Peru 2012, Day 01 and 02

By travelerdon on May 21, 2021

Wed, March 28, 2012

So our dream of visiting South America is about to come true. We have meticulously planned out a trip to Peru to see things only our imagination so far has seen. We pack up 2 huge suitcases full of everything we think we will need. We make it to the airport and take the first flight to Houston, TX.

After only a short layover, we board the next flight to Lima, Peru, a 10 hour flight. I try and get some sleep, but sleeping on a plane is not something I’m accustomed to and I sleep fitfully in my window seat. Somewhere, I think over Panama, I pick my camera up and snap a couple photos of thunderheads on the horizon near sunset.

We are picked up at the airport by a private taxi and whisked away to the Hotel Mariel in downtown Lima where we bed down for the night and get some sleep.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Another private taxi picks us up in the morning at the Hotel Mariel. We are given a driving tour of the city. Parts of it are run down, but for the most part it is relatively clean and there are tile paved Shopping Streets accessible by foot only. Interesting stores include a Sex Shop, a KFC – Wait! What? Yes, even Lima, Peru has been ‘Americanized’ by chain restaurants and hotels. We see an old church, colorful Ads, a very elaborate Photography Studio, some sort of Embassy, a Presidential Palace, balconies everywhere appear to be a way of increasing floor space in buildings that otherwise are limited, and a book repository probably akin to our own Library of Congress

We even come across a movie filming of some sort but never find out what it is!

We come to an Old Church Museum with Catacombs and our guide takes us inside. The signs say, ‘No Photos’, so of course it is ‘Challenge Accepted!’ I get caught with my camera and I fear they will confiscate it. But all the guide does is chastise me loudly in an attempt to intimidate the rest of the small group! We see a 1000 year old library and then down into the catacombs where we see a silo full of human bones!

Back above ground we continue the tour of the city. A Police Armored Vehicle keeps us paying attention to behaving! We see a lot of Americanization such as Restaurant chains, etc. We end up at the ocean and get some fun shots overlooking the coast.