Trip to Peru: Traveling and Lima Day 1

The trip to Peru began in San Diego around noon. We met at the airport for our flight to Miami via Dallas. Those flight were rather painless. We arrived in Miami late in the evening and it was strange seeing the airport so empty. All the shops were closed and there were only eight flights listed on the departure board, with ours being the second to last. Around midnight we left for Peru. The flight was long and I only got about one hour of sleep. A crying baby behind me woke me, and everyone on the plane, up. It wasn't his fault, the air pressure thing hurt his ears really bad. We landed on time just as the sun was rising. After we got our bags and cleared customs, we found our taxi driver, and were handed each a bag with bottled water and a hot towel courtesy of the hotel. We were staying at a JW Marriott in Lima, probably the best hotel in the best neighborhood in Lima.

The taxi driver whisked us away, zipping down the empty streets of Lima. It was a good thing I was sitting backwards in the van so I couldn't see what we were about to come close to hitting. The running joke in Lima was based on a Simpsons episode where the family travels to Brazil. They are warned not to get into an unlicensed taxi because they kidnap tourists. So Homer, my namesake, got into a taxi marked "Unlicensed", the driver changed the sign to "kidnapped". We were giving the same warning. So when the driver made a sharp turn down a small street, we all heard the sign on the van change to "kidnapped". Of course, the driver new the quickest way to the hotel and we were all safe.

We arrived at the hotel very early, hoping for an early check in. No such luck. I guess we didn't plan this part of the trip very well. However, they offered us rooms at half price so we could check in and get some needed sleep. It is amazing how good two extra hours of rest feel. By noon we were ready to head out and have some lunch. We made it as far as across the street to what I called "America Town" (based on a Simpsons episode where they travel to Japan.) There were lots of restaurants, but we ended up at a Tony Romas! Well, we were adjusted to Lima slowly. The food was very good, and that's what counts.

After lunch we had arranged for a tour of Lima. A small shuttle picked us up, as well as two other people from the hotel, and we were given a tour of the districts of Lima. This ended up being very helpful, for it gave us an idea of what to do the next day. The shuttle stopped at several squares, where we had a limited time to look around and take photos. It was then that we found out that it was election day in Lima. This would explain the empty streets, large crowds in the squares and the fact that there were no alcohol sales! After almost three hours, we were returned to our hotel.

We then took a break and once again walked across the street to have dinner. This time we ate at a non-American restaurant and tried some local cuisine, including fish. We had also been warned not to eat the fish because the waters were polluted. Since these were nice restaurants, I can't imagine them being in business if their customers were getting sick. During the whole trip, I ended up basically eating everything. I had an unstoppable appetite and tried all sorts of foods, all of which tasted great. The drinks in Peru, such as orange juice, were all very sweet. The sauces were all very rich. I really didn't eat anything I didn't like. As for the beer, that was a different story I'll talk about later.

After dinner we wandered around the shops for a while and then headed to the hotel for the night I slept very well in my 16th story hotel bed. We had lots planned for the next day and rest was much needed.