End of the trail in Peru

Mutt and Jeff arrive to take us to the Cusco airport. It's a quick 15 minute drive. They come into the small terminal with us and show us the check in area. Then show us where we will take the stairs to pay that wonderful departure tax. We smile, say goodbye then walk back outside. We've got 2 hours to kill before our flight to Lima. Domestic flights require a 2 hour prior check in. International flights require a 3 hour prior check in. We walk across the parking lot to a small market stand. Cheese, small trinkets. Nothing interesting to us. Other travelers are snatching up everything in site. Not wanting to just sit around, we start walking around the parking lot. Our last impression of Mutt and Jeff is watching them run at full speed down the far end of the terminal. Looks like they are trying to catch some clients who decided to take a taxi on their own. Yep. There's Mutt, arguing with the taxi driver. Jeff is motioning to the two passengers in the back seat. Their two clients are now getting out of the car. The driver doesn't look happy. Just a normal day in the lives of these two tour operators.

01 Flight out of Cusco

The flight was over beautiful patchwork valleys, snow capped mountains, then the grey rocky mountains. We arrived in Lima without a hitch. Unlike the previous highland flights, only the front exit was available for unloading passengers.

03 Cactus and paragliders

This time the Lima airport was easier to navigate. We took our bags to the baggage storage area, right past the baggage claim. Plopped down $4 per bag and we were heading for the "green" taxi stand inside the airport. This is the authorized, and SAFE, taxi company. $18 and we were on our way back to Milaflores. We had decided to do some last minute shopping on our own. I was in search of an alpaca poncho that one of the girls purchased in Cusco. Didn't get a chance to buy it there, so figured I would find it at the Indian markets in Milaflores. We walked and walked thru those markets, and surprise... we didn't find the poncho, but we found Cinthya! Was that a chance in a million? She was taking some tourists shopping for the afternoon. It was wonderful to see a familiar face again. No luck with the poncho, but major luck with some hand woven alpaca sweaters. Then we decided to head down to the waterfront, which wasn't easy to find. Block after long block and still no water. How can you not spot a light house? A few wrong turns and we finally see it in the distance. Turning a curve we spot... Cinthya. This time she is unloading a bus of tourists. She runs over to us laughing. Another chance in a million? Lima really isn't a small town. Our last goodbye then we take the path to the light house. We pass workers restoring the hillside. Even in the big city they are using manual tools to move dirt and stone.

03 Lima Lighthouse

This is where the upper class come for their children's tennis lessons. An oceanfront huge private club with swimming pool, numerous clay and hard surface courts, and all the instructors to turn the newly wealthy class into refined citizens. It's hard to justify this wealth when you have been seen so much poverty in this country. We walk past the complex to the lighthouse. The ocean is below us, colorful single and double hang gliders are floating on the wind overhead and below us. Surfers are taking advantage of the high tide. Parents are watching their kids ride around the light house on bikes and battery powered cars. We've come back to the real world.

Our stomachs are grumbling so we decide to find one of the street side restaurants in Milaflores. Too much traffic on a Friday night, so we take a taxi to Park Kennedy and pay the driver $3 US. The menu people are all lined up. I am an experienced diner now. We navigate the crowds. We want a balcony, but not just any balcony. One with good food and a view, and quiet. Our last meal in Peru. I order a glass of white wine and end up with a bottle of red. The waitress is practicing her limited English. I just smile. The food is wonderful, the view from the balcony keeps us interested. The bill comes, a whopping $22US and I surrender the last of my Peruvian Soles. And I give the waitress the half full bottle of wine. You'd think she won the lottery.

Another $18 US taxi ride gets us back to the airport. We're there a little over the three hours that are mandated on an international flight. We take our luggage out of baggage storage, and stand in a short line. That doesn't move for over an hour. There are no airline employees at the check-in desk. The line behind us is getting longer and longer. Finally the staff starts filtering in. Three counters are opening. You move your baggage until you reach the employee in charge of the scanner, which is in the middle of the floor, in front of the check-in area. The scanner man takes your luggage and runs it thru the scanner, then puts it in front of the scanner. You keep moving up in line, once you get called to the check in counter, you give your ticket information, your immigration card and passport, then the counter person will tell you to get your luggage. You may have to pull it out from under or behind other luggage (a good reason for packing light in Peru!) then you check the retrieved luggage at the counter. Then go to the departure tax area to pay $38 per person. There isn't much to do at the airport. Three stores all selling Peruvian liquor, crafts, and clothing. One Alpaca 100 store. McDonalds, and a few other American fast food restaurants offer their standard menus. A pipe and drum band is playing in front of one of the stores. Departing passengers can purchase up to two litres of liquor duty free. I chose a leather looking container of Pisco for my daughter ($19). Would have bought one for myself, but didn't want the hassle of carrying it. In hind site, I should have grabbed another bottle of Pisco, since it's hard to find it in the US.