Mark's Stuff

-=[ DAY TWO - Sun 11th June ]=-

Second day in Lima, and our first full day to have a look around. We actually woke up in time to get breakfast this morning. Heading out for a walk down the coast, we were met with a group of about 30-50 keen cyclists all wearing the same t-shirts, obviously out for a morning ride. Over the next hour or so, cyclists kept coming – must have been at least a thousand of them! Obviously some sort of organised thing.

The ordinary weather, cold water, dumping surf and pebbled beach didn’t stop anyone getting out there on surfboards. Not too far away there were also a handful of spear-fishermen, who looked like they were out there for the necessity of putting food on the table, rather than for the sport of it.

Our enjoyable walk along the coast line came to a sudden halt when I was waiting to cross the road, and the heavens opened to saturate me. I looked up. It wasn’t rain. There was a flock of gulls perched on the power lines above that all seemingly decided to target me (and my only jacket) at once. Straight back to the hotel room for a rinse off. Luckily polar fleece cleans easy and dries quickly!

< Lima Day 1 | Puerto Maldonado >

-=[ DAY ONE - Sat 10th June ]=-

I’ve been told by Kirsty to stop making jokes about bad things happening. After an eight hour stop-over in Santiago, paying US$18 each to use the LAN lounge and its facitilies (snacks, drinks, internet, luke-warm shower) we arrive in Lima just before midnight. Unfortunately our bags decided to spend a bit more time sight-seeing around the baggage handling facilities at Sydney airport. With any luck we will see them tonight. After a sleep-in this afternoon (and being woken by trucks working outside the hotel window) we went for a walk to Huaca Pucllana, a pre-Inca temple and sacrificial tomb right in the heart of Lima in Miraflores.

We met with the GAP group this evening, but it seems that we were a day early, and out group was meeting the following day. I thought I´d booked an extra day in Lima! We followed the traffic and bright lights into a bustling late night shopping area looking for a place to eat. We walked by Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, another Pizza Hut, MacDonalds, a Sizzler-type buffet called Norky’s. Eventually strolling up a dark alleyway we happened across Pizza St – a narrow paved walkway lined with potted trees and in-your-face hawkers selling their menus. We made a choice and had a couple of pretty good pasta dishes. With gratis limonate y pisco sour. Total of S/30, or about AU$12.

< Begin | Lima Day 2 >

-=[ Before the Trip ]=-

It seemed a long way off when I picked up the tickets back in February, but the months have just screamed past and in 24 hours time Kirsty & I will be looking down on the Pacific Ocean en route to Lima, Peru.The idea here is to update this travel diary whenever I get a chance at an internet kiosk along the way, and hopefully also be able to post a few photos as well.

Lima Day 1 >