Peru 2005: Day 10 — Last Day in Lima
DAY 10: Last day in Lima
Avoiding the Cusco transit strike
Before we could get to Lima, we had to get out of Cusco first. Seriously.
Our flight was leaving at sometime around 9am that morning and it turns out the transit strike was schedule 30 minutes prior to our departure that morning. The transit strike was planned to last 48 hours and we were worried. Would we be able to get out of Cusco? Would we be able to get around in Lima? Would we be able to get to the airport in Lima and catch our international flight back home? So many questions and very few answers.
On the back of all of the taxi cab windows were sprawlings (couldn’t translate, but probably something like “fight the big-man” “power to the cabbies” and such). The transit strikes protest the high cost of gas and the high taxes on gas. We all boarded our long-bus and as we drove towards the airport we saw taxi cabs lining the street. The cabbies were all standing by their cabs in no hurry to move whatsoever. I imagine that by 9am, the taxis get moved into the street, effectively blocking all other through-traffic.
One thing was certain, this strike was a serious thing. At various intersections, cops in riot gear lined the streets. On our bus there were murmors about rock throwings and people pushing buses over. There were already some streets blocked off by mid-size and large rocks. Lots of people were standing about, too…..waiting. There was an odd calm-before-the-storm feeling in the air.
When we arrived at the airport, the nervous chatter aboard the bus increased. The airport gates were locked and it appeared that our bus was not going to be allowed inside. Some clever talking (and police-officer convincing) made it apparent that this bus-full of white people had no interest in transit strikes and intended to use the airport for lawful purposes only.
We disembarked and got into line for ticket check in. The guides snagged some porters and paid them to haul our bags inside (spoiled = us). Oh, and remember that photo-snapping guy from day 2. Somebody must have tipped him off or something, because he met our bus and sold several photos to various group members! Amazing entrepreneurship!
That was it for Cusco. Sure, some time was spent waiting at the airport (but this is universal to all airports) and the plane flight had the funny movies again. Time for Lima…
Lima snapshots
Wanna know what the first sites look like as you are pulling out of the Lima airport. Well, here’s a view from our bus as we were pulling out of the LIma airport. This was our last day in Peru and we were headed to the Sonesta El Olivar (the same one as our first day) to establish a temporary home base. After a group lunch we were scheduled for a bus tour of Lima.
En route to teh El Olivar, I grabbed a few fun photos. Like this random street scene. Or this shot of a walk-up hardware store. On the way between the airport and our hotel, there were a lot of chicken restaurants….most of them extremely popular at about 11:00pm. Couldn’t resist taking a picture of the random signage (helps distinguish countries) like this example where a lot of yellow and red are put together in a very not-see-this-in-america-way.
Best of all were the number of places for buying fuzzies.
Getting the feel for Lima yet? Notice the perma-gray sky? Here’s another random street scene, and another.
We arrived at the El Olivar and were surprised to find out that Leslie (our SAA associate) in all her free time had put together a quick slide show on her iBook. Leslie had been carrying a nice SLR around the entire time and had snapped a ton of great photos. What a treat!!!
Following the slideshow, we were treated to an amazing lunch spread at the hotel. All sorts of goodies and tasties and dishes. Typical buffet….not enough plate space and way too many options. And just to spoil us further, we also got a short Q&A section with a diplomat to Peru. Another treat!
Bus Tour of Lima
I’ll just go on the record to say that a bus tour after this many sleepless days (and a hike on a trail, for instance) is a bad idea. Unfortunately, when your tour guide is a little unengaging (shall we say) matters only become worse. We got to see a lot of things on the tour (as you’ll see), so it was worthwhile in that sense.
First stop was the Plaza de Amour, the same place we had visited on our first day. This time, camera in hand, we were ready to take pictures. And, oh look, there I am in the Plaza de Amour looking like a dork. The cool thing about the plaza is the massive statue of the couple kissing. Never find something like that in America…I guarantee it.
The walls surrounding the Plaza de Amour were put together by art students with donated materials from a local ceramics factory. They are amazing and include countless names of fictional (or perhaps real) lovers. There are quotes and sayings as well. My favorite piece of the wall can be found on the southern end of the Plaza…where a love triangle is immortalized in ceramic.
Heading along on our bus tour, there was the opportunity for more street scenes– like this funkadelic store. There were also a couple of fun signs telling cabbies to lay off the horns. Steph also got a great window scene of this chef school in downtown Lima. And of course, another random street scene.
Our next stop–Lima’s Plaza de Armas and the Lima Cathedral. Once again, no photos inside the cathedral. The cathedral in Lima rests in stark contrast to the cathedral in Cusco….dark, massive, forboding, cold, catholic. The bones (supposedly) of Pizarro were located in the cathedral in a very short box. The box was extra short ’cause the head was in its own box. The story on the murals in Lima was more glorifying of the Spaniards than those in Cusco.
Leaving the cathedral, we walked towards the San Francisco Monastery in Lima. But first, I had to get this shot of the water canon vehicle that has taken permanent residence outside the president’s palace. Approaching the monastery, I had no idea what to expect, but I was sure happy to be walking and not half-drowsing in the bus. The plaza in front of the monastery is filled with pidgeons and kids and kids chasing pidgeons.
Now the inside of the monastery is a diamond in the rough. Well, actually it’s more like a diamond that was re–buried and didn’t have enough money to get cleaned proper-like. There were so many cool things inside the monastery, that I just had to take lots of photos so that I could bore you with them. First up, the massive dome with this intricate wood criss-cross pattern….a tough shot without a flash. Second, another flashless shot of this musty smelling harry-potter-esque library (Steph’s head made the perfect tripod). Out on the second floor courtyard there were some paintings that had sadly turned black due to environmental exposure. So, instead I took this picture looking through a courtyard pillar out to the iron cross on top of the hill above.
The other great thing about the San Francisco Monastery is the catacombs. Once again, no flash, but I got a couple of shots for you, like this one of one of the catacomb corridors. Now it’s kind of dark and disturbing, but the franciscans cleaned up the catacombs years back and rearranged all of the skeletal pieces in interesting ways. This pit of skulls (no joke) is at the center of the catacomb deep below.
And since the art is definitely quechuan, the obligatory Last Supper portrait has all the great Quechuan features. Once again, no flash (thanks Steph for the head-tripod), but you can see the guinea pig in the center and the chicha mugs and the limes and all the other things.
To sum up the bus tour, the San Francisco Monastery was my favorite part of the tour and also the most disheartening. Such a beautiful collection of art and inlaid floors and vaulted ceilings yet no means by which to support and maintain itself. So, if you are ever in Lima, be sure to visit the Monastery and do your part to support the diamond in the rough.
Wrapping it Up
That evening, after the bus tour, we all met for one last time for dinner. We had reserved the upper floor of a nearby restaurant for drinks and dinner. Good times, some party games and hangin’ out with da’ folks for one last time. I couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up an amazing trip to a great country!!
One last Pisco Sour, and we were on the bus for our final ride to the airport. The expected group-wide sadness of the end-of-a-journey began to descend. Kristin was nominated (chosen?) to create a shirt design for the group and we were told to expect a call for group photos. Periods of silence interspersed the laughter and we said goodbye and thanks to those around us.
At the airport, the group began to splinter all too quickly. A few smattered goodbyes and the crazy check in process followed by the quest for stamps followed by getting through customs followed by paying the exit tax. Inside, and at the gate, Steph and I had a little time to wander around the duty free shops and pick up a few final gifts for friends.
And then we sat quietly waiting for the plane…just a few of us now. We were completely exhausted, drained, wasted and pisco-soured-out. It’s always depressing to close out an amazing time with brand new friends, but all good things must end in time and it was time for our vacation (sans sleep) to come to an end. Any of y’all reading this…hope to meet up with y’all again on future SYAE trips.
