27 October: Rio to Lima

It was a 0500 departure from the hotel on a wet and rainy morning to take flight #69 for the year. The work in Rio was done and now it was back to Lima. I was last in Peru in 2008 when I was on crutches which was not a lot of fun.

The drive to the airport was very wet with a lot of large deep puddles in places which slowed us up frequently. The airport was pretty quiet when we arrived so I set of through the only open door to find that my check-in was the other end of the building. Another new airline this time - TACA.  Anyway they have a deal with Lufthansa so I will get flyer points and I had a Business Class seat for the 5.5 hours to Lima which was nice.  Rio airport is a bit tired with quite a few puddles on the floor inside the terminal after the rain. I followed the signs to the VIP lounge but obviously 0600 was too early for the Brazilians to open up; many of the shops were closed too leaving many  passengers wandering around wondering what to do. So it was back downstairs to the gate area and  at least they did have a few seats. The aeroplane was an Airbus 319, probably not too old but the business class seats seemed older than the plane as they were quite scuffed. As we pushed back the heavens really opened up and the rain poured down.

 Despite the awful weather we left pretty close to time and were promptly served a breakfast omelette which was good but filled with onions and various coloured peppers- welcome to Latin America, again.



The flight was almost due west it seemed and we spent along time over clouds and then jungle

 before the landscape changed to hills

 and then mountains and finally snow covered peaks and alpine lakes of melt-water.

We crossed Lake Titicaca

 and then the land looked a bit more barren like the altoplano

 but before too long it was the top of descent. There were a few hilltops sticking out of the cloud and we were heading into thick clouds until we suddenly appeared above the sea and on short final approach to Lima.

and there were many fishing boats anchored in the bays along the coast and the heavy overcast made for a very grey day.

After we landed the first passengers were starting to queue in the gangway well before we finished taxying - memories of travel in Central Asia. Immigration and customs were straightforward and I was met by my counterpart and we set off for the car and the hotel. The traffic was pretty diabolical but this is South America. The hotel

is right in the centre of the arts and crafts shopping markets  with one of the largest Inca markets opposite

and I suspect I will be shopping there soon, after all Christmas is not so far away.