I recently returned from my second trip to Peru as a demonstrator for a series of blacksmithing workshops sponsored by Aceros Arequipa. Even though I was there for a month and traveled to Huancayo, Lima, and Piura, I did not have time to go to any of the sacred sites. I did however meet a very knowledgeable tourist guide named Gonzalo Cardenas Luque while eating in a great restaurant in Lima. Gonzalo gave me the picture on the left of the Inca Mystic Shadow. Isn't this an amazing photograph?
It was around 11 pm when I decided to try a new restaurant in the Miraflores district of Lima, Peru. It didn't look like there were many people eating in this quite, clean and warmly lit contemporary styled restaurant. So I decided to go in and try it out. It was getting late into the evening but not so late for the Peruvians. I've found that eating after 9 pm is a standard in this country of amazing foods.
I went in and asked in my second language, Spanish, if they were still serving. The answer was "of course" and I was told to sit anywhere I like. So I sat close to the food counter and with a view to the entrance and patio. A very nice young man came over and introduced himself as the manager of the restaurant. His name was Gonzalo. Since there were not many people, we began to talk about my reason for being in Peru. I explained to him about the main reason I was in Peru and then told him about my secondary reason.
Anyway, the following morning I left with a group to go to Machu Picchu from Aquas Calientes at 6 am. This was great because there was hardly any visitors at the site this early in the morning. I was awe struck when I planted my feet into this sacred site! I found my tour group and spent the next two hours listening to the standard information about the Incas and such. This was nice, but it really wasn't what I was hoping to get out of my visit. However, moving around with the group and listening to the tour guide did ease me into the experience.
