PERU, HERE WE COME!
Our flights worked out well. Long, but okay. Mexico City airport was interesting... no air conditioning and cigarette smoke everywhere, the screens only listed flights departing within the next hour (and our flight wasn’t leaving for two hours at 5 pm) so for a good hour we had no idea what gate we were leaving from. I found an information desk, and the person told me he “thinks” we are at gate 23 so off we go. We ran into Jon and Anika, their flight had arrived at 12:45, 2 hours before us, and they told us we had to go through customs, which made no sense to any of us since we weren’t leaving the airport, but off we went. I’m glad they told us about it, we did have to go through customs to get a ‘transit’ stamp, which the flight staff checked before we could board the plane. Everyone was in good spirits; Mexico had won their first game in the World Cup and AeroMexico has a full open bar on their flights for free.

The flight was six hours long, dinner was served (typical so-so airplane food) and we watched a movie, Failure to Launch. There were some dumb jokes/gags in the film that Jared and I didn’t laugh at, but everyone else thought it was hilarious, so that made it funny. Only a few of us were gringos, everyone one else was either Mexican or Peruvian.

Customs in Peru was very easy and efficient. Lots of lines, moved quickly, etc. When we got to baggage claim, the bags were stacked neatly in rows, making it very easy to find our bags. And the luggage carriers are free so we grabbed one and made our way to the exit.

Jon hadn’t brought any Peruvian money (Nuevo soles), so he stopped at a money booth in baggage claim to do so. It was a good rate and I was surprised to see them open that late (11:30pm). Jon got a much better rate there than I did back in San Francisco.

I’m so, so, so glad we had a driver waiting for us. As soon as they saw my blonde hair I was swarmed with people asking if I wanted a taxi or help. Our driver had a sign reading all of our names and I asked him his name to confirm that indeed he was our driver (I’ve heard horror stories of taxi drivers taking advantage of tourists). For the grand price of $12 USD (we gave him $15), he drove the four of us to our hotel, which was a good 20-30 minute drive. I love how cheap it is here already. It was a small car and had air conditioning, which was nice.

We’re staying at the Garden Hotel in the district of San Isidro. It seems it’s mainly a business hotel, not the most exciting neighborhood, but safe. The staff is exceptional and there’s free internet service.