Lima

An early start. The taxi turned out to be a Daewoo cab and the immediate problem was how to fit in our big cases. This overcome eventually, we headed out to Arequipa airport and had a substantial conversation (in dodgy spanish) about the cost of hotels and flights, the traffic and cost of cars in Arequipa, and the different types of volcanoes in Peru. Oh, yes, and the impact of earthquakes.

Last view of El Misti

Arequipa aeropuerto only has four departure gates, and unlike British Airports, you only need to check in about half an hour before.

We were met at Lima by a Hyundia taxi that still did not have enough room for our luggage in the boot. After a few minutes we realized taking a taxi was an extreme sport in Lima. We headed down to the Pacific, and in true Lima style it was foggy.

Sign in our hotel room. We'll be safe if there's an earthquake!

Our hotel is in Miraflores, south of the main centre, and from our room we could see the sea.

Surfers

The hotel is very pleasant and a few minutes stroll from the cenre of Miraflores and may be one minute to the beach.


We headed to Miraflores Centro and ate lunch at the famous Cafe Haiti, a bit like a Rive Gauche cafe in Paris beamed up to Lima. The waiter was charming chastising us for not visiting Macchu Picchu. (What Joan did not know is that this cafe is famous for its Pisco Sours.) Miraflores feels quite affluent, with high rise blocks of flats, posh cars and Waitrose like supermarkets.

Lunch (tomato and palta sandwich and chips)

After a light lunch we strolled down to the prom, where we could see surfers catching waves in the old suburb of Barranco. There was a garish statue of two lovers on top of the cliffs and an interesting lighthouse.

Back at the hotel, Kevin especially caught up with some much needed sleep.

Towards evening we headed downstairs as the wifi in the room was not working. When we returned upstairs our bed had been turned down, chocolates were left, plus a forecast for tomorrow's weather. It felt odd.

After a stroll to the supermarket, we headed out for dinner. Though Miraflores is famous for having lots of different world cuisines, Italian seemed (as usual) to be the safest bet. We ate at Donatellas on the main drag. Delicious but we have both overloaded in pasta for the immediate future.

Puno and Chivay towns were really a bit shabby to stand for more than one night. It seems that is as much most tourists stay. Arequipa had a certain ex-colonial grandeur with its old mansions made out of sillar and narrow streets. Admittedly we have come to Mirafloreswhich is the most affluent part of the city, with broad pavements, avenues, department stores, etc. After dark it is softly warm, with lots of people buzzing about and with bigger buses with conductors who will kidnap you to be a passenger if you stand on a corner too long. We know that most of the city isn't like this and many people live in half constructed shanty-like towns. But for tonight and for city-haters like us, Lima seems pretty nice.