Category: Peru Ecuador 2016

Lima – Day 2 – Friday, Oct. 14, 2016

We are staying in a very nice hotel – Casa Cielo in the Mira Flora part of Lima. It is a very upscale neighborhood. It sure is a world away from all the other parts of Peru we have visited!

This morning we headed to the Historic Center of Lima to explore. We toured the Convent of San Francisco. Unfortunately we couldn’t take any pictures inside. They had a wonderful library. As many as 20,000 people were buried in the catacombs under the church. 

Initially when we arrived in the center the Plaza Mayor was blocked off by police. We never did figure out why.  But after we finished at the Convent San Francisco we were able to visit the Plaza Mayor and the beautiful Plaza San Martin. 



In the afternoon we went back to our hotel and took naps. Then about five we headed out to the Museo Larco. It is an absolutely wonderful museum of Peruvian archeology. It is a private museum. My guide book says it is the best in Lima. 






One of the most impressive things about the museum was the storage. The sign explained that while all museums have storage the Museum Larco is one of the only museums whose storage is on display. There were so many artifacts in storage it was hard to believe. 


The museum also had a large erotic gallery. As the signs explained sexuality was an important part of the ancient culture and religion. 


The museum also had a wonderful restaurant. We enjoyed one of the best dinners of our trip. 


Huánuco to Lima – Thursday, October 13, 2016

Today we spent almost eleven hours on a bus going from Huánuco to Lima. Altitudes again – Huánuco is at around 6,000 ft. We went up to over 14,000 feet and the down to sea level at Lima.  We caught the bus in Huánuco at 8:30 this morning. The big seats downstairs were already booked when we bought our tickets so we were upstairs. The seats look like they have a lot of leg room until the seat in front of you reclines into your lap! It was a tiring day. I listened to almost all of season two of the podcast Serial. 



The scenery was stunning and interesting. 


Traffic in Lima was horrible but we finally got to our hotel around 8 tonight.   Boy did the hamburgers and beer for dinner taste good. 

Huánuco Day 2 – Wednesday, October 12, 2016

We arrived in Huánuco around five last night after several busy traveling and site seeing days. So we decided to spend two days here and rest and recuperate. This morning we went out and bought bus tickets for our trip to Lima tomorrow. We also dropped off our laundry.
While we were out we got to enjoy a mini parade promoting earthquake preparedness. There was a band, ambulances, an excavator, and lots of kids and people in costume. All the kids had on t-shirts saying that there would be a night time earthquake drill tomorrow night.



We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing plus Duke went out and got a shave.

Dinner was pasta and sangria at a good Italian place. Then we went to pick up our laundry. The guy behind the counter was eager to practice his English. He asked us if we are Republicans or Democrats. Then we chatted a bit about our strong opinions about the candidates. We shook hands and said good bye. It was one of those memorable fun exchanges. It is a bit surprising to me how few Peruvians have asked us about the election.

Chavín to La Union – Monday, October 10, 2016

We are in another small hotel without Internet tonight so again this won’t be posted until later. 

After talking to the lady at the tourist office in Chavín this morning we decided that the best way to get to our next stop would be to go back to Huaraz and get a bus to La Union from there. La Union is on our itinerary because Duke remembers being particularly impressed by the beauty of the ruins outside of town. 

So we back tracked to Huaraz. Huaraz is a climbing center so it has a lot of foreigners. We had a 90 minute layover which we spent at a very nice restaurant where we had hamburgers, fries and beer! My first hamburger in over a month. 



The bus ride from Huaraz to La Union was another stunning ride. I’m sure you are getting really sick of my quoting our altitudes. I can’t help it I am addicted! Today the bus went over a 15,320 ft (4,670 m) pass. 

We arrived in La Union without any idea where we would stay. I sat on a street corner surrounded by our bags while Duke checked out accommodations. I had a nice conversation with the lady who owned the shop I was sitting in front of. Duke returned to lead me to the place we were staying. We have a very basic, clean room, my primary complaint is that there is no toilet seat!

Huaraz to Chavín – Sunday, October 9, 2016

This morning we caught an 8:30 bus to Chavín. The chickens in the picture were loaded into the luggage compartment of the bus. 

The road went up over a 14,500 pass and the trip took about two and a half hours. We are staying in a small hotel called Chavín Turístico. It is quite pleasant but we have no internet so this post won’t be posted until we have Internet again. 

This afternoon we toured the Chavín de Huántar ruins. The site is huge. It has underground passages, platforms and a big main square. It was all built by the Chavín, one of Peru’s first civilizations. The ruins date back to 1500 BC. At one point on the tour we went down into a big chamber that contains the Lanzón de Chavín. It is a 14 foot high verticals carving that looks like a big knife.