I landed in Lima at 11:30 last night. Immigration was reasonably fast (in spite of the large number of people to process), but my luggage took forever – in part I think because United (remember Dave Carroll’s great video “United Breaks Guitars“) destroyed my hard sided checked bag! I was only able to get out of the airport because I really had packed a roll of duct tape! There was a tear from the top to the bottom on one side of the bag – so while at the United counter setting a claim in motion, I dug out my duct tape and wrapped the suitcase a couple of times to make sure I could get as far as the reception area where I was actually met by a driver holding a sign with my name.

My first day in Peru started with breakfast where I met up with Sab from Munich. She and I had been corresponding and had planned to spend the day visiting historic Miraflores and then the Museo Larco to see treasures from ancient Peru.

Casa Inca, our hotel is just a few steps from the Pacific Ocean:

We took the walk along the top of the cliff until we reached Larcomar, a large upscale shopping centre really just around the corner from our pensione. Expensive, international brand stores. We walked about for a short while then left. Next we hailed a cab to take us to central Miraflores. We hadn’t gone far when the driver pulled over and said traffic was too heavy and he put us out! Fortunately we were able to hail another, more accommodating driver who took us to the Plaza Mayor (the historic center of Lima).

Several large ornate churches are located there as well as the Presidental Palace (guarded by high iron fences and a police detail).
 

Lots of shops for tourists, the colourful goods machine made using synthetic materials but interesting to browse.

We looked around for maybe an hour then took another cab to Museo Larko – first stop lunch in the restaurant there. We decided to order a selection of appetizers and weren’t disappointed. The food was beautifully presented and delicious.

Then a visit to the Museo itself starting with the collection of early Peruvian erotic pottery – several rooms of interesting, detailed, explicit renderings of all aspects of sexuality as functional objects.

Next stop the permanent pottery, textile, silver and gold body ornaments and jewelry collections. All amazing artifacts like this burial set.
It was now past 5:00, we were tired so we got another cab (cabs by the way are amazingly cheap in Lima – these long distance trips costing us between $9-$12) and returned home.

It’s now about 8:30pm – I’m worn out so off to bed. Sab and I are planning a visit to another part of Lima tomorrow and I need to be rested to be able to keep up with her.