The airport is about an hour away from Puno, the main town closest to Lake Titicaca. Of course my seatbelt didnt work so that made for a fun ride. We made our way into Juliaca to find that it was pretty much the sketchiest town on earth. Some roads are paved, some are not...the usual. The only reason it was chosen for an airport is because Puno is completely boxed in by mountains and major coruption on the governments part. That being said...it is also the smallest airport I have ever seen. It claims 2 gates. And by 2 gates they mean 2 doors...one on the left and one on the right. We paid our exit tax ($3.35 each) and boarded our plane.
The streets of Juliaca (one of the better ones)
does this look legal to you?
the airport
dad boarding the plane
The flight was pretty uneventful except for our death defying take off in Juliaca which invilved the entire plane rattling like it was about to fall apart. We landed in Lima and walked across the street to the good ole´ Ramada. Dad saw his friend, Manuel who didnt even recognize him, now that he resembles Tom Selleck.
The streets of Lima
We checked in and grabbed a cab to the Plaza de Armas here in Lima which is about a half hour from our hotel. The same deal here...no brakes just horns all the way there. We took right turns from the fast lane, crossing 2 lanes (if there were lanes) at a time. As we neared the Plaza de Armas the streets were blocked so we got out and walked. The changing of the guard was happening at the Palacio del Gobierno, where the President lives. We waited for a while, watching the huge armored vehicles and guns that the guards had before taking off.
The armored cars stay there all day....
Palacio del Gobierno
We headed down to the Convento y Museo de San Francisco. It is a Franciscan monastary from the 17th century. There were like 80 billion pigeons outside in the courtyard so I was already jazzed. We began out English tour just in time. Our guide took us around the monastary and church which is still used today. Then he led us to the place we were all waiting for: The catacombs. The catacombs were first dug in 1546 for priests and elite before the cemetary was built. The guide told us that there are around 25,000 human remains still in the catacombs. There were bones everywhere, which had been separated by archeologists working in the site. It was pretty unreal. There were mostly femurs and skulls because after decomposition, these were what remained. We continued on the tour but nothing topped the catacombs. Of course no camaras were allowed...and Jeffrey is learning to follow the rules.
Convento y Museo de San Francisco. The catacombs are beneath the church.
From there we went to lunch. We walked across the plaza and went into a little cafe, R.H. Atlantic. It was hopping with locals and Dad saw a steak and pasta plate and was already salivating so we sat down. Dad got a salad with avocados and I got soup with vegetables and beef. the steak was good and after eating we enjoyed the view, since we were on Peru time anyway. Before leaving dad got a churro from a stand for US$0.15. We hailed a cab back to our hotel and now we are just relaxing.
The plaza.
check out that dog...click it to make it bigger. Hannibal Lecter much?
We leave for Iquitos tomorrow at 4:55 so we have yet another early morning ahead of us. We plan on walking to the airport tonight for a little MickeyD´s since God knows what they will serve us in the jungle. It´s gonna be wild!
Adios!
Dad.
