Peru - Lima

After a truly amazing 2 weeks traveling about in Colombia, it was time to head to Lima, for a guided, 3-day tour of the biggest city in Peru. A good friend of mine, from my Hotel Victor days, is a Peruvian native with a ton of family down there, so he was both generous enough to take care of hotel reservations (in Colombia as well) for me in Lima, as well as put me in touch with his neice (they are only about 10 years apart) and her friends to show me around town. Our first miscommunication occurred at the airport, where they were going to be waiting for me, with a sign, and we'd be on our way. However, they were informed I'd be traveling with my Filipino girlfriend (what?!), so they were looking for someone a bit different. It didn't help that there was not a sign, and I apparently forgot my Filipino girlfriend along for the vacation, so it took about 45 minutes to figure it all out (the intercom and customer service desk helped out a great deal).

So, once we sorted everything out, we were on our way for some late-nite anticuchos (I'll spare you the details, but they are 'beef' related, and come from a cow, but it's not steak) and a few pitchers of chica morada, a Peruvian 'kool-aid' of sorts, but way better! It was a nice introduction to what would amount to be a weekend full of eating myself silly and stuffing as much comida criolla down my hatch as possible. After dinner, we popped over to a modern development that sits atop a huge cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean - Larcomar Shopping Center has a ton of shopping, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc, and is located in the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima, which is a bit more upscale and where I would stay if/when I return to Lima for a trip - for a pisco sour and a café to wind the nite down.

My first real day started off on the same foot - as I was to meet the girls in my lobby at noon for a walking tour of the downtown area (plazas, iglesias, edificios, catedrales, etc), but by 1p, I opted to have a go of it solo and explained to the doorman that two girls were to have met me an hour before, and if they arrived, to send them out to try and find me along the 'ruta turista' downtown. So, much to my surprise, after walking about, taking pictures, grabbing a bite to eat, etc, I was standing outside in the Plaza de Armas when I noticed the girls walking toward me - it was pretty funny that after about 2 hours, they were finally able to find me (that said, I was wearing my gorro from Colombia, and a bright green polo shirt, so I probably stood out a little bit). They apologized profusely, which really wasn't that big of a deal, as I had set out to see things anyway, and made a few suggestions for other places in the area to see, which were great. We headed over to a huge church with catacombs beneath for a tour, and then popped out to a town called Callao (an armament/fort built in the same style as the fort/ciudad vieja de Cartagena) to see the ocean and take in some authentic cebiche (yes, they use a 'b' in place of the 'v' in Peru). We took a precarious, to say the least, bus ride out to Callao, which passed right through one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city, but it was great, I was with two local girls, dressed like a Colombian drug-trafficker, so I don't think there would have been any issues. Once we finally got home, we opted to take it relatively easy the rest of the afternoon and meet back up for a nite on the town, specifically, a salsa-dancing disco... Having just learned about Colombian salsa, I figured I could hang, but when Ana Christina (my friend's niece) told me that it was totally different, I figured a lot of booze could help me learn the moves - I couldn't have been more wrong... Well, at least I tried, but the style of salsa that is danced in Peru (or, Lima, at least) is a lot more akin to swing dancing, minus the throwing/tossing, but with just as much animation, movement and spinning, which differed a great deal from the style I learned in Colombia... Oh well, it was an experience, and I tried, but eventhough I may have quick feet on a soccer field (una cancha de fútbol), I cannot hang with Peruvian salsa... It was great to watch, and I put down a fair amount of beer, so when I got home, it was refreshing to hit the Sheraton bed/pillow combination.

The next morning, I wanted to see the Pacific Ocean (again), and go for a dip along the beaches, but the weather wasn't really cooperating, as the fog was so thick, you could barely see the water from the top of the cliff (at Larcomar). So, instead, I walked along the Circuito de Playa, from Miraflores to Barranco, a smaller, older community to the south. By the time I made it down to the beach, the weather started to clear up a bit, which continued over the rest of the day. So, at some point, I made a dash for the water, dropping my stuff on the beach, which was made up more of rocks than sand (but, good rocks, nice and round) and darted... The beach dropped off pretty rapidly, and all of a sudden, i was waste deep with no turning back, so I made the plunge and got carried out about 50 yards by the undertow... All was good, and I immediately got back to shore to towel off and continue the walk toward Barranco, stopping at random spots for pictures (naturally). It was a nice day that ended with a meal designated as 'comida criolla' (according to the restaurant, which had a name like - "eat here if you're a tourist"), and it was certainly delectable, despite the highlights being the Inca Kola and 'Simpsons' doughnuts I bought from a street vendor before heading back to the hotel to prepare for the evening events - a trip to the Circuito de Magico de Agua, a park with about a dozen water installations (ala Bellagio)... It was nice closure to the entire trip, walking in a park with lighting and water installations, with new friends, and reflecting on the trip that was coming to its end. We all ended up at a little chicken spot near one guy's apartment for dinner, after grabbing a rice pudding-esque dessert that was being sold by some street vendors at the partk (que rico).

When I awoke on my last day of this wild adventure, I wanted to spend a day seeing, documenting, photographing, and walking parts of the town that I would ordinarily shy away from - yup, the less well-off areas... Probably not the safest thing, but after two weeks by myself, my Spanish having made leaps and bounds since I first boarded the flight from Baires, and the confidence I had with all of it, I figured, piss in the wind and take a walk, gorro and all... So, that's exactly what I did. I walked with my head held high, a gait in my step, and the swagger that I really wasn't out of place and knew exactly where I was, what I was doing, and where I was going. It apparently worked, as I had no issues, chit chatted with a few strangers, bought myself a few goodies, and found myself back in my hotel room, packed and ready to head back to BA with the memories (and photos) of a lifetime...

And the next thing I knew, I was walking in to my front door and face-planting in my bed at about 5a... I did it, how awesome was that!