Puno to Lima

I was picked up at 4:00 am in order to avoid the protesters' road blockage. As we left the quiet city center, I started to see some rocks on the street. Initially, I thought the rocks came from the nearby cliff but soon I realized these obstructions were created by the protesters because it got worse and worse as we progressed. I saw a very big (the size of small refrigerator) rock that I don't know how the protesters could have moved. The driver was driving in a zig zag to manner to avoid these rocks, although the smaller rocks made the ride very bumpy. At one point, a bunch of guys were blocking the street completely with huge concrete column and started to throw stones towards us as warning, a couple of which hit the underside of the car. The driver was trying to persuade them by explaining that he was just taking tourists to the airport but they didn't listen. So, the driver took a detour, which was unpaved. I saw more rocks on the road to the airport, which is about 30 miles away, including one large and unexpected pile that the driver ran over and we thought for sure would cause some damage to the transmission (but fortunately it didn't).

We somehow arrived at the airport thanks to the driver. That was the scariest drive in my life... Inside the super cold airport, I saw a few other people who left the hotel very early like me. Also, I saw other travelers arriving in the next hour. But around 6:00 am, the flow stopped. I guess all the possible streets were blocked by the protesters by then, so that the travelers who didn't leave early enough couldn't get to the airport.

A good thing (for me) was that since so many seats were empty because of the many travelers who couldn't make it to the airport, I could get on the earlier 9:45 am flight (my original flight was 1:43 pm). I arrived at Lima around 11:00 am - early enough that I can have a lunch here. After checking in at the hotel, I headed to the local cevicheria, called Costazul Seafood.

It seems the restaurant is listed on every single guidebook because the inside wall was filled with the messages from all the visitors in different languages. Like other Peruvian restaurants, the service was slow. I believe they make all the ceviche when they receive the order.

The cold platter below consists from 4 dishes. Marinated octopus, marinated mixed seafood (such as shrimp, squid and crab), ceviche and tiradito. The first two seemed pre-prepared. The octopus was a bit too salty and the mixed seafood was a bit too bland. However, the ceviche was excellent. I'm sure that was freshly prepared and had a good balance of salt and acid, as well as a good level of spice. Not too cured but not also not too raw. The tiradito was as fresh but it was different from what I was expecting. Tiradito is a Japanese version of ceviche and it's a hybrid of sashimi and cheviche. What I was expecting is thinly sliced raw fish (like sashimi) with various salsa on top. But their tiradito looks almost identical to ceviche. Obviously it''s less cured than ceviche so that the fish was simply tossed in the sauce. Maybe that makes this tiradito. I thought the fish was cut too big and the sauce wasn't strong enough to season the big chunks of fish. Nonetheless, very fresh fish.

Tonight's dinner was something special. I booked the restaurant way before I left for the trip. The restaurant is Maido, a well known Nikkei Peruvian restaurant. Nikkei means Japanese oriented and the chef is a part Japanese. The restaurant was chosen as one of the 50 world's best restaurants. Peru has 3 restaurants in the list but I wanted to go to Maido because I was interested in upscale Nikkei Peruvian foods.


The dinner is 15 course meal along with a drinks pairing. Unfortunately, the service wasn't up to the level of Michelin starred restaurants. However, the foods were very good. Here are some of the unique dishes / my favorites.

River snails with dale dale foam - the size of this snail is about that of a golf ball. Because the flesh is braised for long enough, there is no funky smell.

Paiche sandwich - Paiche is a fresh water fish from Amazon. It's prepared well so that there's no muddiness. Good balance of sweetness and acidity.

Seafood sushi (squid and scallop with chia) - The sauces on top were very good. I'm not sure if the chia did anything to the sushi, though.

Amazonic cebiche - cebiche with a fish from Amazon along with julienned peach palm. Peach palm is like bamboo shoot, somehow.

Sweetbreads sushi (one on the left) - This is the best dish of the meal! I'm not usually crazy about sweetbreads because of the texture. But this sweetbread was perfectly seared and seasoned! It totally worked as the sushi topping.  

Miso glazed Black cod - I do make something like this a lot. But it was very good balance between sweetness and saltiness.

Wagyu short rib, egg yolk, wrapped fried rice - the beef was cooked for 50 hours. Fried rice is inside the wrap but I'm not sure what the wrap is made with. It tasted like rice or tapioca flour. The dish was eaten after mixing all the components. Very yummy!



It seemed like no one in Lima knew about the protest in Puno. I know Puno is not a big city in Peru. After I got back to the hotel, I turned on the TV to see if the news is talking about the protest in Puno. Nothing.... I wonder if the current president even knows about the protest. Their current president didn't keep the his promises, so the residents in Puno have every right to be angry about this issue. But whatever they are doing is not reaching the president, I guess. I feel sorry for them.....