Perusing Peru: Back in Lima

The view from the 17th floor of the Sheraton Lima Historic Center

Back in Lima for a few days before returning home because it was much cheaper to do the roundtrip to and from Chiclayo in the middle of the trip than it was to do a triangle with Chiclayo either the first or the final stop in Lima.

And this gave me the opportunity to stay in a different neighborhood of the massive city of Lima.

This is my room way up on the 17th Floor. I didn't have to pay extra for the extra elevation.

I don't normally stay in U.S. chain hotels. And I especially don't normally stay in U.S. business class hotels. But I'm staying in the Sheraton right on the edge of the Centro Historico in Lima. First, all of the other hotels in the Centro Historico looked like they had the high potential for being sketchy. Second, and most importantly, the price for the room the week before Christmas -- Feliz Navidad by the way -- was outrageously cheap for guaranteed luxury. And the booked me on the 17th floor, high above the noise of Lima. What's not to love?

The neighborhood is quite nice, not sketchy like I feared. Next door is a shopping mall filled with places to eat, not all of which are U.S. fast food chains (although a lot are). There is also a ton of street food options. The neighborhood smells delicious.

I wasn't too hungry, and I decided against either the U.S. or the local chains, so I ate at this little outdoor stand called Shawarmass. In English it seems like a hybrid of the words "shawarma" -- a middle eastern pocket sandwich -- and, well, use your imagination as to the second word.

I ordered the beef shawarma, hold the tomato (de claro) with the garlic sauce.

Just 20 soles, with is less than $6.50 U.S. It was incredibly delicious. And the garlic sauce was the perfect condiment for it. I can put this in the category of "Peruvian" because, unlike shawarma in Las Vegas or other cities, this had rolled into it, in addition to the braised beef, the lettuce, and the garlic sauce, these crunchy bits that looked and tasted like shoestring potatoes. You know, the ones that came in a can. I'm guessing potato because Peruanos love their spuds. More importantly, despite the sauce, the shoestring potatoes stayed crunchy in the shawarma. Five stars would be my google review if there was a google review for Shawarmass. 

Tomorrow it will be back to regular tourism after yet another internal travel day and work day.