Back to Lima - and chifa

A couple of pics of the beach in front of our hotel.

 

Today we drove back to Lima.  Lunch was at Hacienda San Jose.  The food was pretty good, and there was Cajun music and Afro dancing, a legacy from the times of slaves.  But Kin Mun pointed out the wool press.  Pic here, together with the resulting bale.  It looked like a very small press, compared to what we grew up with.

 

We have been interested by Chinese Restaurants here in Peru (and to some extent in Chile).  They are called Chifa, a corruption of chow fan or fried rice.  An example:

Tonight we had to find our own dinner so wandered down to a first chifa we could find.  The menu was all in Spanish, but we managed, and wondered what would turn up! Good old wonton was there, but it was wantan frites (fried).  Oh well, you can get fried wontons in Singapore and Sydney, but therese were something else again!  It was the fried pastry.  Tasted quite good, with no meat in them and and some sweet sauce to dip them into.

The bowl of soup had one familiar looking wonton in it, some noodles and some chicken.
Kin Mun ordered fried rice.

I was curious about something called aeropeurto - which translates as airport!  I opted for "con carne" - with meat - and this came along. All tasted good, so long as you weren't expecting the familiar Cantonese variety.  It was a good change of flavour.

Nazca Lines

The Nazca lines are lines/drawings in the countryside around Nasca.  They were made by removing the top layer of reddish-brown stones to reveal the yellow-grey subsoil. (Thanks to Wikipedia for that).  No one knows exactly who was responsible nor why.  However seeing them was the raison d'etre of our 3 day extension.

We drove to Ica airport.  It is a full-on international airport with only Aerodiana using it for flights over the Nazca lines.  It is the emergency airport for Lima though.

We were in a 12 seater Cessna Caravan.  We were weighed, carrying our bags etc and were seated according to our weight.  We were two across so every seat had a window.

 

 

KM and I were put on this plane at the last minute and were right down the back.  I guess it is the exit row.  Not sure what, if anything, it says about our weight.

The pilots before take-off.

Headphones on

And they do have checklists.  Fortunately, no frantic turning of the pages though.

Some shots of the countryside.

 

We were told that the pilots would do a turn around all the figures so they would be clearly visible from both sides of the plane.  We were told to keep our orientation by looking at the horizon and not to focus too much on our cameras, or we would be ill.

My pic of the Spiral is the one that came out best.

 The Astronaut

The hummingbird

Here are the last two according to Google:



Then it was all over and we flew back to Ica.  One hour, 40 minutes total.  A good flight in a real plane was a bonus.

Leaving Lima

Today we began our 3 day extension to see the Nazca Lines.  We travelled 247km south from Lima.

On the way we saw Pachacamac, an archaeological dig and restoration of pre-Incan ruins.

Unrestored section

Restored

As usual, on leaving Lima, traffic was a problem. Some vehicles went off-road to get by.

There were poor areas.  We were told that the poorer the family, the higher up the hill they lived.

We saw coastal desert

Mobile phone towers need somewhere.

Coastal developments began to appear.

And greenery, due to irrigation.

We passed on boarding down the sand dunes and came straight to our hotel - a huge and sprawling  Hilton seaside resort, the same chain as we stayed in at Lima.  It looks grand, but it is off-season so it is quite empty except for us.  I still think there is nothing so miserable as a seaside resort in winter!  And there bird sounds are fake, I am sure.  But some pics.  

 

However, our rooms are comfortable.

Tomorrow we go to Ica airport.  It is an international "ghost" airport.  Only one airline flies there, and it is the emergency airport for Lima.  Weather permitting, we board a Cessna Caravan to try to see the Nazca Lines.  It is a 12 seater aircraft, each one has a window, but I think only one engine.
 

Lima - city tour

Much of our tour this morning was around the main square of Lima.  Lima was built by the Spanish, whereas Cuzco was the Incan capital.  So expect plenty of Spanish inspired architecture.

This is Lima Cathedral in the Main Square

And it has several bells - this is one.  Not for English-style change ringing of course. 

The Archbishop's Palace next to the cathedral.  Note the "boxes", or closed-in balconies.

These balconies were common in Muslim countries so women could look outside but not be seen.  The Spanish had absorbed this architecture which was common in Southern Spain, and apparently  cheerfully adopted it.

Of course, the next question is why the Archbishop needed such balconies?!

Another example of these balconies in the Main Square. At some point, glass was used.

The main Government building in the Main Square.

Talking of the  adoption of these modesty measures, there was a time when women had to wear a burqua-type garment.  They could show just ONE eye.  This example was later in our tour.

According to our guide, flirtation increased!

Lima (updated)

We flew into Lima this morning.  It was an early start and somewhat chaotic at Cusco airport.  After arrival at Lima, my suitcase was missing, with only one lonely case the same colour going round and round the carousel.  Yes, you guessed it - someone else had taken mine by mistake.  Fortunately she realised her mistake while still in the airport but could not return to the carousel due to security. After an early and chaotic start, this was not what I needed!  Her case had none of the labels and stuff that mine did.  Oh well - all the adventures come at once! 

We went for a LONG drive through various parts of Lima.  Our guide told us Lima is built on a desert, so we went through dry dusty outskirts to the lawns and luxurious high-rise along the waterfront.   That is dust on the top of the bus.

A painfully late lunch was at Hacienda Mamacona, so we then had a horse show afterwards. We were introduced to the Peruvian Paso horse.  Of course I thought of Mary!  I did not think I would enjoy a horse show, but it was fascinating.

We were told that the particular gait of this horse - where the four hooves touch the ground in sequence rather than two at a time - makes it the smoothest and hence most comfortable horse to ride.  

Then at last, to our hotel.

Away from the infrastructure of Macchu Picchu and Cusco, with its need to cater to international tourists, you can see the poverty in parts of Lima. 

Alltitude Part 3 (updated)

On our last night in Cuzco, walking home I realised I was not as breathless - or at least not needing to breathe so deeply so quickly.  It is amazing how the body adapts.

But it was still a relief to land in Lima, flying in over the ocean to the airport.

Suddenly you remember what  normal is.  And I enjoyed my glass of wine at dinner. I did not dare have any at Cusco nor at Macchu Picchu. 

Cusco

Cusco is such a "tourist" town that we walked around on our own. I didn't feel like joining the optional walking tour, even though we could drop out at any time.

This is the main square in Cusco.  Not one, but TWO churches!

The main cathedral. We paid our entry fee and found our walking tour inside, so joined them for this part of the tour.  No pictures allowed.  Pity.  It has some wonderful statues, paintings and is a UNESCO site. 

One of the paintings is The Last Supper Cuy - with cuy (guinea pig) as the main fare.  More than bread and wine! Pic courtesy of Google.


This is next to the main cathedral - a six bell tower - but not our kind of ringing of course.

There was a band in the main square, with the soldiers dancing.  A new aspect of the military job description.

Sunday was the day of the football final between Peru and Argentina for the Americas Cup (I think).
By lunch the crowd had grown.  There was a big screen for people to watch the match.

Altitude - Part 2

We survived the increase in 600m between Sacred Valley and Cusco.  We kept taking our Diamox.  There have been no more nasty headaches nor vomiting nor loss of vision, but when you walk back to your bed after cleaning your teeth, or back to your table from the buffet, I  find I am breathing deeply.  As we walked around Cusco and the Cathedral this morning, I realised I had "chest" pains -  or more accurately bi-lateral lower rib pain.  I interpret it as my inter-costal muscles working harder than usual!

Looking forward to virtually sea-level tomorrow at Lima.