Saturday, January 31, 2009

Lima Peru

We left Tacna early Friday morning and flew to Lima. We only got there one hour ahead but were able to get through all the check-in, baggage check, security, airport tax, and boarding in time (several miracles required).

When we reached Lima we met our driver from Lima Bus Service who drove us around for the rest of the day in an air-conditioned Mercedes Benz mini-bus with a luggage trailer. It was very comfortable and helped immeasurably to deal with the traffic on enormity of the greater Lima area. The first thing dad wanted to do was visit the port of Callao which is near the airport.


There were several other stops including the Mercado Indio where we spent all our remaining soles (and more) on some wonderful woven goods, native instruments, curios, silver etc.
We stopped by the presidential palace for the changing of guard, attended by a mediocre brass band (who nevertheless added to the pomp of the occasion with their colorful uniforms), and the real guards of the palace standing by with riot shields.
At some point when we needed the bathroom the driver dropped us off at the Hotel Bolivar which was luxurious in a very ornate and dated way. You can see the beauty of the stained glass dome of the lobby below.

We stopped by the Lima Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As with most temples in large cities it was an island of peace in a sea of chaos.

We met several groups of young people. This group had traveled 18 hours by bus to attend the temple.
In the evening we went to the Parque de Amor (love park) at the edge of the ocean cliffs and watched the Paragliding near a quaint light house (you can pay $30) to fly tandem with an experienced pilot but none of us tried it).

The driver got us back to the airport by 9:00 p.m. and after some tiring long lines we flew home.
The trip was more wonderful than can be communicated with a few words and pictures. But we'll try to keep adding our thoughts and memories to round out the experience.

1 comment:

  1. so great!!! We are all glad you had such a fun time!! But we are all glad you are home too!

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