South America: Lima, Peru

Over the next 200 days, we are going to be living off of $35 USD a day each

Arrival: Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez

When purchasing a SIM card, the location is extremely important. It was pretty jaw dropping from just being one floor away. If you stop by the Claro (cellular service company) kiosk at arrivals, the activation for 18 days minimum cost $157 USD. If you purchase it from departures, the cost went down to 35 soles (which is equivalent to about $8.75 USD). That is a wild difference from arrivals versus departure!! 🫢

Claro @ departure (the cheaper destination located near the food court)

When Tim and I left the airport, we hopped on a collectivo (bus) to Miraflores. This cost 4.5 soles per person. Tip: If you are heading to Miraflores, the “S” on the dashboard is an easy indicator to signify which bus to take. 4.5 soles per person ($1.17 USD PP)

Collectivo (definitely reminds me of Asia!) I love the quick and easy hop on and hop off transportation

Exploring the city – Even though it’s been foggy, we were able to see the coast of Miraflores. This is where many people surf, paraglide, bike, skate, run, walk (lots with their dogs), and simply enjoy the view.

Below will be a summary/list of food per day. It feels more fitting to provide it in the local currency.

The current exchange rate: $1.00 USD is equal to about 3.83 Peruvian Soles

Day 1 – Food

Bread + egg sandwich – 1.5 soles // pan + huevo
Humita y tamal – each 6 soles
Doughnut Balls – 4 soles for 4 pieces
Caldo de Gallina – 8 soles
Fresh (pineapple and orange) 9.5 soles – jugo pina con naranja
Surquillo Market: 6 eggs – 3 soles // huevos and 3 packets of ramen (fr the mini market) – 5.4 soles

Big bowl of deliciousness (Caldo de Gallina)

Day 2 – Food

Ayurvedic recipe (breakfast at the hostel) included: fresh juice, bread, coffee, muesli (contained: granola, milk, apple, yogurt, banana, tangerine and cranberry) and 2 pieces of bread – 15 soles
Pork sandwich with chicha “originated in the Andean regions of Peru that’s made from dried purple corn, along with fruit and spices” juice – 23.5 soles // Pan de Chicharron con chicha
Two pisco sours – 30 soles each
Two Peruvian churros – 3 soles each
Fast food sandwich with pork (to compare) with fries and chicha juice – 21.8 soles
Local brewery (Buenos Mangos, IPA and Sunset, Golden Ale) – 17 soles each

Pan de Chicharron

Murals are a pleasure to see! There is a popular area known as Barrancos, a fun, hippy neighborhood. We visited for mainly creative street art and Puente de Los Suspiros (The Bridge of Sighs).

Day 3 – Food (this day we got upset tummies!! hence why our list appears so short)

Ayurvedic Breakfast again fr hostel, as previously mentioned with coffee and fresh juice – 15 soles + 3 eggs (previously bought fr the market)
Spaghetti with bolognese and fresh cut fries – 27 soles
2 bananas – 1.7 soles

Day 4 – Food

Mixto a la inglesa -waffles relleno de jamón, queso andino, orégano, coronado con un huevo frito y mayonesa Bigote // waffle mixed with ham, cheese, oregano & topped with a fried egg) – 16 soles
Mac & cheese // Macarrones con queso mozzarella, queso cheddar, queso andino, crema de leche y especias – 18 soles

After breakfast, we took a bus to Ica. (Online it said it should have taken 4 1/2 hours but ended up being 5 1/2 hours) – 30 soles per person.

Accommodation:

KACLLA, the Healing Dog Hostel – 100 soles per person for 3 nights. They provided comfy beds (mattress was actually comforting and soft), a healthy breakfast, and hot showers.

Beyond Rose