Peru Recap

best hostel: Pariwana, Cusco

best free breakfast: crepes at Bothy Hostel, Arequipa

best restaurant: Granja Heidi, Cusco

hottest commodity: clean drinking water (close second: toilet paper)

best outdoor activity: trekking in Colca Canyon

coolest cultural landmark: Santa Catalina Convent, Arequipa (close second: Coricancha, Cusco)

favorite new band: Velandia y la Tigra, Colombia

best food: ceviche, Punto Azul, Lima (close second: ham, banana, and egg pizza at Chez Maggie, Cusco)

worst food: anticuchos (cow heart)

best guilty pleasure: wafers. we were up to a pack a day for a while...

best hosts: Gustvao and Miguel, Lima

biggest disappointment: Machu Picchu was closed (though we knew that when we booked our trip)

scariest moment: being positive during every taxi ride in Cusco that we were being kidnapped...

biggest lesson learned: bargain for EVERYTHING. Even hostel prices are negotiable. (close second: splurge on the luxury busses)

Farewell, Cusco. Good Morning, Arequipa.

We arrived in Arequipa at 6:30AM this morning after an incredible overnight bus ride. We heeded our own advice, and splurged on the 60 soles ($20) Flores luxury bus with enormous black leather seats, overhead lights, free dinner (some little bits of beef and onions with rice and a gooey, gelatinous pineapple desert), and a movie, (Attila the Hun... special), in English. When the bus pulled into the Arequipa bus terminal, we were so comfy that we didn't want to de-board! Prior to our trip, we were advised by a friend to purchase some Xanex to ease the pain of bus travel. We wrote the name Diazepam (the Peruvian version of Xanex), on a piece of paper, and, at a local pharmacy, the following conversation ensued:

Rives: (handing over the piece of paper) I need Diazepam, please.
Pharmacist: No. Need prescription for that.
Rives: My doctor says that I need it for my fear of flight.
Pharmacist: Need prescription.
Rives: He said that I didn't.
Pharmacist: Yes, you do... OK, I only give you ten pills. Generic is alright?
Rives: Yes, thank you. How much?
Pharmacist: Ten Soles ($3.33)

We really, really miss Cusco. There were moments when we considered ditching the Buenos Aires plan altogether and settling there instead. Every day we found another excuse to extend our stay. (ex: We could go whitewater rafting tomorrow! Velandia y La Tigra is playing tomorrow night! We need to eat a few more meals at Granja Heidi!) But we did it. We finally tore ourselves away from Cusco's divine clutches, and we're ready to take on Arequipa!

Granja Heidi (Cusco)

Thanks to Frommer's Peru 2006, we've discovered our new favorite restaurant in the world. It's called Granja Heidi. They ascribe to the slow food philosophy, but the food is well worth the wait. The restaurant was started by a German couple and the majority of their ingredients come from their farm just outside Cusco. Everything is organic and local, their homemade cheeses and yogurts are to die for! Believe it or not, we stayed an extra night in Cusco for the sole purpose of having every meal at this restaurant...

Each meal begins with a delicious amuse bouche, usually a small slice of freshly baked bread topped with some homemade cream cheese.

Delicious fresh squeezed juice (we prefer the banana-mango)

Crepes!

Amazing mixed salad with chicken (and our new friend Joanna!)

The tomato and indian spice milk of Granja's extensive milk menu (all from their own cows of course)

Stalker pic of Granja Heidi!