Adventure Accounting

1 Peruvian Sole = approximately 15 Philippine Pesos Peruvian cuisines vary per region. It depends on what crops the region grew. Peruvian cuisine is influenced by the Spanish, German and some Asian techniques. I didn't come to Peru with a food gameplan, so I relied on recommendations from my hostels. Shortly after I arrived in Lima Backpackers , Marco, a really awesome host, brought us to this restaurant blocks and blocks away from our neighborhood. Marco ordered his usual soup and appetizer order while the rest of us went for the authentic Peruvian options. The appertizer is this some type of dried corn, which tastes like popcorn. I ordered the meal combo calamares + rice + ceviche. I ordered a lemon slush while most of them got a beer. Ceviche is raw fish flavored in lime, lemon, salt, pepper and other spices. In some variations, ceviche can be lightly cooked.  Lunch plate and drink for 27 soles Ceviche can seriously put kilawin out of business. It as ...

I like staying in dorms. They are cheap and you get to meet a lot of new people. But I scored a nice deal at Booking.com for Kamila Lodge. I got a double room for $30 for two nights. That’s $15 a night, cheap enough like a dorm, and I get my own bathroom.  Charming cobblestone streets, but lined with street vendors The location is perfect: near Plaza de Armas (a 10-15-minute walk, some uphill) lots of restaurants, ATMs, money changers, supermarket laundry and souvenir shops. The guy at the reception was very helpful in giving me tips and spoke good English. The lodge is in a preserved part of Cusco, I believe, so the building is quite old. I got here by taking a taxi from Poroy station for 30 soles.  The gate. Looks can be deceiving. They have a pretty nice area inside. Now for the room. The room had no heating – they did mention that when I booked. I was here during winter so it was really cold! I asked for an extra blanket because it was so cold. ...

I arrived in Kamila Lodge in Cusco shortly before midnight. If not for my hunger, I would’ve snuggled into my bed but my appetite wins. Almost all of the restaurants I passed by was closed so I was so happy that there was still a restaurant with their lights still lit-up. I got educated in Disney popculture. I learned that Kuzco is a name of a character from The Emperor's New Groove. I started the day late. Very late, that I missed breakfast. I drank the free tea and grabbed some of my snacks from my emergency stash. That's enough fuel to get me to the next food stop. Now for the Cusco gameplan, I wasn't really into creating one. I was tired from the Machu Picchu the previous day and I've been travelling for a week. I decided to take it easy. While other sites in the General Touristic Ticket can be visited from Cusco, I decided to skip the temples and museums. After Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, temple burn out kicked in. The hostel gave me...

I got back in Aguas Calientes at almost 1PM. I was soooo hungry at that time, I needed real food. I didn’t have the energy to scout for the best-authentic restaurant in AC so I ended eating where I had dinner the previous night. I ordered the same thing. Their trout was that good – it costs 22 soles but as I said, this is a touristy town. Why not have trout and fries again? With Inca Cola this time. My train going to Cuzco departs at 5:23PM so I had hours to kill. Aguas Calientes is not a big an interesting town. It is touristy. If you’re thinking to spend another night in town, choose a nice hotel. There’s not a lot to see.    Hello guard dog My hunger was sated but I was suffering from this hygiene guilt, caused by my Filipino habit of starting the day with a bath. I’ve conquered MP but I haven’t had a bath. I grabbed stuff from my backpack and headed up up up to the hotsprings.  The town   The town is really called Machu Pichu...

Machu Picchu town or Aguas Calientes is the gateway town to Machu Picchu. As expected, this is a very touristy place. The town thrives on tourists. I just selected whatever accommodation fit my budget. Booked a night in Ecopackers.  The hostel's location is pretty nice. Easy to find and the bus station to MP is 5 minutes away. Reception spoke pretty good English.  I stayed for 18 hours at a 4-bed girl dorm ensuite. Room costs $19. They were a bit choosy with the dollars they accept. The bills had to be new with almost no crease. The beds were comfy, there was heater (a must a night!) and hot water was really hot. There were 4 beds but only 2 were occupied for the night. Lucky me.

I can't get creative with the title. I just put it in ALL CAPS.That should do justice. There are no words for all the descriptions and emotions that ran through me when I was in Machu Picchu. Giving a title to this entry was a difficult task. Choosing the photos, another story. So much decision-making involved.  My day started early. The alarm went off at 3:50AM. I didn't play snoozefest with my alarm clock. Excited for the day head, I got up and prepared for the day ahead. The water was sooo cold, it felt like brushing my teeth in melted ice. It woke me up. The hostel's breakfast started at 4:00AM. They knew that the travelers were keen to start their day early. I was. Check out was at 11AM and I didn't want to rush back to the city without getting my fill of MP. So I checked out and left my luggage at the hostel. It was a very short walk from the hostel to the bus station. I planned to be at the bus station at 5:00AM the latest. Apparently, that was every...

The train ticket s of Machu Picchu is the most expensive set of train tickets that I bought. So this train ride deserves its own entry. And I have a load of photos to share .   I got the tickets by booking them in the Peru Rail website, pretty much the same as booking a plane ticket. Got them four months before the trip. Cost: Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu, $64. Machu Picchu to Cuzco, $117 , in the Vistadome section. I bought the ticket based on the train schedule. That, is a pricey ticket . It is equivalent to a roundtrip flight to a country in Southeast Asia from Manila. And I'm just travelling from one t own to another town in Peru. Screenshot of my ticket. Over the course of my adventures, I've realized that I am not a climber. Mountain climbing is not really my forte. I've done Batad and Mount Pulag and I am fine if I don't climb any other mountain forever (though that is unlikely, I know). Blame it on the lack of proper toilet fa...

This one was an easy choice. I wanted to have a nice comfy room to myself for a night in Ollantaytambo. Hostel Iskay was the top recommended hostel in Tripadvisor. I booked a double room via Booking.com for $47. They replied to my emails promptly. I emailed them quite a lot because I also booked my car & guide and the Machu Picchu ticket.     A pick-up from Cuzco airport costs $80 for the first 4 hours which includes a tour of the Pisac Ruins and PisacMarket . There is an additional charge of $10 per hour in excess (although they don’t implement this strictly). Still pricey, but I decided to go through with it as I wanted a safe and trusted driver and I didn’t want to haggle with drivers when I landed in the cold town of Cuzco. I really liked it that the hostel has a water refilling tank. You can reuse your water bottles, and avoid buying bottled water. The bottles become the trash of this quaint little town. Social responsibility, in a water ...

I love salt. I drizzle salt in fries, egg, peanuts and what-nots. It affects my cooking. Sometimes my “dash” of salt results to a teaspoon. ^____^ My hot chocolate becomes a salted hot chocolate. Throwback photo. Merrily sprinkling the salt. Salt is the reason I wanted a stop in Ollantaytambo. Eduardo, my guide from the previous day offered this tour of the three spots for 150 soles. I know I could have haggled for something less but we already had a rapport. I read that you can haggle for as low as 120 soles. Booking via the hostel costs an arm and leg and I did not have the time (nor patience) to navigate using public transportation – the combi (waaaaay cheaper). The combi and their version of tricycle I just told Eduardo that I have to be back at Ollantaytambo before my train going to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town) left at 3:37PM that day and I had to be at the train station 30 minutes before departure time.   Eduardo overtaking the...

What do Rome , Athens , Siem Reap , Ayutthaya , Bacolod and Ollantaytambo all have in common? Ruins. These dilapidated (ex)important structures drives tourist to enjoy their ancient magnificence. Peru is filled with ruins. The most important and prominent being Machu Picchu. But I’ll eventually get to that. For now, I’ll show you the ruins left by aliens in Pisac and Ollantaytambo. Yes aliens. That’s according to the “Ancient Aliens” documentary. (Now I know that not all docus are true, but just play with me here).  The flight from Lima was smooth. I landed in Cuzco and almost froze. I spent some time unearthing my jacket from my luggage before finding my driver - Eduardo. I requested my hostel to send up a car to pick me up from Cuzco airport to take me to Ollantaytambo. We will be exploring the Pisac ruins along the way. Shining sky, cold air. Hiring a car was a pricey decision costing $80 for the first four hours and $10 for a succeeding hour. Y...

This was an easy choice for me. Lima Backpackers is the top recommended accommodation in Tripadvisor with overwhelming “Excellent” reviews. I booked a bed in a 4-girl dorm via Booking.com. The bed costs $12 or 36 soles for a night, including breakfast. Too bad I wasn’t able to try the breakfast because of my very early flight. I had no problems finding the hostel as I followed the directions that Marco sent in the email. I was only in Lima for 18 hours, just a quick stop in the city before flying to Cuzco. Marco warmly welcomed me and my room was ready just a few minutes after I arrived. He also gave me a bus card and map to help me navigate the city.

Eighteen (18) hours is 75% of a day. That’s the length of time a flight takes from Manila toAmsterdam . That’s just enough time to spend inMui Ne . If I am having a good-and-healthy day, I would be awake for 18 hours and be sound asleep for 6. Eighteen hours is short for Lima. But I wanted to make the most out of my trip. I had a midnight flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Lima. Sab was kind to drive me to the airport. It was easy to pass time in LAX. I hated it though that I had throw out the water bottle at the checkpoint. I TRIED to sleep during the 9-hour flight to Lima. Um, NO. Lan Airlines’ in-flight entertainment was too interesting to pass up. So I watched Part 1 of the Divergent Movie series. Coincidentally, the ebook was on the tablet I brought. So bye bye sleep.   Lima Airport The plane landed smoothly early in Lima Airport. I booked at a night in Lima Backpackers in the residential neighborhood of Surco. Marco sent me detailed instruc...