We had an early flight to Lima from Arequipa, so we got up at 4, and our arranged taxi picked us up at 4:30. We arrived at the entrance of the airport at 4:45, but the airport was closed, and would open at 5:00! Our taxi driver said he would charge us more if we want him to stay until 5. We told him no no no. We agreed on the fare (30 soles) to the airport, and not to the entrance. Long story short, we gave him 20 soles and left the taxi. We had to wait outside for 15 minutes to be able to walk to the departure terminal. Why taxi drivers have to be the sleaziest people tourists encounter wherever they go? Anyhow, the airport opened (!) slowly at 5, and we got our flight to Lima.Almost one third of the population of Peru lives in Lima; around 10 million people. It’s a large city with huge number of cars and the pollution and traffic that comes with it. Lima also has a very peculiar climate. It is located by the pacific ocean, but it NEVER rains here! It’s also overcast half of the year. Since it is located close to the equator, the temperature does not fluctuate much during the day or even during the year. Lima is also the gastronomical capital of South America, so we basically came here to eat good food!We are staying in Miraflores district, were most tourists stay. It is close to the beach, more upscale and pretty safe. We’re staying in B\&B Tradiciones which is a family-run bed and breakfast. The owner is a really nice guy, with lots of passion for explaining everything about Peru! He gave us an hour long advice on where to go and what to eat in detail. Later on I had a lot of nice discussions with him about the history of Peru. We went out for lunch, had some great Peruvian seafood. We then went to the beach side, and then to the pre-Incan ruins. The ruins are in the form of a huge solid pyramid, built by the Lima Civilization around 1500 years ago. They used this area for ceremonies and burials. The interesting fact about it was that they would just add more on top of it every few years, and that’s how it turned into a pyramid. It’s fascinating what the ancient people would do for the dead… 

Another interesting fact about this ruin is the way they arranged adobes in the structure. Instead of putting them horizontally, they places them vertically with some space between them. Apparently they had figured out that this would help with the frequent earthquakes they thave in this area. The archeologists are still unearthing another 30 percent of this huge pyramid, as all of it was buried under earth, and it looked like a hill, up until 30 years ago or so. The next day, we went to the historical center of Lima, and visited two churches. One of them had an extensive catacombs underneath, which we visited. We were not allowed to take pictures, but imagine all the floors and wells were filled with femur bones and skulls! Apparently up until 1800 AD, they used these catacombs as the burial ground in Lima. They would wrap the bodies in some textile, and then leave them in the catacombs (not buried, just left there). I don’t get why they would do that instead of just burying them. Since ancient times, people have had a hard time dealing with death. There is this tribe in Indonesia where people keep their dead in their houses for a year or two, dressing them, even offering them food, since they consider them just “sick”. Incredible. Not sure if I want to visit that place though. Anyhow, we came back to Miraflores for lunch, and and we had some great food again. For dessert we went to this Amazonian place (biased?) where they had foods inspired from jungle. It was fantastic!We are leaving Peru tomorrow for Mexico City. Peru is an amazing place with a huge variety of experiences: From high mountains in Andes, to Amazon jungles, deserts and beaches. It also has a rich history of ancient civilizations and colonial architecture. On top of that, it has a great cuisine. Basically it has something for any taste! Highly recommend to visit this great country.