Peru for Two

The Point Hostel Lima is situated in the popular Lima neighborhood of Barranco . Located inside the hostel is The Pointless Bar which is advertised as "for guests only." However, don't be surprised if a few local girls are hanging out late night with some of the male guests of the hostel.

The Point is within walking distance (a few blocks) of a number of great restaurants and a strip of all-night bars and discos. The hostel arranges pick-up and drop-off service to and from the airport (for a fee), will call a cab for local trips, and will assist in making travel arrangements as well as reservations at the The Point Hostel Arequipa.

The rooms at The Point Lima vary greatly with the double rooms located adjacent to the grassy courtyard. Across from The Pointless Bar . The kitchen was clean when we stayed there and the bathrooms were co-ed.

If you're looking for a quiet night's sleep, The Point Lima is not your best bet. However, if you are looking for Party Central, you don't have to look any farther than the backyard.

Costs are as follows (per person):

Large dorm – up to 9 persons US$ 7
Small dorm – up to 6 persons US$ 8
Mini dorm – up to 4 persons US$ 9
Double (matrimonial)/ Twin (2 beds) US$ 9
Single US$ 15

The Point Hostel Arequipa, located in a quiet suburb of Arequipa, "The White City," was perhaps our favorite hostel during our travel through Peru. With its large courtyard filled with hammocks and chairs and tables to sit at, a nice comfortable TV room, a good-size common room with a bar and comfy cushions around knee-high tables, and clean bathrooms, The Point Hostel Arequipa is the place to stay for a vacation from your vacation.

The hostel staff is friendly and knowledgeable and will help with travel arrangements and trip booking, as well as provide a wealth of local information.

Add to the mix the free high-speed Internet and Ping-Pong table, along with nightly activities, including barbecues, pub crawls, giant Jenga games, chill rooftop seating, and go-karting just a few minutes walk away, you may not want to leave.

Go for a night or stay for a few—we did!

Costs are as follows (per person):

Large Dorm – up to six persons, US$7
Small Dorm – up to four persons, US$8
Twin – two beds, US$ 8
Double – matrimonial, US$ 9
Single – garden room, US$ 10
Single – hostel room, US$ 11

Casa Barco hotel just 40k south of Lima, with it's spectacular view of the ocean sunsets and beautiful refreshing pool, is a perfect place to end any long vacation. Located only a few minutes walk from the busy beaches of Punta Hermosa, Casa Barco maintains its serenity in a quiet upscale neighborhood.

Each room has cable TV and safe deposit boxes along with really hot showers. Many of the rooms have balconies facing the ocean, as well as internal patios and balconies, for a bit extra. Dorm rooms are available, but limited. Free Internet is available in the lobby, and wireless Internet throughout the hotel.

In the evenings, the dining area is transformed into a Zen-like seating area with candles, incense, and music. The bar is open late, and is staffed by the wonderful hotel staff that will go out of their way to make your stay fantastic.

Need a taxi back to Lima? Let the hotel staff know and they will have it taken care of.

Stay at Casa Barco and you will understand why people come back year after year.

www.casabarco.com

Restaurant Javier in Barranco was one of the best restaurants we encountered in Peru. You can opt to sit inside on the main level, or on the patio on the upper level. A mariachi band strolls through the restaurant on any given evening, adding a relaxing ambiance to an already comfortable place.

The restaurant is popular with both locals and tourists, and it's no wonder why! The food is FANTASTIC and the fresh pineapple juice was unbeatable!

Costs are as follows: 
Two entrees with salad and vegetables (ravioli with meat and some kind of fish with garlic), two sodas, and a fresh pineapple juice, 45 soles total.

He Says:

Okay, so we finally arrived in Lima last night. Getting through Peruvian customs was somewhat tedious because there was a flight from Houston that got in right before our flight and we had to wait for about 300 other gringos to enter before we had our chance. Once we grabbed our gear… it was off to the hostel. Luis was our taxi driver… a very nice gentleman. My first impression of Lima as we drove through the streets was “I am way out of my normal element.” Don’t get me wrong… I’m not complaining… this was the whole point of coming here! I wanted to be out of my element. Once we checked into the hostel, it was off to the pub a couple of blocks away with a few seasoned Lima veterans. Listen up those of you who drink… a litre of Cristal cerveza was only 10 soles (about $3.25 ), so we had two! A young Costa Rican named Lucia decided my gringo-ass needed to learn how to dance Costa Rican-style, so Beth pushed me out on the dance floor and away I went… needless to say, a very good first night in Peru!

So imagine starting out the day flying through the streets of Lima at Mach 2 in an old, beat-up taxi that looked like it should have been put out of commission a couple of decades ago, dodging pedestrians, street vendors, and other cars, all in search of the infamous “chip” for our cell phone. We eventually made it to “Claro,” which is the largest cellular store in Peru, with Beth gripping my arm as we came screeching to an abrupt stop. Locals say that it takes about 15 minutes to get from Barranco to Miraflores (which is where the Claro store is located)… we made it in 5! Miraflores is basically like a typical U.S. city… malls, Radio Shack, and even a Hooters. We leave for Arequipa tomorrow morning. More to come!

She Says:

30 years!!! Yep, Will is now officially 30 years old. Welcome to the 30s mi amor! Arequipa has been very good to us. We´re staying at The Point hostel in Arequipa, the sister hostel to Arequipa Lima. This hostel is located in a beautiful residential area, a 15-minute walk from the Central Plaza or a 5-minute cab ride. While it is a bit farther away, the quiet ambience and beautiful green backyard with hammocks and fruit trees make it all the worthwhile.

We flew to Arequipa on Aero Condor on Friday (I hate to fly) from Lima in an hour and a half, through crappy weather, much like a REALLY bad roller coaster. A rep from the hostel picked us up at the airport and it was a 20-minute ride here.

How exactly did we end up in Arequipa so soon? Well, truth be told, I won´t ride on long bus rides without bathrooms, and the only buses making the 3 to 4 hour journey to Ica were economic buses. No thanks… so we´re going to rent a car when we return to Lima and drive to Huacachina. Fair enough.

HAPPY PISCO SOUR DAY!!! Yes, there is a day devoted to pisco sours, and it was Friday so of course, we HAD to partake! They served it on the plane even, and I think even the kids got to drink it…

We went to a great restaurant Saturday night called Ary Quepay and had one heck of a fantastic traditional Peruvian meal. Will had the alpaca (llama) while I opted for the vegetarian stretched cheese and vegetable dish. Will said the alpaca was great (gasp! I had a little bite) and mine was great of course. We had a great appetizer called soltero de queso which is with a cheese (like queso panela) with onions, olives (with the pits), potatoes, green beans, carrots, tomatoes, in a herb oil dressing... yummy! Of course we had more pisco drinks, mine was really rich with creme de cacao and cinnamon and milk and whatever else (took the whole meal to drink it) and Will had something with cherry and mint. Pisco, by the way, is the national Peruvian alcohol (similar to brandy), though the Chileans claim they came up with it.

We headed to an Irish pub which besides the Irish flag really wasn´t Irish at all. Mojitos and cuba libres were two for 8 soles. The exchange rate is around 3.35 soles = $1 to give you an idea of costs here. Anyways, we started playing pool on the crazy pool table which had much smaller pockets than we were used to and really fast felt. Two other gringos came into the bar and we asked them to join us. Patrick and Laurent from the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Two brothers traveling around South America for a few months. So we spoke a combination of Spanish, English, and French… it worked! A Chilean couple were sitting at a table near us and the guy spoke English while his girlfriend only spoke Spanish. So we added Gonzado and Magdalena to the pool table mix and all three languages were flying all at once. When we got tired of the Irish pub, we all headed to Deja Vu nightclub to sit on the upstairs patio for yet more pisco sours and joking. It is possible to translate a joke to another language and actually have it mean the same…too bad it was a joke about women, but all the same… we eventually high tailed it out of there at 2am with plans to meet for dinner the next night.

Yesterday, Sunday, we were a bunch of lazy bums and didn´t get up until almost noon. We headed into the center for a Mediterranean lunch at a Turkish cafe with fantabulous Peruvian coffee. We then went to the Santa Catalina Monastery which is a beautiful monastery near the central plaza. It cost 25 soles each ($7.50) for a 2-hour, self-guided tour.

After a stop at the farmacia for shaving cream, we headed back for an afternoon nap, yep lazy bums on a Sunday. We had tried to go to the mall to do a bit of shopping but after hailing a cab and driving a few blocks, the driver informed us only the cinema was open on Sunday. Yeah, thanks for the info a little late buddy! So after the driver took a wrong turn to the hostel and I had to redirect him 5 minutes back THE OTHER WAY, we got there in one piece, 3 soles lighter in the pocket.

So it was also Super Bowl Sunday AND a group was going go-carting AND we had to meet the others for dinner at 9pm. So we did it all. First we went go-carting on an inside track near the hostel, 10 soles for 15 minutes (we did it in three separate rides), the floor was slick and I spent half the time spun out…and my feet couldn´t reach the pedals. Yeah, fun time. Then we came back to watch part of the Super Bowl with some Canadians who were rooting for Seattle, and finally left to go to dinner.

We met the others at the fountain in the central plaza and headed for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Chicken or Beef or Pork with salad bar and french fries and a soda for only 6 soles! We´ll see how our stomachs do with this food (I have my doubts!). Back to the Irish bar, which was closing, and eventually to what seemed like the only open pub on San Francisco for cheap cheap drinks. Four pisco sours or Peru libres for 10 soles…really we don´t usually drink THIS much…but seriously, 80¢ for a drink??? Come on now! The pub quickly filled with other people looking for a good time on a Sunday and it was a mishmash of all different nationalities. Midnight rolled around and it was HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL !!! sung in a variety of accents… but seriously, a 30th birthday in Peru, how cool is that??? By 2am the birthday boy was ready to head back to the hostel… maybe TOO much pisco sour?? Nah… never too much!

She says:

So, about the altitude… yeah… they weren’t kidding…

We left Arequipa Tuesday morning on the “5 hour” Cruz del Sur bus to Puno. I was still sick with some kind of bug or another, so the first hour or so was absolutely awful; not to mention that it was hot inside the supposedly air-conditioned Imperial bus, which made Will miserable. Yeah, the two of us were quite a pair! The only cold spot on the bus was in the bathroom in the back, where there was a window open (thank God for that). I fed him some Dramamine and he was out like a light. The bus ride was actually pretty beautiful as it climbed higher and higher into the mountains. We passed fields of alpacas or “llama llama llamas” as we like to refer to them.

We passed beautiful lakes with sloping hills surrounding them, the water a beautiful crystal blue. Small little villages of llama herders dotted the horizon as whole families were working with their herds during the day on the mountain sides. Jenny, the 21-year-old Peruvian from Lima, pointed out the vicuña llamas in the herd, which produce the most delicate and expensive wool in the world. Jenny and her friend were on their way to Puno from Lima for the festival of the Virgen de la Candelaria; a 3-week festival hosted every February in Puno, drawing the faithful from all parts of Peru and beyond.

Now long distance bus rides in Peru are an experience. An hour into the trip it was time for Bingo! Yes, Bingo! The first one to get a line in any direction won a one-way ticket on Cruz del Sur. We started playing, but then stopped in hopes that one of our fellow passengers would win. We weren’t taking ANY more bus rides in Peru for a while. Following Bingo was movie time. First up was Garfield, in Spanish, subtitled in English. Yes, Garfield apparently is bilingual. Following Garfield was Once Upon a Time in Mexico, also subtitled in English.

Now, why stop with movies when we can follow it with karaoke? It seemed that the five of us Gringos on the bus were the only ones that didn’t know the words to the songs. We got a kick out of it anyways.

Somewhere along the way, Will and I decided we needed to splurge on a hotel room that night that had a king-sized bed, a private bathroom with a bathtub, and a TV—none of which we’d had since we’d been here. So we used the last few minutes on our cell phone to make the reservation.

As we neared Puno we could see Lake Titicaka in the distance, a sight to be seen. Beautifully blue and majestic. We arrived at the bus station and hopped a cab to our hotel the Plaza Mayor. We crashed onto the king-sized bed for a long nap (we had only 4 or so hours the night before in Arequipa). While Will caught a few extra winks, I headed to the train station on a tricycle taxi to see if I could get tickets to Cuzco for the next day. To my dismay, the next train wasn’t until Saturday, but I bought tickets anyway and figured we’d make the best of it.

We finally got up around 7pm and headed to the main street, Avenida Lima for dinner, passing groups of tourists along the way.

Will was feeling the affects of the altitude quite badly and had no real appetite, and I was starving. We went to IncaBar, a highly recommended restaurant that was filled with tourists. He was miserable for the first few minutes but after a quick trip to the bathroom for some peace and quiet, he returned a new man. That’s exactly when it hit me and I started to have a serious panic attack, which already makes it difficult to breath. But nothing a little Xanax didn’t cure! So there we sat, both of us drugged up on Xanax and drinking coca tea and wondering how we were going to make it until Saturday. Eventually with some good pasta in our tummies and 2 cups of coca tea each, life wasn’t so bad.

During dinner, parades marched down Avenue Lima, which is solely a pedestrian street. Will went out to take a picture and came back excited about a beautiful alpaca sweater a woman outside had knit and was selling for 25 soles. He wanted to buy it for me but wanted me to see it first, so out I went and it was an obvious decision. We bought it and it was beautiful and fits perfect!! What a man!!!

We headed back to our room to enjoy the $54/night room and watch television in bed. The next day we were moving to a cheaper hostel, which was only $20/night.

After a quick continental breakfast of toast and coca tea (yeah, we’re addicted), we walked a block and a half to the International Hostal. Our room was smaller than Plaza Mayor, but still had a private bath and wasn’t so bad.

Yesterday, we headed to Ricos Bar for breakfast. An omlette and toast, veggie quiche, pineapple juice, coca tea, Fanta soda, and tomato soup, all for 17.5 soles!!!

After a few phone calls and a stop at the Internet cafe, we headed to the market where I bought some great cheese. Then it was on a tricycle taxi to the Plaza de Armas (the poor boy struggled with the two of us). Then a quick walk down Lima and a tricycle taxi to the ferry docks to view Lake Titicaca. After a few pictures, we hopped a motorcycle taxi back to the hotel for our afternoon nap.

Dinner was at a great pizzeria on Lima with portions so big we couldn’t finish them, and salsa so spicy Will was sweating buckets. Then the rain came and it was back to the hotel for the night.

Today is another day in Puno.

Till then…

He Says:

Boom, boom, boom, of the drum. That was the theme for our last night in Puno. It began while we were having dinner at the IncaBar with our new friends Kevin and Karen (from Chicago). They only lived 10 blocks from Wrigley Field, so I instantly liked them! We were just finishing up our meal when the band strolled by the windows of the restaurant in full force. Brass trumpets, trombones, and alto tubas blared while young Peruvian boys and girls danced to the rhythm of the music.

After the 3-hour meal, we headed back to our hostel to pack our bags and try and catch a good night´s sleep before our early morning train ride to Cusco. We heard the music continuing off in the distance (around the Plaza de Armas) about four blocks from our hostel, and figured it would be manageable… we couldn´t have been more wrong!!

As we settled in to bed for the night… some nutcase across the street deemed it necessary to shoot off fireworks and firecrackers every 5 minutes or so. He must have spent a couple of months worth of salary on the damn things because they just kept coming like clockwork... every 5 minutes, shaking the window of our room and eliciting cheers from the people below on the street.

As if that wasn´t bad enough, the music kept growing louder and louder as the band played the same dreary chorus over and over and over all night long!! Luckily, I managed to sleep through most of it… Beth wasn´t so lucky! Every time a firecracker went off, she shot up in bed cursing the (now infamous) firecracker man across the street. Finally, at 5:30am there was a momentary lull in the action, and she thought she would be able to sneak in an hour of sleep before our wake up call at 6:30.

At 5:35am, the lull ceased and the music grew steadily louder and louder to the point of even awakening me. I asked her, ¨Where is that music coming from?¨ to which she responded (as her head poked out the window)… ¨The *bleeping* band is coming right down our street and they are carrying the virgin!¨ So she proceeded to hang her head out the window and wave to the band members below. At this point, she had given up on trying to sleep and just laughed in despair. My only thought was:

¨Thank God we are leaving this damn city!¨

She Says:

We earned it… oh yes we did! After covering a good deal of southern Peru by planes, trains, and automobiles, we were off to Punta Hermosa for the last few days of our trip. Punta Hermosa is around 44km south of Lima, just off the Pan-American highway (funny to think the last time I drove the Pan-Am was in Costa Rica). Anyways, Punta Hermosa is a surfer’s haven, known for the tallest wave in South America, Pico Alto, reaching 12m (over 36 feet tall) in May. Yeah, that’s tall! While we were there the waves were around 2 to 3m high.

We stayed at Casa Barco (www.casabarco.com), an absolutely beautiful hotel with a perfect view of the sunset. There weren’t any ocean balcony rooms available for all 3 days, but that was no problem as the pool was great to sit by with it’s Jacuzzi cascading waterfalls into the main pool. Casa Barco has an amazing and unique decor, composed of white tiled floors, dark wood, and beautiful art from Peru’s top artisans. Casa Barco is run by Felix, his wife Teresa, and their son Alonso.

There is a beach just a few steps from Casa Barco that is much less crowded than the playa central, and at sunset the beach is THE best spot in Punta Hermosa for watching the sunset and catching the day’s best waves.

Punta Hermosa is easily walkable, though it’s a bit hot for walking the longer distances during the day. The main fare of restaurants is ceviche, which is all kinds of fish and seafood “cooked” in a lemon juice/spices mixture. It’s quite good, but you have to be careful where you get it…if you know what I mean.

While Punta Hermosa is a bit quieter during the week, the weekend really picks up with the arrival of weekenders from Lima to their weekend homes, and the opening of discos, bars, and restaurants around the area.

A perfect ending to a great vacation!