Blogs from Lima, Peru, South America
May 30th 2012
Well my time in Lima is almost up...just when I was becoming an expert road crosser it is time to say farewell to the traffic, noise & pollution (not sad about the last one!). I took the opportunity of an early rise to go and visit the local park and pick up some supplies for the bus journey. Peruvians do like their plazas and parks. They are always well utilised....lots of school / college kids seem to frequent them either before or maybe even during their classes...I guess there are worse things to be doing other than bunking off! This park had lots of water features that I was truly tempted to soak my feet in....it is another scorcher of a day and my skin is still feeling rather hot after yesterday´s baking! But due to ... read more
Arrived safely in Lima with backpack in toe
Published: May 27th 2012South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » LimaMay 27th 2012
First major milestone met, good start to the trip, despite the delays in both Air France flights. Even though the weather was great in Edinburgh on Saturday morning, there was delays in Paris CDG airport, so we had to wait 30 mins before taking off from Edinburgh, then we made up the time by the time we arrived in Paris only to be faced with a 30 mins for the bus to come and pick us up....and they say the Greeks are laid back & unreliable, the French are just the same! (don´t mean to offend but everyone on the flight going for connections was rather annoyed with the French this morning). I on the other hand had every confidence that I would make the connecting flight even though it was due to depart by the ... read more
Roaming round Lima city centre and Miraflores district
Published: May 28th 2012South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Lima
May 27th 2012
Well my sleep pattern has returned almost back to normal, had 7.5hrs uninterrupted sleep, which is great....obviously all the walking is doing the trick! My 10 bed dorm had only 4 of us in it last night, so it was less stuffy than the previous night when all 10 beds were occupied. I am getting used to the luke warm water in the showers and remembering to avoid flushing the toilet paper down the loo....progress! Observations 1. Constant traffic noise, the amusing bit is that a number of vehicles have an ambulance / police sounding horn / alarm in a vain attempt to get through the traffic.....not sure how successful that is proving considering how many vehicles have exactly the same sound system! 2. Very few smokers on the streets....which is making walking in the centre ... read more
May 16th 2012
14.5.2012 – 15.5.2012 Well dinner at La Gloria was sensational $60 head with wine but great food. Checked out of our house and over to Embajadores Hotel near the beach, quite a nice hotel. Met the other people on our tour, we are five, 2 melb, 1 Brisbane and 2 Cairns. Had a tour around the downtown today and what a combination of different architecture, just amazing. Did the usual cathedral, which I have to admit was absolutely stunning, and then onto the San Francisco Monastery, with all the catacombs which are on display, loads of bones and skulls, containing around 70,000 human remains, also went to the Museum of Antropology, so interesting. Also there are several sights of pre incas around here in Lima even one in Miraflores. The Peruvian people are so friendly. Had ... read more
May 13th 2012
Unfortunately we had to go back to Quito to pick up all our stuff... We were still travelling on one rucksack as we'd left the rest in Quito, whilst we went to the Galapagos.... So after an early departure from Montanita and hugging our belongings for 14 hours we arrived back to our least favourite place, got ripped off by two taxi drivers picked our stuff up, bumped into Lani and headed out to grab some grub as we'd eaten and drank nothing all day....Another 6am start followed the next day as we headed to the airport for our flight out of there to Lima....A quick 2.5 hour flight and we were there... The sun was shining again and we were back by the coast.... Met Darragh from Ireland in the airport and we shared a ... read more
May 13th 2012
10.5.2012 Arrived back in Havana at 1.00op.m.. Go go and JJ delivered us to the airport and others on the trip to their city hotels. We had a three hour layover at Havana Airport before our flight on “A Central American Airline, TACA, “, paint peeling off the plane, wasn’t a good look and they were ½ hr late taking off, arrived safely in Lima, after heaps of turbulence, lots of clapping and cheering when we landed in Lima, Peru. We had booked an apartment in Miraflores, through a guy called Rudi, and had been communicating with him for six months, all worked liked a clock work, driver etc etc≥ Rudi lives in France and his mum used to live in the house where we are staying. Just lovely and very safe, as well as normal ... read more
May 10th 2012
Its been a long time since I last did a blog entry, I think I last wrote something in Sucre and since then we´ve done a lot of stuff. So I´m afraid this one won´t be as detailed as normal. To be honest they never are that detailed, most of the time I just end up referring you to Will´s blog because I can´t be bothered to do any more. A lazy approach, perhaps, but seeing as we´re on pay as you go internet (not free hostel internet) I´d rather save a few Soles (Peruvian currency) and buy a load of amazingly delicious bread from the exceedingly luxurious supermarket down the road. Sorry but it´s really good bread. So here goes. Let´s start with Potosi. Whilst in Potosi, we did the one thing that pretty much ... read more
May 3rd 2012
The past few days have been a mixture of good times and an utter gong show. A few days ago I realized I lost my debit. Crap. After the initial panic, I called my mom and we called my bank. She now has my new debit which she will expedite to my next stop, Huanchaco. She also sent me some money via western union to tide me over, awesome. I went to pick it up 2 days ago... Nothing there. But I figured whatever she probably accidentally did the 24 hour type transfer, so I checked back yesterday. Nothing. So I started to panic. I called her to no avail. And so? I cried. Oh yes I had a massive panic attack and 5 kind Peruvian women surrounded me trying to help. So I tried my ... read more
May 1st 2012
Ah Lima, how I missed you! I got here Saturday evening after a very delayed plane, but fortunately the one other gringo at the airport and I spotted each other instantly. The giant and the purple haired girl, ya you could say we stuck out just a tad. So all was well, I had a long chat with the massively tall American man and at last arrived in Lima. I pretty much haven't stopped drinking since I arrived. Saturday night I went out with Victor, my first friend from Peru way back two and a half years ago. We went to a bar in Miraflores where my buddy Gino (who was my bar manager at the Point hostel Mancora long ago) worked at, and then went out to a random packed club. Pretty much just got ... read more
South America. Peru.. and a little bit of Chile.
Published: April 30th 2012South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Miraflores
April 30th 2012
So arrived in Santiago after a long 13 hour flight for New Zealand, our body clock was all wrong as we had time travlled back in time arriving 4 hours before we left, so it was actually the longest day we had ever lived! Arrived in Santiago with no clue on how to get to the hostel, and this is where the language barrier proved a little difficult as most people didnt speak english and our spanish was by no means good at this point. Finally got onto the right bus, not having much of an idea which stop to get off at, or even where we were going, but thank god Rachel sat next to someone who knew the area well and spoke english. So after we were shown to our lovely hostel (which we ... read more
