Water, water
everywhere and not a drop to drink. Peruvian tap water was declared unsafe, and
every drop we drank came from a bottle emptied into our Camelbaks. Potatoes,
potatoes everywhere, and I swear I can't even look at another potato for at least a month.
I just about
lost it when the appetizer came out. A sweet potato still has the word potato
in it, and disguising it as a Spring Roll
doesn't mean I'm not so freaking sick of potatoes.., except all of the sudden I'm not. This purse of sweet potato was so irresistible that I ate two.
I finally found
the only dish in all of Peru that didn’t have potato, ironic at a
place called Papa’s. The Tacu Tacu
had shining, shimmering, splendid cuts of protein, a grilled chicken breast
that was best dunked in creamy, spicy aji amarillo. The rice and refried beans
seemed to sub for fries, and I definitely wasn't missing the papa.
The Lomo Al Pobre did have papas, but
that’s not what made it an effort pobre. The egg over rice and a tough cut of
steak is hardly memorable, and the "sausage" tasted like an
overcooked hotdog left soaking in something that dissolved the casing. I might
have also enjoyed it a little more if I weren't so upset that they'd forgotten
the avocado.
Everything
has potato, everything is made with potato, and everything comes with a side of
potato in Peru. The carbs keep us charged, and the starch keeps us stuffed, but I'm about to tell the
next person who hands me a potato just where they can put it.
The first thing I did in
Ollantaytambo was learn how to pronounce Ollantaytambo. The second thing I did
was sprint down the uneven stairs from the sacred Sun Temple the minute my tour
was done.
The Sun Temple was breathtaking but
not nearly as breathtaking as the Antichuchos
I smelled on the way up. All that stair-climbing had made me pretty hungry, and
the rays of a setting Inca sun shone through the droplets of grease streaming from
the thinly-sliced beef heart on a stick.
Beef heart was a bit heavy before
dinner, but Churros were an obvious
next step. Deep-fried and fluffy, these sweet sticks of dough just can't go
wrong when they're drizzled with chocolate and covered in rivers of condensed milk.
