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Published: August 8th 2014
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Dockside Lima
Local Peruvian dancers representing all regions of Peru Lima: In the early morning we approached the city of Callao pronounced Kay-O, from the north. Callao city is the principal seaport of Peru, located within a 57 square mile province, 147 sq.K’s. Callao constitutional province is directly west of Lima population 10 million, nearly all of the maritime transport for Peru enters via the port of Callao which is one of the few good natural harbours along the Pacific Coast of South America.
At 8:15 a.m. we boarded our coach for a self walking tour of Lima on our own, after a 40 minute ride into the centre of the city we were left to our devices and told to be back at the drop off point at 12:15 p.m. Straight away a group of six of us headed to the Inca market to purchase many Peruvian bargains, which was a 20 minute walk away. We got there at about 9:15 a.m. only to find they don’t open until 10:00 a.m. not much else to do but wait. When they opened we had a short while to purchase some trinkets etc. before making our way to the bus pick up point grab a coffee and then get back on
Local Constabulary
Wish our police at home were as nice and friendly the bus to the ship. We decided to cross the main street to head to the plaza to get coffee, and on a green pedestrian light a car went powering straight through and just missed Colleen by a whisker, it was very close another step and she would have been very seriously injured or even worse, luckily she was okay.
After arriving back on board the ship we waited until 4:00 p.m. before going off again boarding the shuttle bus to San Miguel, to catch a cab into the city to go the Fuentes Magicas water, light, and laser show. We negotiated a cab fare to get there and off we went. Bloody hell you think the traffic in Sydney or Brisbane is bad try Lima during peak hour, when a 15 Km ride takes over an hour, there are no road rules and it is every driver for himself. To make matters worse directly across from the light show is the main soccer stadium and Peru were playing Panama tonight, utter chaos. The drive took over an hour and along with Colleen we also had in the cab Elaine and Barbara two of our dining companions. Finally just
Mia Flores Lima
Local shopping centre overlooking the Pacific Ocean on dark we arrived joined the queue to pay our entrance fee and joy oh joy they only take the local currency, and we only had American Dollars on us. Well guess who was delegated to go and find and ATM yep me. Imagine wandering the streets of Lima, mad soccer fans everywhere, no one speaks English, flashing a card around and in sign language trying to emulate that you want to withdraw some money, very difficult no one could understand me so I just kept walking. Eventually I found an ATM withdrew 50 Peru Dollars about 16 U.S. made my way back to the girls and in we went. It was well worth it however the displays were magnificent, walked through fountains of many colours, and all types of displays to be admired, have taken some great photos.
On completion we decided we were hungry and thought we would head back to San Miguel closer to the port to grab a bite. Hailed a taxi negotiated a price, as no taxis have meters, and off we went for another harrowing ride which took about 45 minutes, and the fare $7:00 U.S. unbelievable. Our cab driver took us through
Aqua Fuentes
Amazing fountains and laser light display cost only $2:00 to get in. all the back streets trying to avoid the traffic, Colleen thought we were heading into the desert at one stage, and I even was starting to get concerned when he was taking us through some of the seedier sides of Lima. However all worked out well and we arrived at the shuttle pick up point, from there went to a local fast food chain called Chili’s ordered our food and of course tried the local drink Pisco Sour. It was not too bad but noticed a couple of local girls trying another type of beverage which was called a Margarita Corona it was mucho better than the Pisco Sour.
After having our fill of food and drink we went to pay with a $100.00 U.S. note and they refused to take it, luckily we had smaller denominations.
From there we caught the shuttle bus back to the ship at 10:00 p.m. ready for bed and a new day tomorrow. All in all it was a great day enjoyed by everyone.
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