Our visit to Peru was an unexpected bonus, resulting from an unnecessarily arduous flight itinerary. Each of the flights between Montevideo and Asuncion included twenty-hour layovers in Lima. We took advantage of each of these with two custom day tours, including pickup and dropoff at the airport. Needless to say, this first visit to Peru did not permit a visit to the most obvious of landmarks, Machu Picchu. We packed in what we could though, visiting the coastal Inca ruins at Pachacamac and taking in a Peruvian Paso Horse show on our first day. On return day, we took in a walking tour of Lima and a few museums and landmarks and did a little shopping. Like Buenos Aires, Lima definitely warrants some return visits. Even without the need to come back for a trip to Machu Picchu, the food alone would be worth the trip.
Downtown Lima
El Beso in Parque del Amor
Islands off of Pachacamac, the final resting place of an Incan god. The islands look deceptively close from coast, but even with a lengthy drone flight, they still seemed pretty far out.
Pachacamac, viewed from a safe distance by drone.
No visit would be right without some ceviche. I've had it before and thought it was pretty good. What we had here was just incredible though. Thinking about returning, this is what immediately comes to mind.
Alfajores, a dessert that we should've been familiar with, but weren't. Lots of different varieties. At a nice restaurant, you'll get it like this with soft shortbread cookies and dulce de leche.
Guards all over at Pachacamac
Peruvian Paso Horses. This show was kind of an add-on, as it was a weekend and it was close by to Pachacamac. Along with a nice lunch, it was pretty interesting, even as we're not really horse people. Horses featured prominently on the last couple of trips, to Mongolia and then throughout Central Asia, so it was interesting to see a very unique variation.
