How Ed Droste Spent Two Wild Weeks in Peru
Machu Picchu has always been on my travel bucket list. Impossibly beautiful, it’s one of those destinations that I have dreamed about since childhood.
In the past year, my good friend KT Auleta, a fashion and art photographer, has been working on an incredible new handmade leather bag line called Portos Collection. The bags are sourced and hand-crafted in Peru by a third-generation saddle maker. KT was heading down to visit the workshop, film, and travel a bit, and being the travel addict that I am, I thought, "Maybe I’d like to come?" Now was my chance.
Not only does Peru hold the mountainous mystery of the Inkas nestled in the Andes, it also encompasses huge swaths of precious Amazonian rainforests, vast grasslands, open deserts, and the Pacific Ocean running up its west coast. The international food scene has also begun to take off recently with a new generation of renowned restaurants and chefs. (Plus there are 4,000 varieties of potatoes. Who knew?)
After a flurry of texts, we both agreed we had to go. Because there was a lot to see, we agreed on a time frame of at least two weeks. We were lucky my hotel critic friend steered us to the Belmond and Inkaterra properties that have locations throughout the country. This allowed us to sample Peru’s diversity and we were never once disappointed.
Upon landing in Lima, we were met with the city’s infamous grey layer of fog. Through dense traffic and mostly tree-less streets, we ended up at the Belmond Miraflores Park in Peru, which is located in the cliffside neighborhood of the same name. Our hotel, Miraflores, which means “behold the flowers," was a mix of newly built luxury glass buildings, charming Colonial Villas, lush parks, and misty views of the Pacific.
