Lima, the adventure begins.

April 23 - Day 1 arrive in Lima

I wasn't sure how readily available wine would be in Peru. One must exercise extreme caution when unsure about where to find a good source of great wine. To be on the safe side, I squirreled away a few "spare" bottles from the plane. The flight attendant was quite astonished that I could pack away 8 bottles of wine over the course of the flight ... little did he know that I "packed them away" into my daypack! Better safe than sorry.

It's now midnight and I'm awfully pleased with myself for the foresight of stashing away those bottles of wine and my "light snack" from the plane. :)

After a great few days in Toronto and an uneventful 8 hr flight to Lima (one bottle of wine per hour!) ... I arrived. Happy and welcoming the humidity and smiling faces at the airport. The people of Peru are happy and very friendly ... I feel more at home here than I ever have in Calgary.

My driver is waiting with my name on a sign. And 2 friendly souls from Vancouver Island as my taxi companions. Bruce and Judy. On their way to Cusco and to hike to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca.

It's 11:30 pm. I arrive at my hotel. Los Embajadores. Not good. I'm on the 2nd floor, over the front entrance. No air conditioning, sirens wailing, car alarms going off, a cacophony of barking dogs and party central on the street. And let's not forget "beep, beep!" ... the universal signal for "hey lady! want a taxi??".

Luckily, I packed ear plugs and sleeping pills - I close the window and hope for the best. Sleep was elusive ... but the sheets are fabulous! Thankfully I move to the Miraflores Colon Hotel in the morning. It's much nicer, half a block away and the preferred Hotel for the many embassies and consolates in the area. I feel out of place with my MEC backpack and sandals. But I have air conditioning and comfy beds. I'm loving Lima. I'm not sure why they call this hotel the "Colon" because it is anything but! (pardon the pun. ;)

My Spanish is improving. I have learned a new word. Pisco. (remember that word, I'll talk about it later) :)