Blogs from Lima, Lima, Peru, South America - page 2

Dear All Yay! Greetings from Peru! I have arrived safely, and have had an amazing first few days in this magical, mysterious country. On Wednesday early afternoon, I boarded a British Airways flight direct from London Gatwick to Lima, Peru, for what was really quite a long 12-hour journey. I was really very fortunate though, as two people who were sitting in two seats right at the back of the plane, just opposite from me (I had an aisle seat in the middle group of seats) were somehow bumped up a class, leaving their two seats vacant. On what seemed otherwise a full flight, I ended up switching to these two seats, and had them both to myself for the whole 12-hour flight! Perfect! I had no-one behind me (I’m not the most patient of passengers ... read more

2ndJune 2019 – Touch down Lima. Only a few weeks after the end of our round the world odyssey via Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, we once again cancelled the papers, paid the window cleaner for the next two weeks and ensured all our favourite TV programmes were selected to record!! On this occasion we planned to leave our sea legs in the cupboard at home. We wouldn’t be needing them as traveling over water would be kept to a minimum. Instead we would need our altitude legs but as we don’t possess any, we had to revisit our cupboard as our sea legs would have to do. We were ready for our biggest challenge yet. Peru. Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, both high in the Andes, where the air is pure and clean. ... read more

I have an interrupted night’s sleep due to: 3 am – texts from daughter number two. 4 am – the old man leaves for an 18 hour coach/boat trip. I have spent enough time on a bus recently so opt out. 5 am – the fire alarm goes off. I go to the foyer in my pyjamas, only to be told not to worry, it’s just someone smoking in bed. It’s our last day in Peru with its stinking beaches and salty food. I can see why Paddington (a) wanted out and (b) stuck to marmalade sandwiches. After a few more hours sleep, I get up, have breakfast (jam sandwiches) and set off down the Malecon in the opposite direction to yesterday. First stop, the Lugar de la Memoria (full title – Place of Memory, Tolerance ... read more

Today we are going sightseeing in Lima. For the first time in days, no early morning alarm or eating breakfast with one eye on the time. We have the luxury of a lie in (minus the texts from daughter number 2 at 3 am). The old man wimps out of using public transport, so we take a taxi into town. We start at the art museum (MALI) which takes us on a brief chronological tour of 3000 years Peruvian art. The Spanish colonial art is fun; indigenous artists weren’t allowed to sign their work, some got round this rule by painting their faces into the picture. It’s like playing a religious game of ‘Where’s Wally’? Then we walk the length of the old city through Plaza San Martin to Plaza de Armas where we stop to ... read more

Writing this as I pack up to leave Lima. We're flying to Cuzco in the morning. We've been here for 4 days and I've really liked the city. Our OAT tour group under the very able leadership of Raul has started. Only 5 additional people, 4 of them women, and all seem very easy going and friendly. We did go on the big tour bus yesterday to get to Central Lima but we've also traveled on public buses and trams, which has been fun. Buses in Lima always look crowded as are the roads. Too many people for the space in this city. So what did we see and do in Lima these past 2 days? A good bit of sightseeing: Took public bus to Huaca P to see pre Inca ruins. Amazing that this mud ... read more