October 24, 2011
Well on Monday morning at 6:30am "Hi-me" was suppose to pick me up for the airport and I thought I would toss him a few bucks but he didn't show and at 6:45am I grabbed another motorcycle taxi to the Iquitos airport. My airline ticket was with Peruvian airlines and when it was my turn to go up to the check-in desk I realized it was "Cristina" (who owns the Iguana hotel where I was staying at) working the counter. I knew she had a job and worked late but didn't realize it was with the airlines. I was expecting to pay extra for my luggage since the woman who originally sold me my ticket said I would have to pay $9US and it was listed on my ticket but Cristina didn't mention it and let me through.
I noticed when I got my luggage back from the suitcase retrieval area in Lima that I had 2 big holes in one of my suitcases. Cristina had originally asked me if I had any glass or breakable stuff which I did and she did advise that I not put it in the luggage since they get tossed around and slammed etc... and after seeing the 2 big holes in my suitcase I realized why she was concerned. I grabbed a taxi ride to the district of Miraflores and for a 25 minute ride it was more than 3 nights accommodation at the place I am staying but I didn't want to lug around all my luggage to the bus stops since it seemed like more of a hassle just to save some money.
I am staying at a place called "Casa del Mochilero" which is the cheapest place in my Lonely Planet guidebook by at least 1/2 price ($5US per night) of the second cheapest place. When your place gets mentioned in LP then it is definitely guaranteed to become a goldmine of a business as so many travelers go off of it. "Pilar" is the woman who runs the place and I see there must be 10-15 people already staying here. She gave me a map of Miraflores and central Lima and showed me where everything is.
I like Lima and it is by far the best city/town in South America that I have been to so far. It seems more modern than most of the others. When I walk into the grocery stores I see a lot of stuff I want to buy and can't say that for most of the supermarkets I have been to. I walked along the beaches in Miraflores which is a huge cliff down to the sea.
Before it got dark I decided to walk over to a big 1500 year old pyramid site called "Huaca Pucllana" that is located in Miraflores where I met a Simon and his wife from UK and because my camera battery died right upon paying for my ticket and entering the site they were kind enough to say they would email me some pictures and I could use their camera for any pictures which was really nice of them. We had a guided tour in english which lasted about 40 minutes.
For tomorrow I will head to central Lima and check out some historical sites and museums down there. Our tour guide from the site "Huaca Pucllana" brought us to an area where there were llamas and guinea pigs and many plants and told us this cactus plant was a hallucingen plant which quickly grabbed my attention and I inquired more about it and told him about my ayahuasca in Iquitos and he told me there was a market in Central Lima where they sell all that sort of stuff and showed me on my map so I will be looking for that place tomorrow as well.
"Yes, I'll take 3kg of peyote and 2lbs of mescaline to go please".
I called Jennifer a couple hours ago and hope to hook up with her tomorrow after she gets off work in the evening. I really need her as my english/spanish interpreter so I can get a much needed haircut!
Well on Monday morning at 6:30am "Hi-me" was suppose to pick me up for the airport and I thought I would toss him a few bucks but he didn't show and at 6:45am I grabbed another motorcycle taxi to the Iquitos airport. My airline ticket was with Peruvian airlines and when it was my turn to go up to the check-in desk I realized it was "Cristina" (who owns the Iguana hotel where I was staying at) working the counter. I knew she had a job and worked late but didn't realize it was with the airlines. I was expecting to pay extra for my luggage since the woman who originally sold me my ticket said I would have to pay $9US and it was listed on my ticket but Cristina didn't mention it and let me through.
I noticed when I got my luggage back from the suitcase retrieval area in Lima that I had 2 big holes in one of my suitcases. Cristina had originally asked me if I had any glass or breakable stuff which I did and she did advise that I not put it in the luggage since they get tossed around and slammed etc... and after seeing the 2 big holes in my suitcase I realized why she was concerned. I grabbed a taxi ride to the district of Miraflores and for a 25 minute ride it was more than 3 nights accommodation at the place I am staying but I didn't want to lug around all my luggage to the bus stops since it seemed like more of a hassle just to save some money.
I am staying at a place called "Casa del Mochilero" which is the cheapest place in my Lonely Planet guidebook by at least 1/2 price ($5US per night) of the second cheapest place. When your place gets mentioned in LP then it is definitely guaranteed to become a goldmine of a business as so many travelers go off of it. "Pilar" is the woman who runs the place and I see there must be 10-15 people already staying here. She gave me a map of Miraflores and central Lima and showed me where everything is.
I like Lima and it is by far the best city/town in South America that I have been to so far. It seems more modern than most of the others. When I walk into the grocery stores I see a lot of stuff I want to buy and can't say that for most of the supermarkets I have been to. I walked along the beaches in Miraflores which is a huge cliff down to the sea.
Before it got dark I decided to walk over to a big 1500 year old pyramid site called "Huaca Pucllana" that is located in Miraflores where I met a Simon and his wife from UK and because my camera battery died right upon paying for my ticket and entering the site they were kind enough to say they would email me some pictures and I could use their camera for any pictures which was really nice of them. We had a guided tour in english which lasted about 40 minutes.
For tomorrow I will head to central Lima and check out some historical sites and museums down there. Our tour guide from the site "Huaca Pucllana" brought us to an area where there were llamas and guinea pigs and many plants and told us this cactus plant was a hallucingen plant which quickly grabbed my attention and I inquired more about it and told him about my ayahuasca in Iquitos and he told me there was a market in Central Lima where they sell all that sort of stuff and showed me on my map so I will be looking for that place tomorrow as well.
"Yes, I'll take 3kg of peyote and 2lbs of mescaline to go please".
I called Jennifer a couple hours ago and hope to hook up with her tomorrow after she gets off work in the evening. I really need her as my english/spanish interpreter so I can get a much needed haircut!
