Blogs from Lima, Peru, South America - page 10

It is 9:00pm in Miraflores, a suburb of Lima, and 3:00 am in the UK. We are very close to the coast and will take a look at the Pacific Ocean tomorrow. As we set off on the 6:15 am flight from Norwich to Amsterdam both of us are feeling tired. We arrived in Lima as the sun was setting around 6:00 pm local time. We were met at the airport by a local guide Dewi and her driver and we're then driven through the rush hour to our hotel. After a shower we are now ensconced in the waiting for our complimentary drink - piscosour, a cocktail with pisco and angostura bitters.... read more

At 2:00 pm we were collected from the hotel by our tour guide for the afternoon, Miguel, and his driver. We were the only people in the small minibus and had a fascinating insight into Peru past and present. Our first stop was Hunca Huallamarca, a pre-Inca pyramid. It is made of mud bricks (adobe) and has lasted because this coastal part of the country receives virtually no rain. The bodies stored in the pyramid were buried in sacks and rather than mummified dried out. The contest between the pyramid and modern surrounding residential area was startling. From there we went to the cathedral. The two most interesting points were the chapel to Francisco Pizzaro and the cathedral's construction. The substantial pillars are not stone but hollow wooden frames with a very light weight wooden roof ... read more

€ days was more than enough so getting offf the boat in Huamaita seemed like a good idea, it would also mean a day saved and away from the horrible food as well. There was a german bloke on the boat as well traveling by motorbike so we got of the boat and goat a hotel in Humaita and then a shower with clean water and a couple of beers. Next morning reasonably early we set forth to Porto Velho and beyond. But for some emergency toilet stop at the side of the road the going was good. Speed limits, we don’t need no stinking speed limits. It’s very flat old rain forest land now pasture and fields with some tall trees still standing, otherwise just plain flat and of course green.We stopped over night in ... read more

Geo: -12.0931, -77.0465Time for the second last chapter of our honeymoon. Time to fly to Peru to join an intrepid tour and see Machu Picchu. We had a bit of a sleep-in in Valparaiso this morning, with checkout not until noon. We had a Mozio transfer booked for 3pm from Ibis Hotel, Valparaiso to Santiago airport. A 1.5 hour drive would leave us plenty of time to catch our 7.20pm flight to Lima.To pass the time between noon and 3pm, we left our luggage at Ibis hotel for safekeeping and set off up the hill to Tripadvisors number 1 restaurant in the city for lunch, Cafe del Pintor. It opened at one so the timing was perfect. We took the 3 course set menu. The food and service was very good without being mind blowing. We ... read more

We were all rather pleased to dump our backs and crash into our beds, half a day sat on a plane is enough to get us all in need of recovery. Breakfast in the hotel went down a treat with pancakes and maple syrup getting a big thumbs up. Dragon fruit was tried by all and we also tried a fruit called a praca which looked like a massive runner bean and had banana-ish fleshy seed pods. I had four little prezzies which will be brilliant for this trip: Jacks, Dobble cards, Pass the Pigs and a highly recommended card game called Back Packets. No power or water in the hotel this morning, so we headed straight out to the beach road. Lima is shrouded in a lot of sea fog by all accounts and we ... read more