Day 2 - Peru - Paracas

We had a nice late start time today - 10am. It seemed to take forever to get out of Lima, but then the population is 11 million!

We saw lots and lots of the 3-wheeled  tuk-tuks which are used for taxis.

Once we left the city I was surprised that the countryside was so sandy. There wasn't much of interest to see really as far as scenery goes. We haven't seen much of the sun yet and the drive was very dreary. I easily dropped off for a snooze until we stopped for the 'loo'.

The rest stop was very nice with lots of drinks and food to buy. There was no toilet paper in either stall and I had left my backpack on the bus. That won't happen again. The TP goes in a basket, everywhere, even in Lima. The plumbing system just can't handle it.

Lunch was in the town of Cannete. The restaurant was incredibly efficient. Portions are big and meals often include both potatoes and rice. I stayed with something safe - fettuccine Alfredo with pieces of ham. It was delicious! I also had Coke Zero.

Yesterday I had hoped to have one at lunch, as is my custom, but they were out. The waiter offered me Inca Kola"Sure!", I replied. That was my first and will be my last. It is not cola. It is a yellow-green mixture tasting something like a creme soda but not quite. Surprisingly, it is made by the Coca Cola company and only available in Peru. No problem, they can have it!After lunch at the request of others, our guide talked a little about the area we were seeing. Closer to the ocean we caught glimpses of houses and condos by the water. The area is called Asia and is used by the very wealthy from Lima during their summer (October- March). Places can cost between half a million and a million USD.

We also passed farming areas - asparagus, corn, pecans, grapes, chickens and cattle. The land must be irrigated due to the dryness. Lima is the second driest city in the world our Haku guide told us. I slept again and woke as we were arriving in Paracas. Our hotel is nice.

We went for an orientation walk and then were left on our own. Some of us wandered amongst the small shops along the beach area. I found a postcard and an interesting stone pyramid to add to my collection. It has many layers of different coloured stones and I quite love it!

I struck off on my own to shoot the ocean, and of course had to wet my feet in the Pacific.

There were many interesting boats, and birds, including giant pelicans. They can get quite snippy if you get too close. Other tourists found that out the hard way!

The sun set fast as it does in this part of the world. I walked to the end of a long pier with my camera and saw a seal. Or perhaps it was a sea lion.

When I tried to go back, a boat full of fish was being unloaded.

Many people were on hand to help with the process and that was interesting to watch. Unfortunately it took a while and there was no possible way to get past the people sorting and weighing the catch. So I watched and waited and took lots of pictures.

When I returned to shore there was no one in our group left. I wandered along the beach some more, enjoyed the light, waves and bird life. I was a little unsure of how to get back to the hotel and had a moment of panic. But then I remembered we were very near to the ocean and I kept it on my right side.

At 7pm we went for supper at a restaurant back where we had been before.  The service was slow and the food was ok but nothing to write home about.

I ordered a Chinese-Peruvian dish called chicken chaufa. It was chicken fried rice with noodles, brought to Peru by Chinese immigrants during the 19th century. It was so-so. Win some, lose some. I hate late suppers when the next day is an early one. Oh well!

Peru - Day 1 - Lima

We got up just in time for the hotel's breakfast. They had a lovely selection of fruit as well as my fave - buns, meat and cheese. The hotel is quite charming. Our room looks out over an open courtyard with a fountain.

The lobby and bar area are nicely decorated and there is a gift shop with lovely jewelry. I only browsed as there are a lot of days ahead of us.

After breakfast we for a map of the area and headed on foot toward Kennedy Park, about a 20 minute walk. There are artists displaying their work. Lots of it is traditional Peruvian scenes, but I was surprised to see some funky abstract work as well.

The park is known for housing many cats, and we saw many. People were petting them and playing with them.

There was an outdoor Zumba type of exercise class going on with maybe 40 people which was very interesting to watch.

We then walked toward the ocean.

There is a mall called Larcomar. It was filled with people and we looked but it was very high end stuff.

Many of the stores and restaurants were the same as back home so why bother. I didn't want to eat at a chain, so we stopped in at a chicken place with a nice view of the ocean. Elaine's chicken was quite pink inside so she sent it back. Mine should have been sent back. I wondered if it would make me sick but I was lucky.

We walked back to the hotel and were very saddened to see a police car and a small crowd of people gathered around. A man lay on the road nearby and I was confused that no-one was helping him. But then I saw a sheet covering his upper half. I had no idea what happened. So sad.

At 2 o'clock at our hotel, we arranged to meet a representative from Haku Tours to take us to the old part of Lima for a tour called "The Kings and Queens Tour".  There were 5 of us altogether, a nice small group.

We visited several beautiful squares and our guide told us a lot about the history of Lima and Peru.

We also visited a church and a mausoleum underneath. There were a lot of bones and the history behind the deaths was quite gruesome. The church itself was very beautiful but no photos were allowed, horror of horrors! I did manage to sneak a few in at any rate.

Another stop was at the oldest bar in Lima and we stopped in for an explanation of Peru's national drink, the pisco sour. We could have ordered one but I declined as I knew it would make me even tireder than I already was!

After the tour was over, we had about an hour to wait until our first GAdventure group meeting. Our guide was very thorough. There are many Canadians on this tour, 4 other from Alberta and 4 from Ontario.

We walked quite a ways for supper. I wasn't all that hungry so I had a beef strip sandwich recommended by our guide.  I walked over 16,400 steps today and the equivalent of 24 flights of stairs! That's partly because our hotel room is on the 3rd floor and there is no elevator. 

Peru - Getting there

I arrived in Calgary on Friday night at about 10pm. The drive was tough due to heavy rains. Although it was the start of the Labor Day weekend, the traffic wasn't as bad as it could have been due to the weather.

On Saturday, my alarm went off at 5am. It would be an understatement to say that I found it difficult to get up, but I did. Calgary was still cold and rainy. We got to the airport just after 6am. Check in was easy and U.S. Customs was a breeze. I've never seen those officers waiting for 'customers' before. We grabbed breakfast then waited to board. I was so tired, I never even felt the plane take-off! I woke up about 20 minutes into the flight then fell back to sleep for an hour. I had no interest in TV and read the complementary national newspaper instead. 

We arrived in Houston after 3 hours and 40 minutes. Air Canada didn't serve any food so we looked for a place to eat and ate at the food court at Panda Express. There weren't a lot of restaurant choices. Our 3 hour layover went quickly, walking the long corridors and browsing in shops.

The next leg of the journey was with United (my least favourite airline) and it was 6 and a half hours long. The plane was bigger and I had an aisle seat again thank goodness. I thought I might nap but I watched 3 excellent movies instead - 'Inside Out', 'Man Up', and an Indian subtitled movie with a great little song and dance number at the end. We got supper as well as a 10 pm snack. My restless legs didn't kick in until about 10 or so, so that was good.

In Lima, we had to first go through Customs, then wait (a long time) for our luggage, then wait in another line, then put our suitcases through a scanner. That whole process took almost an hour. I was glad to see the GAdventures sign with our names on just outside the secure area.  There were 5 of us being picked up and the ride to the hotel was pretty wild. There was lots of traffic despite it being after midnight and the driver had many of what I thought would be near misses. Traffic wove in and out of lanes and we seemed to be constantly turning left or right.

Our hotel is in the Miraflores area. It's an older hotel. I am beat. I will sleep.