Welcome my fellow traveller-readers to Peru

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Comfy flight in Business class to Peru

From Panama I flew to Lima in Peru. I was given a seat in the business class section. So during the flight I had a full three course meal. It was so delicious. They asked if I wanted extra peanut crumbles on my desert or some more chocolate or caramel sauce and if I wanted to eat something extra. I really enjoyed it. Nice to have such comfort for once. The seats were twice my size and I had nice company sitting next to me. It was a lady from Bolivia and she told me about her country and her business. That is buying clothes in large stocks in Panama and sell them in Bolivia. It was nice the chatting and eating and before I knew the plane arrived in Lima.

Pastry, Pastry, Pastry…..

In Lima I spend some time with an American guy and we went twice to the city center. The first time we went to the Inquisition museum. It had a lot of information about how prisoners were treated (tortured) in the time. The second time we went to the Monasterio de San Fransisco and had a tour around. In the dungeons of the church were the bones of at least 70.000 buried people. A bit creepy to see, but the rest of the monastery annex church was nice. The funny thing about walking with my American friend was that he needed his pastries every day. Although you can’t see it on him because his is very slim. There was this place were they had really huge chunks of chocolate cake. When we went inside the ladies from the shop already started laughing because they recognized him from the day before. And he was asking about the filling of some of the pastries he saw with such a serious face that I couldn’t keep myself from laughing as well. He had to laugh about his habit as well. Ow, now I remember there was this other habit. He never bought water but always went inside a pharmacy store to fill his empty bottle. He just smiled to the ladies behind the counter and walked to the water cooler to fill his bottle.

I met two local girls and spend some time with them during their lunch break and twice in the evening. They both worked in a clothing shop and both only speak Spanish. Nice to hear how they live and to try some typical Peruvian dishes. And maybe I improved my Spanish a bit while talking with them. But it needs a lot of time and practice still.

Everybody look at the sunset at Huacachina and we achieve world peace

From Lima I went to Huacachina. It is an oasis in the desert. So beautiful the sharp lines of the sand dunes and the small oasis in the middle of it. After I arrived I climbed up one of the sand dunes and watched the sunset. It was so unbelievably beautiful. The orange in the sky with the sand dunes changing colours. And all so peaceful and quiet. The next morning I had breakfast at a small restaurant and met a girl who was normally working there but now had her day off. She offered to show me around the nearby town Ica. I had two hours before my bus left, so that was a good plan. Her brother joined us and we dropped my bag at the flower shop of her aunt. So we went to a big square, a local market and I tasted a typical local drink. They were very kind and after two hours I picked up my bag again and went to the busstation to get my bus.

First I went to Nasca and in the bus I still didn’t decide if I wanted to do a flight above the Nasca lines after arrival or not. Flying over it is a bit expensive, but not too expensive. The Nasca lines are in the area of five hundred square kilometers and consist of huge images of animals made by stones. I believe the Inca’s made them. It is still a bit a mystery. Eventually I decided not to fly over it and bought a ticket after arrival in Nasca to Cusco. Maybe I will do it another time. There were still three hours to kill before my bus would leave. I met a Dutch guy who owned a restaurant and we had a chat and I decided to eat at his restaurant. Just when we were walking in the direction of the restaurant we met two Irish girls who joined me. So I was lucky to have nice company for dinner and time flew by. After dinner we went to the main square to walk around a little and afterwards I went to the busstation to get my bus. Sometimes you have to struggle while travelling and sometimes everything just goes by itself. So this time the latter was the case.

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Photos

On the central square in Lima
This was a military parade on a sunday. Look at cathedral at the background

My American friend
In his left hand the bag full of pastries. He was carrying them like it was a baby. On the background you can see nuns eating an icecream.

The flower shop
I took this photo by the way for in case I lost the girl. Than at least I could show the adress on the sign of the shop to a taxi driver to pick up my bag again.