Our flight was no issue, the waiting in line to take our shoes off, take the computer out, etc is something we cannot control and I always feel I become a sardine in a sardine can. I feel I get packed tightly. It must be that this packing and shipping is easier for the airline. I hate to fly but what can one do? This is the fastest way to get places. We flew American Airlines and I had the notion that this airline can not last long. All went well; I used my accumulated points for this flight. Now AA can drop the point system, I have none left. I plan well.
We arrived in Lima about an hour late around 11 PM local time. We did not make prior taxi arrangements but I knew from a note I received from our hostel, to look for the ‘Green Taxi’ Company. Sure enough, their counter was right outside the secure area of the airport and it took only 3 minutes to get going. The cost was a bit more than the ‘regular’ taxis, but it was totally safe and safety counts in Peru. We had made accommodation arrangements via Hostelwold.com and we were assured that they would be open even at this late hour. The trip into town was successful and about 40 minutes later we reached our goal, the Albergue Miraflores House in Miraflores (www.alberguemirafloreshouse.com), a suburb of Lima. Yes, they had our reservations, all is well. We planned well.
This morning we woke up after about 6 hours of sleep in a non air-conditioned room. The temperature went from a dry 50 F in Arizona to about 80 degrees here in Lima, but the air here is heavy with very high humidity intensifying the scent of flowers mixed with cigarette smoke and pollution.
We took a walk to the beach near here today wanting to feel the cool air coming off the water even though the sky looked threatening. It was overcast and looked like rain so walking was ok. We even took sunscreen along, we plan well but….. We did not use the sunscreen and now here we are at the hostel and we shine in the common area with two burned faces. Yes, we plan well but do not always do what we plan for. I should have known better than to walk out on an overcast day near the Equator without head protection and/or sunscreen. Ouch! It hurts to be this stupid. You can tell on my face today, it is glowing red, how all the planning does not work if you don’t follow up.
We are staying here for 3 days, and then we had planned to go to Cuzco and Aguas Calientes. We also made arrangements via Hostelworld and received confirmations for our stays in those towns. We plan and do the best we can.
But…………. the rain in recent days has washed out the roads to Machu Picchu, the main bridge to Aguas Calientes from Cuzco has collapsed, 3,000 people are being evacuated via helicopter from Aguas Calientes and brought back to Cuzco. So now we are not going to Machu Picchu. So much for our planning! Yes, I had bought cancel Insurance for the Hostel Reservation and cancellation was just a click on the screen of Hostelworld, but what do we do now, we came all this way to see Machu Pichu?
