Hotel Libertador - Lima

... So Alfonso tells jeff to make sure the doors are locked and he roles his window up. At that point you know not to really make eye contact or take pics. We did go around a really cool historical district and I was trying to take pics, Jeff says "Joy put that camera on your wrist" It's easy for me to forget these simple things. It comes natural to Jeff. After our LONG drive (we hit Lima traffic that rivals New York ...

... to top it off, we had to spend 9hrs on a bus the next day to get to Puno, so I had to hold everything in with a lot of controlled breathing till each stop. Oh so grim...<br><br>Peru has been brilliant. The people, the landscape, the vibriant colours - I love it. So far 'touch wood' nothing has gone too wrong. From here on in though, we'll have to get hard, or go home. Bolivia, by all accounts will test our reserves and our friendship.<br><br>Till next time. F

Got our luggage and supplies delivered Thursday, Jul30th. in the afternoon, we did the tourist stuff and saw the Presidential Palace and walked around downtown Lima.<br><br>July 31st, we meed up with two other Lutheran groups one from ...

... earthquakes, and these have been filled with the bones of regular people (not clergy) in interesting bone designs. <br>After the dead people, we headed over to see the dead animals at the market.  In addition to the standard animals and parts you would find at a market in the US, I was able to identify tripe, some guinea pig (I think) and some other types of meat.  They also had veggies and fruits, but we had no where to cook them and were told not to eat things that were ...

... but I snuck a few of the art in the church and down in the catacombs (WITHOUT FLASH, mind you). The art in the church dated back to the 17th century. It was beautiful! 7. Catacomb Facts - There was a large painting of a family tree of the Franciscans in 1734. I have a picture of this! - The catacombs were the first public cemetery in the colonial period (they are an under church labyrinth) - We only saw the first level of the catacombs but ...

... dock, constantly knitting, a bag of yard tied to her waist, three needles in motion. <br> More pictures, more hugs and kisses, then on to Taquile. This island is so very different from Amantani; here the men do the knitting and tourism is a real business. There are solar panels and most of the inhabitants seem focused on milking the tourist dollar as much as possible. Our day consisted of a trek around the island ...

... unique gifts for those at home. Met a lady (Julia) at one of stands while purchasing some fun finger puppets for the kids at work for Emily and for the kids back home too. She would teach us the Spanish name of each animal and in turn Emily would tell her the English name which made for a good laugh, she especially liked pig. Also met a little boy named Diego who was cute as a button ...

... at her hostel. Well, it wasn't long, and everybody was taking Spanish lessons, so there was a queue at the hostel for the teacher. After some days passed, I became really good friends with Debbie, and I decided to join her and our other buddy, Rick, in cusco, for the ride over to Puno. I had seen an ad on TV about Puno, and the Calendaria there, the 1st week in Feb, and I decided I had to go. So, I ...