Except for some turbulence on the flight from Houston to Lima, the trip to Lima was uneventful. I had come all the way to Lima and who should be seated next to me but another Canadian. A sprightly elderly lady who in her retirement has been re-born as a world traveller. Last year, she worked in a mission in Brazil and this year, it was a week in Chimbote. How adventurous and exciting!
Our arrival at the airport was greeted by the sea of Peruvian humanity. We negotiated a taxi to the Gran Hotel Bolivar at just after our arrival at the midnight hour. We passed in a cab through the very sketchy parts of Lima before arriving at our hotel in the Plaza San Martin. The Gran Bolivar is a grand old lady and the hotel has become somewhat of time capsule of the late 19th century. 12 foot ceilings and magnificent hardwood floor inlays line the rooms and the halls of the hotel. The stain glass ceiling and the antique model T-ford in the lobby are also part of its unique charm. It is faded glamour however, the rooms are sparse with antique like furniture. There is neither air-conditioning (but the rooms are cool even in the summer) nor internet access. All of this is advertised on the web so consequently of no surprise to Mr. Hippo and I. However, it is close to all the sites of Colonial Lima from the Monastery of San Francisco, Catheral of Lima, Church of La Merced and Plaza San Martin.
On our first day, it was a long day of walking to all the sites. We also encountered a labour strike which blocked some part of the downtown core, hassled only once by a beggar and got lost a couple of hundred times getting to abode pyramid called Huaca Huallanmarca (Sugar Loaf to the locals). A ceremonial centre for the Hualla people dating back to AD 200) . This well preserved mummy was the highlight.
By late afternoon, we returned to the Bolivar and had their special drink, the Pisco Sours, at the bar. This is a local sweet brandy produced in Peru and served cold with crush ice. A great drink to relax with on a hot humid afternoon. Mr. Hippo was not feeling too well and headed to bed thereafter while I had dinner at the local restaurant consisting of a seafood chowder and ever popular fried potatoes with more pisco sours of course. There are over 2000 types of potatoes in Peru! No wonder Sir Walter Raleigh had to take some back with him to England all those years ago.
