Advertisement
Published: September 22nd 2007
Edit Blog Post
Our honeymoon suite
We hadn´t slept for almost 2 days by the time we got to our hotel and this was the best bed we´d ever slept in! Huge, with soft sheets and big fluffy pillows... Lima - our first honeymoon destination. I know it doesn´t have the best reputation, but our plan was 3 nights of pure luxury in a REALLY nice hotel. And the Miraflores Park Hotel really lived up to it´s reputation! We arrived in Lima around 1am, after not sleeping for nearly 2 days. There was a bit of confusion about transport to the hotel (they were supposed to be waiting with a sign but they weren´t there!) and Lima airport is a bit hectic and scary, but we eventually found ourselves safe transport and were taken to paradise!
Our suite was enormous! A huge bed, a separate bathroom for our huge roman bath and then a second bathroom for our sauna and then a third for a shower! It was amazing...complete luxury. The first 2 days we didn´t really leave our hotel, but after that we began to explore Lima a little bit. Unfortunately we both had nasty colds, so took it pretty easy.
Lima definatley isn´t what springs to mind when you think of honeymoon locations. From April to December, a fog called the ´garua´ blankets the coast, so you can´t even see the sun! We had no idea
Our bath
We had a huge roman bath...big enough to doggy paddle laps in. Heaven! what the weather was like at all! Was it sunny? Overcast? It was all the same!
Lima is pretty dirty and polluted, and a little bit scary. We spent most of our time in Miraflores (the nicer part of Lima) and we didn´t have any problems. Most people were very friendly and didn´t seem to mind when we butchered their language. Jamie and I had taken some Spanish classes in Auckland, but it´s not the same as actually using it! But everyone was very patient and we managed to get by.
I think the most interesting thing about Lima is the traffic...total chaos! Noone seems to worry about red lights or give way signs or pedestrians...I´m sure it makes sense if you live there, but I would NEVER drive a car! They must have nerves of steel! Everyone honks at you - especially taxis. They honk coming up to lights, intersections, or when they see someone they think needs a taxi. Which is ALL the time. Eventually Jamie and I realised they weren´t honking at us for a reason and we were able to calm down a bit. Taxis are probably a whole other blog on their own!
Sauna
We even had our own personal sauna! We had read about all of these scams and rules to avoid getting into trouble:
1. Never get into an unregistered taxi.
2. Just because a taxi is registered, doesn´t mean it´s legitimate. Apparently taxi drivers will loan out their cars to other people (who may not have your best interests in mind)
3. Always call your own registered taxi, or get your hotel to do it for you (to ensure a safe one).
4. Never keep your luggage in the main cab...make sure it´s hidden in the boot, otherwise people will smash windows and steal it when you stop at lights.
5. Always lock your door from the inside.
I´m sure for the most part it´s completely safe, but Jamie and I had heard enough scary stories to pay close attention. We had also heard that bus stations were in dodgy parts of town, so you have to book your ticket in advance so you don´t have your luggage with you until you really need it (the only way to do this is to go down there) and catch a cab. So we get our ticket in advance, an then (because we´re sensible tourists), we ask our
Parque Del Amor
We found this park in between our first hotel and our other hostel. The park of love! How fitting for a honeymoon! hotel to call us a cab. By this time we´re staying in a hostel rather than our flashy hotel. Our bus leaves at 7am, so we need to catch a cab at 6am.
Next morning at 5.55am, a taxi turns up and the adventure starts. Yes we got our hostel to order one for us, but IT´S NOT REGISTERED. What do we do? Hang around on the street corner in the early hours with our luggage? Walk around in the (scarily quiet) neighbourhood looking for a phone to call a REAL cab? So after standing around for a bit, we accept our fate and we go to put our luggage in the back, but there´s not enough room and we have to put our backpacks in the main cab. This is clearly in violation of 2 of our major rules! I swear, it was the longest taxi ride EVER. The route he took was so convoluted, I was sure he was taking us to a different town, and I started recalling horror stories from the lonely planet website about rogue taxi drivers. Jamie and I just sat in the back holding hands, and rocking slightly. But it turned out,
Parque Del Amor
The whole park was filled with sculptures and statues of love. our panic was for nothing. We got to the bus station safely, no dramas at all (which makes the rocking and panic kind of embarassing in hindsight).
And this was the start of our big adventure!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.083s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0569s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb