02/08 - First Day in Lima

Peru is in the same time zone as the east coast of the US, so we lost 3 hours on the plane. It was midnight when we touched down in Lima. We were tired, disoriented, and totally unprepared. We had no itinerary or accommodations scheduled for any part of the trip. We spoke barely any Spanish, and the cab driver we selected from the horde at the airport turned out to speak only enough English to convince us to select him. After a long, expensive, confusing ride --stopping at many reasonably-priced hotels that were all booked up-- he brought us to a cramped, dirty, smelly, hot, expensive hotel ["Hotel Nirvana"] on the outskirts of the most expensive/touristy district (Miraflores), right on the side of a busy highway (Paseo do Republica). There were 3 twin-size beds crammed into the tiny room. It was way too hot  even consider sharing one. Someone was hammering on metal pipes just outside our [unclosable] bathroom window all night.

We slept poorly, but late, hurried through our mediocre complimentary desayunos Americanos, and rushed to check out on time. After hasty research, we got a cab to a nicer part of Miraflores --near Parque Kennedy-- where we got a room at the Flying Dog Hostel (my best "angry face" is pictured). The place was great: much cheaper, quieter, and cleaner. We had a queen bed,  private bath, and table & chairs. It was bright and airy, with free internet and beautiful communal spaces (one pictured). We found a grocery store a few blocks away, and bought food & potable water. We also got phone cards, but couldn't make them work with the public telephones we found. So Flying Dog booked us a bus to our next desination: Paracas.


In the evening, we walked around the nearby park, which we called "Parque del Gato," because it was full of adorable stray cats. There was live music, there, too, and a market with many touristy trinket  booths. Then, back at the Flying Dog's outdoor bar, we had a few cocktails made with Pisco. Drinks included: Pisco Sour (the national cocktail) and Machupicchu. They were tasty. Then we went to bed.