South America In Style: Cusco, Peru

Feeling so invigorated from our Machu Picchu experience on Friday 23 September, we decided to do it all again on the morning of Saturday 24 September. After sitting in the most serene ‘postcard’ location for a few hours to take in the once in a lifetime scenery, we made our way back down the mountain via one of the notorious buses, enjoyed a gourmet buffet lunch at El Mapi Hotel for about AUD$15.00 each, and just before we boarded our PeruRail train for Ollayantambo I snuck in a cheeky “Inca” neck and shoulder massage while Nige explored the local bookshops.

Much to our pleasant surprise, the PeruRail train to Ollayantambo turned into a PartyRail train, with the resonation of Peruvian dance music and the carriage turning into a catwalk with the train staff putting on a fashion parade and modelling a range of high end alpaca garments. Following the best train ride I’ve ever experienced, we were met at the Ollayantambo Train Station in the evening by our Personal Guide Fernando and transferred by bus to our fabulous hotel in Cusco Sonesta Posada Del Inca, where we relaxed and watched Bride Wars with Spanish subtitles.

Sunday 25 September was truly a day of rest in Cusco, with very little open and the locals in relaxation mode. We had the luxury of our hotel being in a very central location and enjoyed the weekly festival in the main square Plaza De Aramis, looked around the market which can be likened to Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, had a beautiful lunch at the notable Incanto Ristorante of woodfired cured ham pizza, French fries and freshly squeezed strawberry juice for about AUD$15.00 and had our photo taken with “Pepito” (Peter) the sheep. We’ve really had some of the most “gastronomical” experiences in Peru with a very good case in point being dinner at Brava Pasta & Grill. For about AUD$12.50, I had the most amazing electric lemonade made with remedial Andean herbs and what is now my pasta dish benchmark – salted linguine with perfumed garlic butter accompanied with panko breaded chicken stuffed with two kinds of cheeses and served with a special napolitan sauce.

With everything back in business on Monday 26 September, we started by going to the Australia Post equivalent Serpost to ship multiple South American purchases to Australia to avoid the wrath of LAN overweight baggage fees. Subsequently, we visited the famous Qorikancha Museum which is a convent built over and incorporating the Inca Temple of the Sun. We weren’t really that hungry after a hearty buffet breakfast at the hotel, but couldn’t help but stop at the phenomenal eatery Tartessos for some tapas of cheese melt orassorted melted cheese accompanied with red wine candied onions and fresh bread for a mere AUD$10.00. After tapas, Nige the Adventurer continued on to the Sachsayhuaman ruins, while I indulged in a psuedo-siesta at the hotel and surrounds.

One aspect that’s definitely worth noting about Cusco is that you can’t swing a Fendi purse without knocking over five vendors whether they’re selling “their own original” artwork, jewellery, alpaca rugs or little Inca dolls. Nige’s personal favourites are the vendors every three metres by night who say “senor, senor…would you like a massage?” and those more rare who say “senor, senor…would you like a smoke or a sniff?” or “senor, senor…would you like a tattoo?” You can just imagine Nige’s reactions, can’t you? Perhaps the funniest vendor experience we had in Cusco was whilst dining at Brava Pasta & Grill. There we were enjoying our meals when all of a sudden, there was a knock at the window followed by a vendor whipping out his artwork and trying to flog them to us from outside the restaurant much to the disdain of the restaurant proprietors! Not to mention, that about five more vendors came to his funeral when they mistook our laughter over the “versatile Machu Picchu” piece for interest.

Speaking of dining experiences, we saved one of the best for our last evening in Cusco being Incanto Ristorante, where we’d already had lunch. The cuisine at Incanto Ristorante is literally from paddock to plate, with the ingredients sourced from their organic farm in Lamay of The Sacred Valley. Accordingly, you can imagine how sublime was my entrée of mushroom and shrimp ceviche or ceviche of mushroom and shrimp marinated with aji limo, lemon and onions accompanied with corn and sweet potato (AUD$11.00), main of tagliolini a la Huancaina or tagliolini in a Huancaina sauce of crispy olives, paria cheese, kernels of local corn and quail egg (AUD$8.00) and dessert of tarta tatin or warm apple tart over a puff pastry crust with a rosemary vanilla sauce and homemade vanilla ice cream(AUD$6.00). I had to be rolled out of Incanto Ristorante, but it was worth every morsel.

My highlights of Cusco include:

The journey there, including the PeruRail train fashion show;
The location and high quality of our hotel Sonesta Posada Del Inca;
Our fine dining experiences at Incanto Ristorante, Brava Pasta & Grill and Tartessos and the highest level of customer service at these outfits;
The Incan intrigue of Qorikancha Museum;
The colonial Spanish architecture of the buildings; and
The street vendors and Nige’s reactions to these vendors