October 6, 2010 - Lima
After 5,500 miles, I arrived safety in Lima at 1:00 am to find Dominik patiently waiting for me for over 3 hours as his flight via Miami arrived earlier then mine.
A driver was waiting to take use to our new home for the next 2 days at Peru Star Boutique Apartments (sounds more luxurious then it is but the staff was great) in San Isidro in the financial district. Lima is a very large city of 3.5 million and unofficially 7 million when considering shanty towns surrounding the capital.
We quickly found out that our limited Spanish was a bit of a challenge…English is not spoken much and all the computers are in Spanish…hence the reason there are no pics or videos uploaded yet…copy only for now.
Oct 7 - San Isidro
We spent the next day visiting the Placa Des Armas area in central Lima. The Catedrale de Lima, the San Franciscan church, outside of the Presidential palace (not open to the public as the current President works there). What really struck us is how many armed security guards, policia, army types there are everywhere stationed in front of hotels, banks, stores…creepy at first but then you get used to seeing men in tights.
We decided to walk all the way back to our hotel at the end of the day to get a bit of exercise and frankly, to avoid a crazy taxi ride back. Lima is huge with 4-lane roads everywhere and, did I mention that the driving here is simply outrageously dangerous. Hence the reason the Canadian, US, UK embassy recommends that you do not drive in Peru. At the end of the day, if the driving doesn´t kill you, the diesel fumes here will.
Oct. 8 ’ Miraflores
After a slow start on the next day, we headed out to the more´civilized´ area of the city where the rich and famous Peruvians live…near the coast. We enjoyed a fabulous 2-hour lunch consisting of our first Pisco Sour, the official Peru drink. We had one drink each because at 44.4% proof, a 3 oz drink was just what the doctor ordered; we were feeling pretty good for the rest of the day. Oh, and the cuenta was only $30 for a wonderful Peruvian traditional meal.
Oct 9 - Bus ride Huaraz
Early start to catch an 8:00 AM bus ride to this mountainous region. After a near disastrous accident on this incredible winding road that delivers stunning vistas, we arrived safety after 9.5 hours to get to 3,000 metres above sea level city. Huaraz is the closest city to begin our Cordilleras Blanca 5-day expedition starting tomorrow. Dominik is pretty excited as this will be his first organized trek and he is slowly acclimatizing to the thinner air. No hard liquor today : )
Next post will be after Oct. 15. Adios!
