Peru Chili Bolivia Peru 2013

From  the end of May to the end of June we will travel through Peru, Chili and Bolivia. Our plane from São Paulo for Lima  is scheduled for 10 past 7 in the morning. At 6.30 no plane.... 2 Hours late because of the bad weather. São Paulo International (Guarulhos) is not so large. It only handles one tenth of the traffic of Schiphol (Amsterdam). There is enough time to read... A quarter past 9 yes, the plane has arrived!! Boarding. But... we cannot fly yet. We have to wait for some delayed passengers fr Lima. They already missed their plane. New departure time: half past 10. Finally the door closes: 11.15! There is still hope to reach Lima before dark.

 The turbulence gets less after one and a half hours of flying. Are we flying over the Mato Grosso or the Pantanal? Large winding rivers. Woods and agricultural lands. Deep down everything is hazy and very green.

Finally the mountains. Very high en lot of snow on their tops. This is the Andes west of La Paz.

 After some time we see a tiny part of the Lake Titicaca; the north-west corner.

In the villages and towns the metal roof glitter like silver in the sun. This is the Altiplano - large, flt and with a lot of agriculture. The Altiplano and Lake Titicaca are at a height of 400 meters. High and by all means COLD.

Then we arrive at the mountains and valleys of peru. A capricious landscape.

Sometimes some snow on high peaks.

Finally the valleys head west. Filled with fog. The notorious fog on the westcoast of Latin America.

We land around 5 in the afternoon. Lima, twoo hours later then Brazil. Fabian the tourleader is waiting for us.  The traffic of Lima is something special. No rush hour. To the hotel, more then half an hour. Later we discover that it is quick.
   

In Lima live 10 million inhabitants. Because of the danger of earthquakes, the buildings are generally low.
The traffic is a war zone. In the third lane? No problem if you want to go right. Pedestrians are outlawed. Here and there a traffic light (when you are lucky).

Our hotel lies in the poche neigbourhoud of Miraflores. Very safe, also for tourists. It is higher up (less fog) and on the coast.

There is enough time to walk to the coast to look at the sunset. When, at the end of the trip, we return to Lima, it proves exceptional that there was no fog. The standard is less than 28 hours of sunshine in July!!
The sea is about 40 minutes from the hotel (walking). We pass shops and some parks. When we go for a pizza to the "Pizzastreet" we are served by a (very slow) waiter from Copenhagen.