Saturday, August 27, 2011

PERU

(does not include Lima)

Services
Aqua Expeditions – 1167 Calle Iquitos (Iquitos, Maynas, Loreto); 011-51-06-560-1053; aquaexpeditions.com; luxury ships that cruise Amazon River delta in Peru.

AREQUIPA
Yanque
Hotels
Las Casitas del Colca – Parque Curiña; 011-51-01-610-8300; lascasitasdelcolca.com; lovely.



CHACHAPOYAS
Sights & Sites
Kuelap – kuelap.org; Macchu Picchu of north.



CUZCO
Hotels
Hotel Monasterio – 136 Calle Palacios (on Plazoleta Nazarenas); 011-51-08-424-1777; monasteriohotel.com; 1-time 16th Century mansion; good food.
Inkaterra La Casona – 113 Plazoleta Nazarenas; 011-51-08-423-4010; inkaterra.com/en/cusco; 11-room boutique; Mick Jagger stayed here.
Palacio del Inka – 259 Plazoleta Santo Domingo; 011-51-08-423-1961; libertador.com.
Palacio Nazarenas – 136 Calle Palacio (on Plazoleta Nazarenas, next to Hotel Monasterio); 011-51-8-458-2222; palacionazarenas.com; 55 suites; Orient-Express hotel; only heated, outdoor pool in Cusco.
Restaurants
Cicciolina – 393 Calle Triunfo; 011-51-08-423-9510; cicciolinacuzco.com; contemporary and classic Andean; all meals.
LIMO – 236 Portal de Carnes; 011-51-08-424-0668; cuscorestaurants.com; Japanese-accented, Peruvian cuisine; all meals.
MAP Cafe – Casa Cabrera, 231 Plazoleta Nazarenas (in Museo de Arte Precolombino); 011-51-08-424-2476; cuscorestaurants.com; contemporary and classic Andean; name misleading; this is elegant, and authentic.
Senzo – 136 Calle Palacio (at Palacio Nazarenas Hotel); 011-51-08-458-2222; palacionazarenas.com; finca-to-table.
Services
Visit Cuzco – 011-51-08-426-1465; cosituc.gob.pe.
Sights & Sites
Ausangate – Willkanuta Mountains; known as “Rainbow Mountains”; .
Museum of Pre-Columbian Art – Casa Cabrera, 231 Plazoleta Nazarenas; 011-51-08-423-3210; museoarqueologicoperuano.museolarco.org.
UNSAAC-Yale International Center for Study of Machu Picchu & Inca Culture – 320 Calle Santa Catalina Ancha (in La Casa Concha); unsaac.edu.pe; artifacts and research center.



IQUITOS (includes Belen & Pedrococha; Iquitos is island in Peru’s northern Amazon rainforest on Ucayali River; city officially founded in 1864 by Peruvian Navy; Spanish conquistadors in area as early as 1542, though; famous rubber barons include Fitzcarrald (Fitzcarraldo).)
Bakeries, Coffee, Ice Cream, Juice & Tea
Ari’s Burguer – 127 Prospero (on corner Plaza de Armas); 011-51-06-523-1470; brightly lit, clean joint known locally as gringolandia; 2 walls open to street; great peoplewatching; ice cream.
Karma Cafe – 138 Calle Napo; 011-51-06-560-0576; facebook.com/pages/KARMA-CAFE-Iquitos-Peru/137941406220710; coffee shop in town center.
Bars & NightclubsYellow Rose of Texas – 180 Putumayo; 011-51-06-523-1353; atrapalo.pe/restaurantes/the-yellow-rose-of-texas_f23934.html; expat watering ole.
Hotels
Amazon Reise Eco Lodge – Rio Yanayacu; 011-51-06-579-7219; amazonreise.com.
Casa Fitzcarraldo – 2153 Avenida la Marina (Carretera La Marina); 011-51-06-560-1138; casafitzcarraldo.com; idyllic hotel compound in otherwise industrial, port section of town.
Maranon Hotel – 289 Fitzcarrald (Nauta); 011-51-06-524-2673; hotelmaranon.com; conveniently located near Malecon and rubber baron houses; antiseptically clean; tiny pool.
Restaurants
Ari’s Burguer – 127 Prospero (on corner Plaza de Armas); 011-51-06-523-1470; brightly lit, clean joint known locally as gringolandia; 2 walls open to street; great peoplewatching; almost always open; American-style food, as well as local plates; desserts in Iquitos don’t get gooier.
Al Frio y Al Fuego – 138 Avenida La Marina; 011-51-06-560-7474; alfrioyalfuego.com; seafood in upscale, floating restaurant.
Services
Aqua Expeditions – 1167 Calle Iquitos; 011-51-06-560-1053; aquaexpeditions.com; luxury ships that cruise Amazon River delta in Peru.
Sights & Sites
Belen – just off Iquitos Market, hire boatmen for short ride through Belen, floating city (built on stilts).
Biblioteca Amazónica – 354 Malecon Tarapaca, 2nd floor; 011-51-06-524-2353; facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.342331122499835.75348.163223803743902&type=3; handsome public space inhabiting old rubber baron mansion; features lots of carved wood and colorful tiles.
Casa Cohen – 401-437 Próspero; rubber baron mansion worth viewing from street.
Casa de Fierro (Iron House, Maison de Fer) – Plaza de Armas (between Próspero and Putumayo Streets); large residence built during rubber boom at 19th Century’s end; designed by Gustave Eiffel’s firm and built in Belgian workshops (Les Forges D’Aiseau); rubber baron Anselmo del Aguila bought at International Exposition of Paris in 1889; once dismantled, brought in pieces to Iquitos (metal sheets carried by 100s men through jungle), and assembled in 1890; since 1985, administered by Club Social de Iquitos, which has contributed in its restoration; 2nd floor now has restaurant; fully different story house’s origin told in Mario Vargas Llosa’s Captain Pantoja and Special Service (Pantaleón y las Visitadoras), comic novel.
Casa Fitzcarrald – 200-212 Napo; 011-51-06-560-1138; casafitzcarraldo.com; adobe house once belonging to famed rubber baron.
Casa Morey – 200 Loreto (1st block off Malecón Tarapaca); 011-51-06-523-1913; casamorey.com; rubber baron mansion worth viewing from street.
Iquitos Market – Mercado Belen; in front, gazebo designed by Gustave Eiffel firm; can by everything here (and by everything, that means endangered animals, too).
Logia Unión Amazónica – 262 Nauta; rubber baron mansion worth viewing from street.
Malecon Tarapaca – 1 block back from Plaza de Armas (facing Amazon River); benches, fountains (including giant pink dolphin), and street lamps; lined with several exquisite 19th Century mansions, relics from rubber heyday, lined with Portuguese glazed tiles (azulejos, most spectacular being Casa Hernández (#302-308).
Municipal Museum of Natural Science – 333 Calle Tawara (on Plaza de Armas’ north-easterly side); 011-51-06-523-8681; stuffed animals, native to Peru, together with various handicrafts, historical photographs, and various artefacts.
Museo Amazonica - 386 Malecón Tarapacá; 011-51-06-523-1072; small museum with few exhibits; worth seeing are 76 fiberglass moldings (painted bronze) of indigenous peoples.
Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm - Padra Cocha (short ferry ride from Bellavista dock area); 011-51-06-323-2665; amazonanimalorphanage.org; animal shelter and butterfly farm; small operation; apart from butterflies, rare rescued species include Amazon manatee, giant anteater, jaguar, monkeys, & tapir.
Plaza de Armas – bounded by Fitzcarrald, Napo, Putumayo & Prospero Streets; most active square in northern Amazon.
Quistococha Lagoon & Tourist Park – 8 miles south of Iquitos; nearly 450 forests and lagoon hectares make up this National Tourist Park; nice beach and swimming area; paiche hatchery (Amazon’s largest fish), decent zoo, many extremely rare.



MACHU PICCHU
Hotels
Inkaterra Machu Picchu – Railroad km 110 (in Aguas Calientes); 011-51-01-610-0400; inkaterra.com; 12 garden acres; ask for recently renovated suite (#s 39, 40, 48, 49, 83, or 84); staying here means waiting on long lines at day’s beginning and end because of half-hour shuttle bus up and down mountain.
Sanctuary Lodge Carretera Hiram Bingham; 011-51-01-610-8300; sanctuarylodgehotel.com; slightly run-down and right at park entrance.



OLLANTAYTAMBO – on train ride from Cuzco to Macchu Picchu.
Hotels
Hotel Pakaritampu – main square and rail station; 011-51-08-420-4020; pakaritampu.com; 39 rooms and 1 suite; impeccably groomed gardens.
Hotel Rio Sagrado – Km. 75.8, Carretera Urubamba (Sacred Valley); 011-51-08-420-1631 or 011-51-01-610-8300 (reservations); riosagrado.com.
Restaurants
Hearts Café – Avenida Ventiderio; 011-51-08-443-6726; heartscafe.org; combination outreach organization and restaurant; excellent espresso and wide range teas.
Tapas Bar Cactus – Calle Principal; 011-51-08-479-7162; bar with limited menu; open until 2 a.m.
Services
Visit Cuzco – 011-51-08-426-1465; cosituc.gob.pe.
Sights & Sites
Pinkuylluna – hill that overlooks village; food storage structures; Tunupa is rock visage named for Aymara deity; dizzying climb.
Pumamarca – ancient settlement just beyond village; dramatically perched on mountain.



PARACAS
Hotels
Hotel Paracas – 173 Avenida Paracas; 011-51-05-658-1333; starwoodhotels.com.



PUNO
Hotels
Titilaka Hotel – Chucuito, Peninsula Titilaka,; 011-51-01-700-5100 or 866-628-1777; titilaka.com; unbelievably beautiful.
Services
Aqua Expeditions – 1167 Calle Iquitos (Iquitos, Maynas, Loreto); 011-51-06-560-1053; aquaexpeditions.com; luxury ships that cruise Amazon River delta in Peru.



URUBAMBA
Hotels
Sol y Luna – Fundo Huincho; 011-51-08-420-1620; hotelsolyluna.com; 15 deluxe casitas on 25 gardened acres; fireplaces, hand-frescoed walls, and private patios.
Tambo del Inka – Ferrocaril Avenida; 011-51-08-458-1777; starwoodhotels.com; 128 rooms in “Sacred Valley”; beloved; near Inca ruins and hiking-kayaking areas.
Restaurants
Hacienda Huayoccari – Carretera Cusco-Urubamba, Km 64; 011-51-08-4962-2224 or 011-51-8-422-6241 (in Cusco); several miles southeast of Urubamba; exceedingly elegant farmhouse high above valley.

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