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Published: January 28th 2016
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R: We had a reasonably late start into Lima, our flight arriving at around 8pm. We went to El Salvador again on the way here so we are now experts in El Salvador airport including where to taste the best Guatamalan rum and which Subway has the better free wifi. As we collected our luggage at Lima it was clear that some items were being taken off the baggage carts and treated more carefully than the other items. They were in the shape of bubble wrapped religious statues. After a few minutes, a group of elderly nuns wandered over and grabbed one each and walked off with them under their arms. Now either they were exceptionally strong nuns, or all was not as it seemed... We had a luxury at Lima... We used a load of loyalty points to get a 4* hotel so we could start off peacefully in Peru. We got there, had a cocktail in the bar (they are soooo cheap here) and hit the hay.
Next day was our only day in Lima. We stayed in Miraflores, aka the posh end of town, and incidentally, the safer end. It's a bit dull and blocky, but has
a great walk along the cliffs that look down into the Pacific and the beach below with black rocky beach, and millions upon millions of surfers. There's a great shopping centre with nice resturaunts nestled into the cliffs. After spending a huge amount of money on train tickets for Macchu Picchu*, Cate and I went for a walk about, including to Parque Kennedy, which is full of cats! Rumour has it that the cats moved in, and now the council are looking after them as they are a bit of a tourist draw. I have never seen so many in one place, each sat equidistant from one another so as to preserve the cats right to territory. Of course Cate had to go and say hello to a few. To cool down, I picked up a bottle of Inka Cola, a sort of "Peruvian Irn Bru" that is almost as popular as water here.
I did a open top bus tour in the afternoon. Not normally my thing, but given Limas reputation for crime and there being a large expanse of nothing interesting between Miraflores and the Centro Historico, it seemed like a good idea. It was quite good,
highlighting some nice colonial age buildings and a monastery with a catacombs underneath it which we got to tour. Apparently, unlike the catacombs in Rome and Paris, the dug up the graves in the 90s and organised the bones for tourism.
The number of buildings that have collapsed/been restored also reminds you that this is an active earthquake zone. On the way home, the tour guide gave up trying to dress up some of downtown Lima and instead just played panpipe music loudly through the speakers. It was a very odd experience being on an open top bus in some actually quite rough neighbourhoods with no real tourist sights... On the way back we encountered Bumblebee (of the transformers) asking for tips in the traffic in Lima.
We got a token for 241 Pisco Sours when we checked in so we went to the bar and indulged - they're quite like Caipariniahs actually. Maybe our new favourite drink, and made with Pisco, the Peruvian national spirit. Then we went to tick off another of my wants - Cerviche (raw fish marinaded in lime juice and spices). We found some overlooking the cliffs and also had other Peruvian food
too. Food is enormously cheap here, so I have to admit we indulged.
*I also sorted out some of the trip admin, including booking the rail tickets to Macchu Picchu!!! Ouch. When you compare it to the prices for food and accomodation you can see where the Peruvian government are taking the money from tourists.
Our next morning we took a 0845 flight to Cuzco in the Andes. Peruvian air were a bit exciting - they almost outstrip Romanian Blue Air that I flew once for "oldest plane". But it took off and landed fine, and when we did, we could feel the altitude already.
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