From Lima to Llamas

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Hello! We arrived safely in Peru on Saturday night. It was a long and bumpy journey, but we´re only one hour ahead so no jetlag! So far we have spent some time in Lima and we just arrived today in the land of Llamas... Cusco and the Sacred Valley.

We spent two nights in Lima at Hotel Castellana. Nice place and good coffee with steamed milk... mmm. It´s winter in Lima so there is a lot of fog and the temperature was around 15 to 20 C. Good to stay warm at night.

We had read and heard that Lima was not so nice and we should spend very little time there. However, we had a good time. Parts of Lima are not so nice so we stuck to Miraflores and El Centro. Lima is a city of over 8 million and it is a constant buzz. Miraflores is a suburb with nice hotels, restaurants and architecture. Our highlight was a tour of Huaca Pullcana; an ancient ruin right in the heart of Miraflores. We were the only gringos so we had our own tour guide! The case was the same when we headed to El Centro. We visited Plaza de Armas and a few other sights, but at the Iglesia (forget the name) we had our own guide again... only gringos. The Baroque Iglesia had catacombs which were really cool, but sort of creepy. We plan on spending more time in Lima on the way back home.

Today we left Lima and headed to Cusco via LAN Peru. We expected the flight to be choppy considering we were going into the Andes, but it was calm. The views from the plane were amazing! It looked like you could reach out to the peaks of the mountains which make the Rockies look like bumps. Cusco is a lively Andean city with tons of tourists and tiny cobblestone streets. The weather here is sunny and warm during the day but cool at night or in the shade. We spent the day walking around the city and basking in the sun at Plaza de Armas. Tomorrow, we head out to the Sacred Valley to visit some smaller Andean villages and ruins. So far no soroche (altitude sickness) at 3,200 m. That´s higher than the continental divide at Sunshine! We´ll see how we do at Dead Woman´s Pass in a few days (4,200 m)... aiieee!

We´re having a blast! Adios and we´ll write soon.

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Comments

[Jon & Laura]

Watch Out for Banditos and Butt Pirates!
I hear they are quite bountiful there and they like fleshy gringos! Have fun you guys and keep writing in the blog! Thanks for the loaner on the Wii ... Laura spanked me in boxing, but I whooped her in baseball and bowling ... YAR!

[thomas and christine]

Wow sounds like the trip of a lifetime! Take lots of pictures so we can live vicariously through you.

[John Walker (jr)]

We have been hearing about your adventures from your Mom, and now we are following them on your blog. Do it now...travel... enjoy yourself!! Johanne and I were six years without children and also traveled a fair amount BC (before children). Stay safe... and take care, John and Johanne

[mom aka Ruth]

Mount Everest
I know its not Mount Everest but you get the point. Why do people struggle to climb, walk, hike on a journey when they could be sipping back Margeritta's pool side at a resort? Must be the challenge, adventure and the exotic location. You guys also do marathons so I guess you like to beat your body into submission. By the way I was a fan of the "Bachelor" show. Their prize for pulling in millions of dollars for the network was a trip on the Inca trail so if you see Andy and Tesa tell them I said Hi and get their autograph. Stay safe, there's danger in strangers, make good choices......bye t.c.