Day 15 - 10/21/23 - Callao (Lima) Day 2, Peru
Day 2 of our stay in Callao (Lima) began as Day one did: Up at 6:30am, breakfast in the LIDO, and then I met our group in the Ocean Bar. Everyone was prompt and we disembarked the ship and were put in a holding area to board our shuttle to the port gate. Today we had 15 people on the tour. Once we cleared the two exit gates we were driven to Gate #3 when we were held on the bus by the local police until our guide and bus arrived. Edwin, our guide for the day, arrived at 8:30am and greeted us. He then called for the van to arrive and José, the driver, had us on the bus in about 10 minutes. We pulled out into traffic and then we stopped. And we waited some more only inching forward in less than car lengths. It eventually took about 1/2 hour to clear all of the congestion surrounding this very busy port. From there until our drop off point in the historic old part of town we drove in very heavy traffic and I had a front seat beside the driver.
Traffic in Callao and Lima is simply horrible. It's congested and there don't seem to be many rules. But the traffic flows except for the sheer volumes which bring it to a standstill. And when traffic is stopped, motorcycles approach between the lanes and will dart in and out between cars sometimes being 90º to the direction of traffic. At roundabouts and intersections it's not uncommon for the car in the left lane to make a right turn right across one, two, or three lanes of traffic. There's not much honking except to alert other drivers of one's intent to move over and take the 5 feet of space to fit a 20 foot car into. It's a pretty crazy situation, but we made it safe and sound both directions yesterday and today.
Once in the city, we left our shuttle and took a bio break at the Gran Hotel Bolivar, The hotel is definitely upscale with an incredible stained glass dome, collection of local art and a 1920 Model T in the lobby area, The model T was nostalgic for me because I once owned a 1923 for about 10 years. The car series was extremely popular and you could have any color you wanted as long as it was black.
We left the hotel and wandered our way into plaza San Martin where there is a giant statute of General San Martin who is a national hero of South American independence from Spain. It's noteworthy that the statute depicts San Martin's horse with one front leg raised which indicates that the rider died in battle. We took a group picture there before heading over to a nearby church, Eglesia de la Merced which for the Peruvian Catholics elevates Mary to a position higher than Jesus. Our guide did not seem to know that its Jesus who forgives sins and Angela was able to chat with him briefly.
We continued our wandering through streets lined with colorful buildings in various states of repair and some with balconies. We reached one of the high points of the tour at the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco. This church is noted for its collection of bones in the catacombs. It's a bit creepy for my taste, and there are the bones of some 50,000 people stored there (most are not on exhibit) and many have been stolen over the years. To my untrained eye, it looked pretty similar to what I remember from 5 years ago. The complex also has an extensive collection of historic paintings.
After we left the church we strolled back to our van where we had a street with many vendors and I finally found a Peruvian shirt that I liked. The traffic heading back towards Callao was every bit as bad as the morning traffic we experienced. It took an hour to get to our shuttle bus stop and there was a bus waiting for us. We said our goodbyes to Edwin and José and 5 minutes and two security checkpoints, we were dropped off next to the Zaandam at 2:05pm where some of us shopped the vendors set up next to the ship while others reboarded the ship directly. It was a good tour and everyone seemed to enjoy it and the variety it presented.
The LIDO market was closed so I enjoyed a burger and cheese and lettuce plus a taco from the Dive-In in the LIDO pool area and wrong this blog which I'll finish up later tonight after we attend the evening entertainment on the World Stage which is a saxaphonist, Rodrigo Santic, from Chile.
Dinner for me was a bowl of seafood soup and a dish of jumbo shrimp which was a light dinner considering my late hamburger earlier. Rodrigo was excellent on the Main Stage although I fell asleep in the stateroom and missed the first song.
We finished the evening watching the ALCS (American League Championship Series) and the University of Washington football game. Tomorrow is going to be another active day in General San Martin, Peru.
Comments
Post a Comment