I normally love airports. They’re buzzing with purpose-driven travellers, filled with shops that only seem to sell everything in enormous or miniature sizes, and nobody blinks an eye if you lay down on a piece of floor (regardless of where it happens to be) and sleep for a few hours.
There are however, limits to the novelty, and after a 5-hour flight to Auckland, 1-hour transit, 12-hour flight to Santiago in Chile, an 8-hour transit and 4-hour flight to Lima, I was wondering why on earth I wanted to go to Peru in the first place.
To trek Maccu Pichu, was the answer. It was on my wishlist for my RTW trip in 2007 (before I ran out of money and had to go home), so I decided a month-long trip around Peru would complete my journey nicely.
Once I finally arrived at Lima Airport, it was about 11pm and I cleared immigration before standing in front of hundreds of people holding up name cards, none of which had my name on it. Despite having arranged a transfer to my hotel, I shrugged my shoulders and began searching for a sign with the name of my tour company on it, figuring it was a good start. After bribing a driver that seemed to be going in the right direction (‘seemed’ being the operative word, there were lots of hand gestures and nodding on his part and not much faith on mine), I left with a couple of other girls who, it turned out, were on the same tour as I was.
The hotel we were staying at was in the glamorous part of town, called ‘Miraflores’, quite close to the rocky coastline of the Pacific Ocean. Driving from the airport to Miraflores was eerie – the waves were crashing on the beach below the sandstone cliffs to our left, there was miles of traffic ahead of us, the streets were empty and shopfronts dark – but I was so happy to be out of the confined space of an aeroplane I took in lungfuls of fresh air and couldn’t help but smile.
We arrived to the hotel and met the owner; a smiling bearded man who checked us in quickly, before reminding us of the local time and wishing us a good sleep. I slept quite well, alone in a twin room, and enjoyed a simple breakfast of fruit, coffee, bread and jam, before exploring Miraflores for the day with a few of my travelling companions I had met the night before.
The area was full of beautiful, modern, Spanish-style houses and perfectly manicured parks, some of which were gated so we couldn’t actually enter, and nearly all businesses and houses had high electric fences and heavy doors surrounded by iron-bar gates. Despite the high-security it felt quite safe, there were families playing in the parks overlooking the ocean, and lots of people working out with their personal trainers or jogging with their dogs. It never rains in Lima, so the sky remained a murky grey, the air humid and warm.
We stopped for lunch at an Italian restaurant that provided 3-courses for 20 Nuevo Soles (about $7) where I enjoyed an avocado filled with chicken strands, vegetables and cheese with a mushroom sauce, and rice. Very full and sleepy, we strolled back to our hotel and had our official tour group meeting with our guide, Wilfredo, a Peruvian local who sounded like lots of fun.
Our group consisted of Australian and Kiwi couples and singles from a variety of age groups, with three Danish girls and an American couple, rounding out the group of 12 nicely. Everyone seemed really lovely and excited to get started on our month-long journey around Peru, and conversations began over who exactly had the most tortured experience getting to Lima (I may not have won, but I think I came pretty close).
I used the Internet (I asked the owner how much the Internet was and he said, “If you look at this sheet with the prices on it, you pay, if you don’t look at it, you don’t pay”. I shrugged and said I couldn’t see any sheet. Free internet!), and met up with the group again that evening to walk back into the main square of Miraflores for dinner.
The local specialty was Cabiches (sa-veach-ee), which is like sashimi, with chunks of seafood cooked in lime juice, coriander and chilli, served with corn and sweet potato. It was delicious. I also tried the Peruvian national drink, Pisco Sour, a rum-based shot of Pisco with lemon juice, sugar and egg white. It was quite strong, and not being a rum drinker I didn’t really enjoy it much.
Still jet-lagged, it was an early night for most of us, who walked back to our hotel without too many disagreements about directions, and collapsed into our pillows upon arrival at our hotel soon after.
-Sarah
Sarah