2014 - Peru Day 18 (Lima / Toronto)

Today is our final day of the trip and we spend it with an early start heading back to Toronto.  With a 9:25am international flight, this meant that we had to get to the airport 3 hours ahead (better safe than sorry).  It cost us 50 soles to get to the airport through the taxi that is owned by the hotel (I guess they provide their own services before reaching out to other taxi companies).

I traveled to USA?

The driver took us through the scenic route to the airport which is nice.  This allowed us to get a view of the coastline before heading home.  The view of the coast is very nice, although at 5:45am, there really isn't much to see, but somehow there was already a surfer getting ready to hit the waves, crazy!  Oddly, by the time we were close the airport, there was already traffic there and the number of people waiting to check-in was pretty insane (we arrive at around 6:30am).

Our breakfast bags, since we ate our breakfast already

The flight out from Lima wasn't bad.  We were provided breakfast which was an omelette with bread and fruit. Although, all the flights on our trip did not have personal entertainment systems (screens in front of you), instead they all have shared ones where you have no control over what is shown which seems weird to me in this day and age. I never really watched anything on the screens, I always just had it on the screen that shows me where the plane is and how much longer till we arrived.

Mr Chips?

Switching flights in USA is always fun.  We are required to clear customs (easy), get our bags and re-check them in (odd), and go through security (long wait).  It took us roughly an hour to transfer, thank goodness our layover was 3 hours, if it was an hour, we wouldn't have made it.

Skytrain in Miami (it smells)

With our layover in Miami, we got to ride the skytrain that I wanted to when we fly to Peru! After riding it, I would say avoid it, it smells and isn't very fast. We ate at the Wendy's at the airport since we wouldn't arrive to Toronto until 11pm and we hung around the charging station (this is genius by the way). The charging station is a hub/advertising panel that allows travelers to charge their devices (there are roughly 6 AC outlets and 4 USB outlets).

Wendy's!

Flight back to Toronto, nothing special, it felt long, still can't sleep very well on a plane.  Allison was able to lie down since we had an empty seat in our side. From plane to airport exit, took us roughly 30 minutes, not too shabby!

All in all, Peru, specifically Cusco based on our experience, is a wonderful place to visit.  Know that you will be cheated, so haggle as much as you can or think you can get away with.  The culture and scenery is amazing.  If we went back, we'd try to visit some of the areas that we missed out (Colca Canyon, Lake Titicaca, to name a few).

I'll put together a trip report shortly.

2014 - Peru Day 17 (Lima)

Today we explore the downtown area of Lima. This morning we found out that our hotel includes a breakfast buffet! Breakfast includes various fruit, yogurt, eggs, sausage and more.

One side of the breakfast buffet

The other side of the breakfast buffet

I borrowed a friend's Lonely Planet book and followed the itinerary for the discovery walk which would begin at Plaza San Martin and end up at Chinatown. Through our hotel we coordinate a cab to take us to Plaza San Martin which cost us 18 soles. While driving, I noticed that the street light system is pretty neat. There are countdown timers for both red and green lights all the time. This means, as someone who's on green, you know how much longer you have left. If you are on red, you know how much longer the wait is.

Green light with 33 seconds left

Red light with 17 seconds left

It was like we traveled to Europe when we arrived at Plaza San Martin. All the buildings that I remember from are gone and it looks like a colonial city. It looks nicely made, but it just seems really odd and out of place.

Plaza San Martin

From Plaza San Martin, there is a pedestrian street (Jiron de la Union) where there are lots of shops that you can wander although we were a bit early (roughly 11am) and not all the shops are open yet. Mainly clothes and shoes are sold here. I imagine it would be full of people later in the day. This street would take us to the next point of interest which is Plaza de Armas.

Pedestrian Street

Iglesia de la Merced (church between Plaza San Martin and Plaza de Armas)

We were fortunate enough to arrive just in time for the 'Changing of the Guard' which takes place at Plaza de Armas every day at noon. I have seen this in Ottawa and it was interesting to see there, but here, it seems like a VERY big deal. The guard is actually on horseback and they have a full band on horseback as well. It seems like a very big production. Takes about 30 minutes, worth a watch if you happen to be there.

Changing of the Guard

Changing of the Guard band

Jumping at Plaza de Armas

Reminds me of Burano, look at the colourful houses!

Today we finally got the chance to try some of the various street vendors that I have seen. Well, it was really just me who wanted to try them and Allison wanted me to try them after our tours in case I got sick. So, I tried as many as I could! I got a slice of pineapple at a fruit stand (1 soles), a churro off a street vendor who just wanders the street with a tray full of them (1 soles), and a cup of pink (strawberry) foam jello (2 soles). I enjoyed the pineapple and Allison enjoyed the churro, the pink foam is skippable.

Fruit stand, 1 soles per fruit slice

Churro vendor, 1 soles per churro

Quail egg vendor (didn't try these)

Pink foam jello

When we finally made it to Chinatown, it was the Chinatown that we expected with Chinese food! When we visited the Chinatown in Ottawa, it felt poorly named since every restaurant served Vietnamese food, should be called Viet-town. Based on the Lonely Planet book, we ate at Salon Capon. We ordered dim sum here, tastes like dim sum, nothing special. 4 dishes cost us 35 soles.

We found ourselves!

Yes, there are only 3 dishes here.

Did he follow me from Italy?

From Chinatown, we headed towards the Magic Water Circuit (El Circuito Magico del Agua) which is the number 1 attraction in Lima. Along the way, we passed by several parks (Parque Italiano and Parque de la Culutra) and an outdoor mall. They are nice to walk by, nothing interesting that makes me suggest visiting any of these places. The walk from Plaza San Martin to Magic Water Circuit was probably about an hour given that we stopped at the parks and mall for pictures and to wander.

Food court of the outdoor mall

Onto the Magic Water Circuit! This is a park this holds 13 water fountains, costs 4 soles admission and holds the Guiness World Record for 'world´s largest fountain complex in a public park'. Is it worth a visit? I would say yes if you are in Lima but I wouldn't make a trip to Lima specifically for this. The fountains are nice and it is a pretty large park. In the evenings, there is a laser show at one of the fountains which is really just a projection with music displayed again the water fountain. Allison was expecting something similar to Las Vegas' Bellagio and was disappointed. I got bored pretty quickly after I realized it was just going to be a projection for 30 minutes.

I think I took a wrong turn somewhere...

Under a water fountain!

Rainbow fountain

I teleported to Wonderland!

My personal favourite fountain. One of main patterns.

After the fountain, we headed back to the hotel and would just wander around and figure out what to have for dinner. When you leave the park, you get swarmed by cab drivers and I realized that I was going to get screwed again. I assumed the cost would be similar to how much the cab cost from the hotel to Plaza San Martin (18 soles). The initial offer was 25 soles, after some haggling I got it down to 20 soles.

By the time we got back to the hotel, we were tired and just wanted to eat anything. We stopped by the local Pizza Hut to have a pizza. With our limited Spanish, we ordered a pizza and drink, although we ordered the wrong size and ended up having to go grab some KFC after.

PHD!

Sorry Jang!

Tomorrow, we travel back to Toronto.

2014 - Peru Day 16 (Cusco / Lima)

Today we fly to Lima, stay there for 2 nights before we head back to Toronto. We have an early flight at 9:25am which should have us there for around 10:25am, giving us a day and a half in Lima.

Our chariot awaits

The breakfast at the hotel actually changed and we got a avocado and tomato starter with a toasted cheese sandwich along with a fresh pineapple juice. Overall, I really enjoyed this hotel, it is small but the staff is friendly and they have good breakfast (especially the freshly made juice).

Breakfast at Wifala

Nothing of note for our flight. The airport space is small, so there isn't much to shop around after you go through clearance/security (roughly 4 shops and 1 cafe). At first glance I thought Lima would be more like Toronto in that there are rules on the road. I was wrong. People still drive over lines but there is a method to the madness. It looks like a poor country (roads are dirty, housing isn't well kept, old cars I don't recognize) until we hit the nicer part of town which is in Miraflores where we will be staying for the next two nights.

In both Morocco and Peru, I ALWAYS had to haggle and it gets annoying. Before arriving here, we asked a few people (tourist information, the hotel) how much the cab from the airport to Miraflores would be and we were told roughly 40-50 soles. When we landed, the first taxi stand told us 120 soles, so we promptly walked away from that one. The next one told me 65 soles, to which I said 50 soles. After failed negotiations, he finally caved at 50 soles. So, if you know what you want to pay, say it and just walk away if they don't agree (although they'll usually try to meet half way even though they're still making money off you). The cab ride was longer than expected at roughly 50 minutes.

iStore?

Our hotel is Tierra Viva, suggested by a friend and is the 2nd best hotel on TripAdvisor. The place is nice and clean. The staff is helpful (we asked about currency exchange and even though they have a posted rate if you do exchange with them, they suggested a shop just down the street). Our room included a giant king bed which was my first and the thing is huge (easily fit 3 people). Wifi and breakfast are included for roughly $100 USD a night.

King sized bed!

We learned that there isn't much in Miraflores other than it being the nicer part of town. There is a big mall just a 10 minute walk from our hotel. There is a museum nearby, but nothing much of note, just feels like a regular city but lacking in attractions for reasons unknown to us.

View from the mall (Lacromar) at Miraflores

Makeout statue

Atop some mosaics near makeout statue

Stopped by Bembos for lunch which is a local fast food joint at the mall. The food reminds me of Licks or Harveys. The mall reminds me of home. It has the usual suspects of Guess, Banana Republic, and more. Along the coast you can walk down for a nice stroll along the waterfront. Takes about 30 minutes from the mall to the lighthouse and back. Worth the walk to see the locals being very nonchalant about making out in public, seeing the surfers hit the waves, and just in general, enjoy the area.

Lacromar at night

Dinner was at Mangos which was suggested by a friend, a restaurant where if you sit outside, you have a nice view of the coast. Ordered the chicha moradas (a local drink), lemonade, lomos saltados, and mango ceviche. All for 94 soles, not bad. Very tasty food and a great view of the ocean.

Us at Mangos

Lomos Saltado

Ceviche

Tomorrow we wander the downtown area of Lima!