As I write this I’m sat in a beautiful hostel in Cusco sipping delicious coca tea and I feel on top of the world!

I arrived in Peru yesterday and I could not have asked for a smoother journey so far. My flight from Toronto landed in Lima 25 minutes early about 9pm local time. I got through immigration and received the 6 month visa I requested without any problems. Then a cab driver was there to pick me up and take me to a hostel I had booked online just the night before. The hostel was much further away from the airport than I thought but I got to see more of the city and I enjoyed the drive. I think we arrived at the hostel about 10.30pm and I went straight to bed.

This morning I woke up early and was met about 9.30 by a lady called Malena, and another guy, who was sorting out my flight to Cusco. It turned out my flight was booked for 3pm so I had quite a few hours to kill and was given a tour of the city by the guy whose name I forget.

Lima seems to have changed quite a bit since I was last there in 1998. One of the most obvious changes is the roads. While certainly not perfect they’re infinitely better than I remember them as result from being resurfaced. Lima also feels a bit safer than I remember it.

Here’s a few pictures of the main Plaza Mayor square in downtown Lima

After my tour around Lima I had to get a taxi from downtown Lima to the airport and that was an experience I won’t forget for awhile. The taxi driver didn’t seem to care for main roads and instead drove down an endless amount of back roads through what were clearly some very poor areas of the city. Most of these roads probably haven’t ever been resurfaced. Also, the only way to get across busy junctions where you don’t have right of way is to just stick your nose out and hope the cars heading towards you decide to stop in time. Needless to say, there were several hair raising moments on this 20 minute ride to the airport.

Anyway, we eventually got to the airport in one piece and I caught my flight to Cusco without any problems. I love the approach to Cusco airport because the plane literally has to fly between mountains. It’s an exciting descent and I bet it’s even more amazing from the cockpit!

Here’s a few pics I managed to take from the window.

After landing in Cusco I took a taxi to the hostel that I’m booked into for 4 nights while I hopefully find a place to live for awhile. The hostel is called Casa de la Gringa and is really lovely hostel. I’ve got my own room, not a dorm, but it’s only costing me $15 a night. I’ll take a few photos of it tomorrow.

I took a brief walk around Cusco earlier which is a really interesting and beautiful town but I’m sure I’ll write much more about it in future posts. I know I’m going to be happy here for awhile!