Jenn's Big 30 in Peru Day 2: A Sacred Event
One of the big concerns when I think anyone books a trip to Cusco is adjusting to the altitude. Luckily so far it's been pretty good for both of us. We were able to fall asleep with ease last night after a great first day in Cusco and were ready for yet another adventure in Peru. We began our day with our included breakfast through the hotel, which was the perfect way to start the day. Jenn went with eggs and waffles and I had an omelet with bacon and sausage.
Just as we finished our breakfast our tour guide for today's adventure to the Sacred Valley arrived to whisk us to our bus and off on a full day tour of the Sacred Valley. We joined up with five others going on the tour and were off and running. Our first stop was about 45 minutes after we left our hotel. It was to a farm that housed both llama's and alpaca's, both of which we were given alfalfa to feed both the llamas and the alpaca. They were all well trained to run up to humans with their food and ate heartily. Jenn fell in love with many of the babies and tried her best to feed them first. We only spent maybe a half hour there but it was a really fun first stop. After the farm, we walked by a couple of stands where they used ancient Incan techniques to make clothing, bags, and accessories and were given the opportunity to shop if we wanted.
We were then back on the bus and made another quick stop fifteen minutes later at a look out point that looked out to the valley from the outskirts of Cusco. It was really just a photo opportunity and a chance to stretch our legs.
From there we were off to another small market to watch a demonstration of empanadas being made and also a huge habitat for guinea pigs, which is a delicacy in Peru. We got to eat the empanadas which were delicious and watch the guinea pigs run around this giant wood house that was built for them.
Our next stop was the Pisac Market, one of the biggest outdoor markets in the region. We were given an hour to explore the area on our own. Jenn and I went into quite a few shops, didn't really buy anything, but got the best opportunity so far on this trip to really take in the Peruvian culture. There's no doubt (and you can probably see it from our pictures) that the Peruvian people are not wealthy, but there was so much joy at every corner of the market. The hour flew by and although we didn't buy anything, we loved this part of the tour.
From the Pisac Market, we had about an hour drive to the crown jewel of this tour, Ollantaytambo, which is known for a massive Inca fortress with large stone terraces on a hillside. It was a sight to behold. After our bus dropped us off we spent a little over an hour hiking up the ruins and through the fortress. We had amazing views of ruins in all directions, especially a couple that was built into the hillside to store food in cooler temperatures. Although the altitude made the hike a little rougher than it probably would have otherwise been, the hour spent in the sacred valley was incredible.
From there we took the bus to a hotel in the Sacred Valley to partake in a buffet lunch. This was definitely the low point of the tour. Outside of the live music, and the beautiful hotel, the food was nothing to write home about. We both ate cautiously, while others scarfed down the free food. From there we boarded the bus and had an hour drive back to Cusco. The drive back was pretty uneventful apart from beautiful views of the snow packed Andes mountains and our driver who thought he was playing Mario Kart with our bus, and losing.
We arrived back to our hotel a little before 5 PM and decided to spend the next two hours watching some TV, looking at our photos, and resting before our dinner. Speaking of dinner, I had found a place when doing research on Cusco that I was so excited to take Jenn to. Tonight was the night. The restaurant is called Map Cafe and it's considered one of the best Peruvian restaurants in all of the city. Luckily for us, it was only a five-minute walk from our hotel.
We had 7 PM reservations and made it right on time, a rarity for us. The restaurant is housed in an art museum and is in a glass enclosure. Pictures don't do this small restaurant justice, it was stunning. We got a corner table so had great opportunities to people watch for our over the two-hour meal, and there were surprisingly a lot of people going to the museum late at night.
We sat down and were greeted by literally everyone in the restaurant and our drink orders were taken. Jenn started off with a cosmo and I stuck with a glass of red Peruvian wine. The way Map Cafe works is that it's a prix fixe menu, which means you have to order three courses. Before we could even get to the courses though we were brought amazing freshly baked bread and an amuse bouche of duck ceviche that was phenomenal.
For our first course, Jenn went with the Local Charcuterie which was a chef's board with all sorts of meats and fruits. Jenn liked about 90% of what was on the board and for what she didn't eat I was happy to oblige. For my first course, I went with the corn ravioli with veal cheek. The pasta was made from corn and had a slight familiarity to corn bread which was so dang good, not to mention the extremely tender veal cheek.
Before our entrees could arrive we were brought a palette cleanser which was a nice orange ice dish on a spoon that was supposed to ready you for the main event. For our entrees, Jenn went with Lamb Loin which was served with fava bean puree, citric caramelized white onion, and a liquid corn explosion. The lamb was perfectly cooked, and I thought I saw Jenn doing the happy dance once or twice while eating her entree. For me, I went with the Andean's Arroz Con Pato, which was a confit duck leg served with rice and quinoa risotto. The risotto was some of the best I've ever had and the duck was perfectly prepared and delicious.
A lot of times restaurants drop the ball in the dessert category, but that was not the case with Map Cafe, they hit a home run. Jenn had the warm chocolate truffles which came with a "surprise shot". What that ended up being was a fruit puree in a glass that the waiter accidentally broke open on Jenn's plate. Jenn thought the glass was real glass and was not too thrilled, she later learned that the glass was made from sugar was part of the dessert. Some Richard Blais (from Top Chef fame) trickery right there. My dessert was the Lucama kisses in five textures (liquid, creamy, foamy, powdery, and solid) which consisted of coffee flavored ice cream, a chocolate shell, and caramel filling. Both desserts were out of this world.
To say that we left Map Cafe happy campers would be a major understatement. It was one of the best meals we've had in a long, long time. If we ever come back to Cusco we will be going back to Map Cafe, that's a guarantee. After dinner, we walked back to our room, watched a show on Netflix, and turned in for a much quieter day tomorrow.
A little bonus content for our Day 2 post, Jenn is petting some llamas in beautiful 4K Video.
