the wife shrugged her shoulders.
(Right before we left, we did ask - and yes, they are guinea pigs for eating).

Amantani was a gorgeous island - also no vehicles. It felt like we were living back in time.

Lavender! I think!

• After lunch with our families, we met up with the larger collective group again (and our tour guide). We were supposed to go hiking, but first headed to the other side of the island to watch a local soccer match. There was some kind of tournament going on by age group and sex, and a bunch of the communities on Amantani had collected to watch.

The first game we got to watch was teenage girls - and many play soccer in their full, traditional skirts!  A bunch were also playing in their sandals, which I don't know how their toes didn't fall off.  This was incredibly great to watch.

A whole bunch of the towns show up to watch

• After watching a couple games, we headed off on our hike.  There are two peaks on the island with Inca/Tiwanaku ruins - one is dedicated to the god Pachatata (Father Ocean), and the other is dedicated to Pachamama (Mother Earth).  The hike really wasn't that bad, except it WAS that bad, because despite having been at high altitudes for 2 weeks - the high altitude of Lake Titicaca made every step super difficult. It's like never getting to catch your breath properly. Marleen and I did manage, however, to wheeze our way to the top.

Views of the island and Lake Titicaca from the top of the peak

We made it without our lungs exploding! Hooray!

The archway entering the ruins of the temple dedicated to Pachatata

At the top, Kevin, Marleen and I bought choco and beer to settle in and watch the sunset

Sunset <3 <3

This is our entire tour group with the sunset

• Later that evening, we returned to our host families for dinner with them.  After we'd finished our meal, our host mother suddenly popped in the door with an armful of clothes and indicated we should stand up.  She then proceeded to dress us in traditional clothing (over our 3 layers of clothing, might I add)(I feel the need to point this out because we looked huuuge in this clothing) and tell us she was taking us out for a party.

Marleen, Kevin, and I in our traditional clothing. You can see we all have our pants and tennis shoes on underneath. Also, the giant thick colorful belts Marleen and I are wearing = basically a corset that prevented breathing

• So pretty sure this is one of the parts of our tour that was a complete song-and-dance (pun intended) for the tourists, but they basically had a "traditional dance party" with all the tourists and their local families. We walked out to a concrete structure, where they had a band inside - and everyone was dressed up in traditional clothing.

Here is the band - not sure how thrilled they were, considering they probably do this with tourists every night.

These three local women would sit there and gossip, then out of obligation, they'd get up for a song and drag a couple tourists out to the dance floor to dance with them. And then promptly go back to sitting in their corner.

Twirling with tourists

These embroidered shawls are super important to the women; they're usually gifted to them by their husbands when they get married. 

• Olé! After a couple hours of ridiculous dancing like idiots (which again, feels like running a marathon in this altitude), we headed home around 9pm.  The island was pitch dark - we had to use our flashlights to navigate home, but the sky was studded with so many stars.  I will never, ever get tired of gazing at the night sky in these parts.
• The next morning, we said good-bye to our homestay families, and were marched out to a brief farming demonstration (the main profession and way of life for families on Amantani).

This is the grandchild of our homestay family - he was the CUTEST. He's clutching in his hand a new shirt his mom had bought him the day before - it's a soccer shirt, and he was so excited about the purchase that he insisted on putting it on to show his grandpa ASAP.

Farming demo! They first had us break up the soil with traditional farming tools. Confession; we were all terrible at this. I want to send these people a tractor.

Then we tilled the soil (is that a thing? I imagine the word "till" means to make it plantable. But the city girl in me may just be making that up).

One last picture-perfect view of Lake Titicaca from Amantani

• After being totally useless at learning to farm (I think the tiny plot of land we "set up for farming" would have been enough to grow like, 2 potatoes) - we headed back to our boat and bid adieu to Amantani Island. We sailed on over to nearby Taquile Island (you know, the textile/man-knitting island I mentioned) to explore for the day.

First, we walked to the main square on Taquile Island

On Taquile, which is known for its textile/embroidery, the men are taught to knit everything. If a man can't knit, he isn't a suitable partner for marriage. He even knits his own hat, the pattern of which indicates if he is single or married (the man with the white-tipped hat is single).  Umm why can't we have this system in the States. It would be much easier to determine who is a complete waste of time to talk to.

Lunch was trout from the lake! With a viewwww (of Marleen and Kevin's shoulders, that is)

During lunch, this Taquile man showed us various traditions, dances, songs, and the best - a local plant that creates shampoo!  It's the plant that's on the stone - you add some water and lather away. He demonstrated using some dirty gray llama wool that he scrubbed into pristine, white perfection

Views from the top of Taquile Island. The archway is adorned with carvings of the local men (and their traditional hats!)

• Post the gorgeous lunch and local demonstrations, we all filed aboard the boat again and set off back home to Puno.  

Bye, Taquile Island!

• Visiting the islands of Lake Titicaca was yes, touristy - but you can't beat the stunning views, and you definitely pick up a semblance of traditional life on the island. This in itself was so, so fascinating - I loved getting to stay with a family, and to see how different life on each different island was.  And the entire experience was so FUN.  Totally a worthwhile stop - thanks, Animaniacs, for sparking this interest in Lake Titicaca so long ago!

Fun Facts of the Day:

• Both the Bolivian and Peruvian sides of Lake Titicaca joke that they have the side that is "Titi," while the other country has the side that is "caca." #SouthAmericanjokes
• "Titicaca" actually means "rock of the puma."  This is because Lake Titicaca is shaped like a puma, though it remains a mystery how the ancient people who named the lake knew that it was shaped like a puma (because honestly, this lake is huuuuuge).
• In case you were wondering, Lake Titicaca is 100 miles by 40 miles, and ~900 ft deep.
• The Floating Islands of Uros go back to 800 B.C. (eep!).   Also, the people who live on the islands have to take a boat 5 minutes away from their island to use the bathroom. This seems like a major pain. What if you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night??
• Just in case you think travel's all sexy and jazz, see Exhibit below, where I was eaten alive by bedbugs on Copacabana:

RUDE.