We arrived in our hotel late last night, with no more than a few small snags along the way. Even our luggage made it!
On our second stopover, which was in Mexico City, we got a pleasant (to me) surprise of an extra stamp in our passport. Since our flight to Lima was departing from a different terminal than the one we had arrived in, we had to pass through Mexican customs. Of course, Dan promptly found a bar and got a beer, even though we could have purchased one from the 7-11. I had a delicious guanabana margarita, ice and all. Mexico City itself looks absolutely gorgeous from the air, with all the bright coloured buildings and humongous cathedrals every few blocks. I would love to go back and actually spend some time in the city.
We got up late today and went exploring in downtown Lima. No real sights visited, just wandering around. There were a couple of very nice Plazas flanked by beautiful old buildings, as well as a charmingly falling-apart monastery, although Dan didn’t want in their catacombs due to the lineup. We also discovered what seems to be the main shopping street, where you can buy a top for $2 and a pair of nice leather shoes for $30. I was surprised when Dan suggested we use at least a part of our last day in Lima on shopping, but now that the offer is out there I might just have to take him up on it. Beyond clothing, on that street you can also buy pot – at least two heavily tattooed men with business cards and flyers offered it to us, along with tattoos.
The bus system is fantastic. 50 cents will get you across town, as long as you have a nice hostel owner (as we did) to tell you which of the 20-odd different buses going past the hotel to take. The buses rule the street, with everyone employing the “I get right-of-way because I’m bigger” rule.
I was surprised when Dan agreed to stop at a little hole-in-the-wall for our lunch. It was absolutely delicious. Apparently I ordered lamb, and it was good. We ordered beers, and ended up with a ginormous 650 mL bottle each. The beer cost almost as much as the meals, for a grand total of about $8 spent on lunch. We’ll know to order only a single bottle next time, since neither one of us was able to finish ours!
Tomorrow morning we fly out to Cusco, from where we will head to Ollantaytambo and then on to Macchu Picchu. More ruin exploration to follow. Should be an exciting couple of days!