Honk Honk Beep Beep

Peruvians love their horns, whether the want you to get out of the way, if you need a taxi or just to honk and whistle at the white ladies.

My older sister and I arrived in Lima, Peru late on Monday night after a long day of traveling. Even at that time of day, the airport was crowded. Once we got through immigrations and customs, we were then bombarded by a sea of taxi drivers. We finally made it to our disgusting hotel for the night. I was just happy to lay down.

The next morning we switched to a hostel called Backpacker's Inkawasi, which is located in Miraflores and is by clifftop parks overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Very cute hotel with friendly staff, Alberto.

That afternoon we took a taxi into the center of Lima. We visited the San Francisco monastery and church which is famous for its catacombs. The underground catacombs is the site of an estimated 700,000 burials. It was very cool to see the bones and skulls. We also took a bus - which we got on in the center of Lima - all we had to do was wait for a bus to pull up - no bus stop - up to Cerro San Cristobal - a 409 meter high hill which has a cross which was built in 1928 and has a mirador or lookout. The cross is the Lima landmark and is the object of pilgrimage every May 1.

On Wednesday night we took a bus from Lima to Ayacucho which is located in the mountains. The bus ride was very cold so I didn't get much sleep. Once it got light, the views were amazing. Ayacucho has many churches, a pedestrian walkway and many people. Not many tourists which is nice but I felt like a stuck out.

On Friday, we took a 10 hour day bus to Andahuaylas. It was uncomfortable, hot as HELL, but the scenery was worth it. There were lots of people on the bus and lots of people had to stand for hours. Sure glad we had seats. No bathroom on this bus. Their way of living is so different.

Taking the bus has been a great experience. You get to see the great scenery and also experience how the locals travel.

Today we took a taxi to Laguna de Pacucha. We hiked up to a hilltop that had amazing mountain views. Along the way were old ruins. After about 5 minutes of enjoying the great views, my sister and I were then surrounded by some school kids and their teachers. It was fun talking with them. The Peruvian people are very friendly.

I love Peru. It is beautiful and the people are nice, and the women's clothing is so colorful. Tonight we take a long overnight bus ride to Cusco. We get the special service bus but it still has no bathroom;)