Day 1 - Lima, Peru - June 9th-10th

Our travel day was mostly uneventful. We left Boise at 7:20 am, arrived in LA at 8:40, and then had a 5 hour layover. We met up with the rest of our group and left LA at 2:30 pm. Our flight to Lima was pretty comfortable actually. Josh and I were assigned the crew seats in the back of the plane. They reclined quite a bit and had leg rests and plenty of leg room. Josh had a good 10 inches of space between his knees and the seat in front of him. Sleeping on that flight was very easy and comfortable. We arrived in Peru at almost 1:00 am. Fortunately our hotel was right across the street, so we walked there and went to bed. On this trip we will have buffet breakfasts at our hotel every morning. Neither Josh nor I were very hungry this morning, but we tried some Peru dished like the fried potatoes and stir fry. We then had a ½ day bus tour of Lima. There are about 10 million people in Lima. Lima was established by Francisco Pizarro so it reminded me of Spain with its plazas and fountains and statues. Our first stop was at the main square called the Plaza de Armas. It is surrounded by the government Palace, the Cathedral dating from 1654, and 3 more palaces. It had a fountain in the center with a bronze statue built in 1650. We had some free time so Josh and I went inside the cathedral for a small fee. We saw the tomb of Pizarro and went down to the crypt. They also had several relics (skulls) there. On the way back the bus, some school kids stopped us talk (I assume to practice their English) and wanted a picture with Josh. I also had a guy come up to me with his hand outstretched. I thought he wanted to shake my hand, so I have him my hand, and he pulled me in for a kiss. I quickly turned my head and he kissed my check. Our tour guide saw that and told him to leave me alone. He was pretty drunk. The drive then continued along the coastline which was on cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was a pretty drive. We stopped at ‘Lover’s Park’. It had an interesting statue made of clay it looked like, of a couple kissing. The walkways were lined with mosaics which were similar to those in Barcelona. We then went back to the airport and ate lunch of braised chicken and fries and flew to Cusco. Once we arrived, we had a 1.5 hour bus derive into the sacred valley. We are staying at a really beautiful hotel, and will be here the next 3 nights. Josh and I decided to get room service since it’s late. We ordered a quinoa soup that was recommended to us. It was really good.