Tess The Travel Addict: Peru Day 2

We arrived in Lima last night at around 11:00 PM. After collecting Tina's luggage at the carousel, we rushed through the immigration, and luckily it was a short lineup. We got our passport stamped then we stopped at the taxi green booth by the exit door. It is the airport official taxi with a fixed price. After we paid for the taxi ticket, we were escorted to our white sedan taxi cab, not green. The airport wasn't as chaotic as I expected but then again we arrived late in the evening. The taxi driver is very friendly and spoke only Spanish. He was telling us about the different districts in Lima. The drive was nice for about 20 minutes.

We are staying at a cute guest house Casa Serena in Miraflores, a modern area near the Pacific Ocean. The guesthouse's gate was locked when we arrived and the light was dimmed so we thought we were at the wrong place. The taxi driver assured us it is the right place. It looks just like a house with a small front garden with an iron fence. The driver knocked on the gate and waited until someone opened the door for us. A young guy who looked like we woke him up checked us in. He asked us to be quiet when we go up to our room on the second floor. We didn't get our preferred twin bed and so Tina and I had to share a queen bed. I was a bit disappointed but he offered to move us the next day but we couldn't be bothered to pack and repack again so we stayed in the room

Checking out Larcomar.

The first order of the day after breakfast is going to a currency exchange office. There are several in Miraflores which offer competitive rates. Then we took a taxi for $5 and asked the driver to take us to the nearest shopping area and he dropped us at Larcomar by the Pacific Ocean. I was thrilled to see the ocean. We walked around the mall looking for a coffee shop with a view. We spotted Mangos restaurant that has a wide terrace with a great view of the ocean and the servers, mostly male are wearing pink shirts. First, we ordered coffee, then we ended up trying the popular Peruvian ceviche (raw seafood marinated in lemon), Cusquena Negra (dark, sweet malt beer), and pisco sours (Peruvian origin alcoholic drink).

I have to admit I didn't give much thought to Lima City when I was building our itinerary. I looked it up on google map and booked a hotel that is closest, safest, and most accessible to the bus station. I figured a day would be sufficient to get our bearings before venturing out of Lima. I was surprised to see how beautiful Lima is. We spent most of our morning in the shopping center in Larcomar and booked a private tour of the downtown area from the Marriott Hotel Concierge across the mall. It was a splurge but I'm glad we did.

As we waited for our afternoon tour, Tina and I walked going west and spotted KFC so we went inside and snacked on popcorn nuggets. Well.... there's also a Pizza Hut beside KFC ... what do you know eh......Miraflores is known as the modern district of Lima. Downtown Lima, on the other hand, is like stepping back in time with its Spanish colonial buildings, narrow streets, and cobbled stones. Lima is worth a visit and to be explored if you have the time. The country, in general, has so much to offer.