Trip to Peru : Part 3

 

Trip to Peru:

Part 3:

Friday Aptil 17th:

The night before we had arrived in Lima and checked into the same hotel we had stayed when we first arrived in Peru on April 9th. Hotel Souma in Mira Flores.

Soon the rest of the group was ready to go out explore the neighborhood. We walked to the shoreline up to the mall on the cliff. There were fabulous views of the Lima shoreline from the terrace there. On one side we could see surfers riding tall waves. We browsed through a few shops in the mall before moving out and walking back to the hotel. 

At 2 pm Diana arrived and so did our van to take us out for a city tour of Lima. We drove past the financial district, around posh neighborhoods, by a park with olive trees that were several hundreds years old. Martin, the driver allowed a short unscheduled stop to take pictures against the backdrop of a statue of Bolivar and also to look inside the historic Gran Hotel Bolivar. He then dropped us outside the main square that housed the Government Palace and several grand historic buildings including a cathedral. We saw the old Railway Station. Bought chocolates. Took several pictures in that 3-4 hours tour before Diana dropped us off to a restaurant we had looked up for our dinner. Panchita. We took a Uber from there to the hotel. It was past 10 pm. Had shower before going to bed.

Saturday April 18th:

We woke up before 3 am. By 4 am we were in the lobby waiting for Diana. The poor woman, we learned later, took a bus from her home each time and traveled 2.5 hours to get to our hotel or 2 hours to the airport. She was so nervous that night to not wake up in time that she didn’t sleep at all. By 4:30 am we were on the road to Pisco. It took us nearly 3 hours to get there. On the way we saw the desert lining the Pacific Ocean. Surprisingly there was a lot of agricultural land in the desert. Fruit trees, cotton fields, cornfields, vegetables and more. As soon as we approached Pisco the smell of dry fish pervaded the air. It was stinking. Despite me being a fish eater, that smell was sickening even for me. Poor Atul was in distress. The driver dropped us off at the airport. It was a big airport with a single counter, as Diana had described it. Dipen had guessed it right. The Chinese government had invested into the airport to serve its own interests. Fish was exported from here to China. The entire airport had the obnoxious stink of dried fish! 

We were all checked in and led to the small plane outside the terminal. About 12 passengers on the plane plus two pilots. Each passenger on either side of the aisle sat by a window. In no time we were in the air flying over extensive agricultural land before seeing sandy and rocky areas. About an hour and a half into the flight the pilots would begin to show us the famed Nazca figures( lines). These were huge geoglyphs made in the soil by the Nazca civilization between 500 BC and 500 AD. These were created by removing the top soil and exposing the lower layers. The arid weather of the desert preserved them through the centuries. Precise lines define various figures like hummingbird, spider, monkey, whale, lizard as well as geometric figures like spiral. It gives a glimpse into the art and precision of the artists of those times. Having viewed about a dozen of those figures from the air we flew back to Pisco and resumed our road trip to Ica. 

Next stop was at the historic Tacama winery. This is believed to be the oldest winery in South America. We got a tour of the place, views of their vineyards from a tower and wine tasting before a lovely lunch under a big tent. We were entertained by a dancer and a horse riding cowboy who performed together to traditional music. At the end of the tour we purchased some of their exclusive wines, particularly their Pisco, before getting back on the road.

The final destination of the tour was at an oasis and surrounding sand dunes. We climbed up the dunes to where ATVs ( boogies) were parked. One by one we were buckled into our seats and then just took off! Up the hillock and down, suddenly right turn and down again, then up again and to the left, up again and down again…. It went on for a few minutes until Abhay complained. It was making him sick. The driver slowed down and made it to the point from where we got a good view of the valley below. We got off. Took pictures on the sand and on top of the ATV. The driver helped Abhay by offering some swabs of alcohol to sniff and get over the motion sickness. Minal and Atul indulged in sand boarding. Then we made it back to the base ! 

It was a long drive of over 4-4:30 hours back to Lima after that.  We were lucky to grab dinner close to 11 pm in their restaurant on the 17th floor, which closes at 11:30 pm.

Sunday April 19th:

Earlier on Saturday while we were still at the sand dunes, quite unexpectedly, I had found out that my dear friend Sangeeta from Mumbai was on tour of South America and would be arriving in Lima from Chile that night. Sunday morning she would leave for the Amazon forest tour. We exchanged notes and found out that her hotel was merely a 12 minute walk from my hotel. She would be leaving at 9 am. 

Meeting her was good enough reason for me to wake up early. I verified the walking directions from the concierge staff before setting out at 7:15 AM. It was a pleasant morning, with a mild chill in the air. I would pass an occasional woman walking her dog or a bike rider or some workers delivering goods to shops on the way. Right before crossing the road to the Radisson Red where Sangeeta was staying, I saw a statue of Shiva in the front porch of a building. The gates were locked. Turns out this was an Indian restaurant named Mantra. 

I called Sangeeta from the lobby. Within minutes she was downstairs along with SathyaPrakash ( her husband). It was unbelievable to see them on an entirely different continent without having planned it ahead of time! SathyaPrakash insisted I join them for breakfast. Met several of their tour companions who were also from Mumbai and surrounding areas. It was a lovely group of people, mostly retirees, senior citizens. Took a few pictures together, caught up on each other’s travel itinerary. Then took leave as it was time for them to board their bus to the airport. I walked back to my hotel.

In the lobby Minal was headed to the breakfast lounge. I joined her and indulged in the chia seed pudding there. Then both hurried to our rooms and joined our weekly zoom meeting. 

We were to check out of the hotel by noon that day. By 11:30 right when the zoom meeting was concluding we left the rooms, gave our baggage to hold at the hotel and officially checked out. 

Everyone wanted to go check out the neighborhood of Barranco. We took a uber to Barranco. Within a few minutes of getting off Minal realized she had forgotten her eyeglasses in the taxi. As Atul was trying to reach the driver, suddenly we spotted the same car drive past us. We waved and stopped the driver, who was probably lingering in the area looking for a new customer. Minal found her glasses. All was good.

Barranco is a fancy suburb of Lima with boutique galleries, murals, nice restaurants, gift shops. All of us walked around the streets, browsed through galleries. Couldn’t find a timely seating at a good restaurant. Instead sat down to have some drinks at a small family owned cafe. Abhay had a pizza there. Rest of us waited till we took another uber back to the hotel. There we first went to the rooftop bar for some drinks and starters, before heading to the lobby level restaurant for a late afternoon lunch. After the main entrees finally got to taste lucuma ice cream that Abel had recommended. It was nice. Had a granular feel to it like chikoo ice cream. 

For one final ride to the airport Diana came to get us around 6 pm. We loaded our bags into the van and drove past the Mira Flores shoreline witnessing a lovely sunset. It was dark by the time the airport arrived. Diana helped us complete the check in. She bid us farewell as we entered for security checks. She apologized for her poor language skills. We felt empathy for the poor woman. Despite her shortcomings she was polite, kind and wanting to help us. Was working hard for her job, commuting for hours each day. We appreciated every bit of that. 

Once through security we shopped a bit for alpaca goods at the Sol Alpaca store and some chocolates to take home. Then headed to the lounge to relax. There was a lot of food there but no room in the tummy. The entire trip had been a grub fest. Had to take it easy after this. 

Minal and the Dallas friends left around 8:30 pm to board their flight. We sat another hour and then left from the lounge. Finally boarded our flight close to 12:45 am. 

Monday April 20th:

Arrived in LA by 7:30 am. Had to pick our car from the parking and then drive to Bakersfield. I was super drowsy but forced myself to stay awake and get home safely. 

Then just went off to bed.

Next day off to work in Tehachapi for four straight days!

Will post the photos later.