The driver from my hostel picks me up at the airport and it's about a half hour drive to Condor's House in Miraflores. Miraflores is an upscale touristy neighborhood with lots of old houses side by side with new highrises.
The back yard at Condor's house
Front yard
After getting settled in, I meet up with world famous travel photographer/journalist/author Dean Jacobs ( http://www.deanjacobs.org/ ) who is currently on a six month trip exploring the Amazon River basin. Dean spent the last six weeks in Ecuador and just arrived in Peru to continue his expedition.
We decide to catch a cab to the Lima Central district. The first cab wanted 20 soles for the trip, way too much according to the people at the hostel. We get the next guy to accept our offer of 12 soles but then wonder if we shouldn't have gone with the first guy. This cab is really rickety and stalls several times on the side streets before the highway. Just before getting on the highway he pulls over and gets about 75 cents worth of gas for the trip downtown (Gas stations here are just a bunch of pumps in the median of the street. It seems pretty convenient as you can just pull over in the left lane and fill up then just keep on driving down the street.)
We eventually make it to the Plaza de Armas without having to get out and push.
The national Christmas tree
Ornaments on the tree
All afternoon there were Peruvian military planes circling the city and flying over the Government Palace
In front of the ancient fountain and Cathedral of Lima.
Palace guards. There is a big ceremonial changing of the guard every day at 6pm but I never managed to catch it.
With the Policia Nacional in front of the palace. I asked them if I could take a picture of the group and the captain said "Here, let me take a picture of you."
This arcade is dedicated to dozens of stalls selling only postcards and greeting cards.
More Policia at the back door of the palace.
Altar at a nearby church.
All of the old church doors are studded with these giant metal knobs.
Back in Miraflores, a typical house with a nice old Land Rover.
The ocean, about three blocks from the hostel. Water was pretty cold, a lot of people surfing but otherwise nobody in the water.
Heading out to look for dinner, walking down the main street.
After passing up McDonald's, KFC, Papa Johns and Dominos Pizza I finally found a regular restaurant. This is a giant grilled ham and cheese, with mayo and some kind of spicy dressing on the side.
