20.-23.08. - Lima, Peru

On the 19th we took the bus to Guayaquil (a good 4 hours). We spent one night here because we flew on to Lima in Peru on the 20th.

The flight to Lima was pretty relaxed. This time we didn't fly with Avianca (like from Bogota to Quito) but with Latam (another South American airline). Again we had no return or onward ticket. The lady at the counter didn't care at all. She neither asked how long we want to stay in Peru nor whether we have a ticket to leave the country again. That pretty much confirms that the lady in Bogotá just wanted to harass us. Arriving in Lima, you have the option of taking a taxi or a bus into the city. Since you a) have to bargain with taxis and b) you don't know (at least if you haven't informed yourself beforehand like we did) which taxi companies are reputable and which are not, we opted for the relatively cheap bus. The bus runs about 50 minutes and dropped us off about 300m from our Airbnb. In the evening there was still something to eat, otherwise not much happened that day.

On the 21st, a visit to downtown Lima was on the agenda. Lima is located on the west coast of the South American continent, more or less at sea level. About 11 million people live here, about a third of the Peruvian population. The city is very well developed compared to South America. In terms of inclusion, some districts are significantly further than the European standard. There are also huge shopping centers with shops like Adidas, Puma, Breitling, Patagonia, ... and unfortunately also with European prices. The currency here is the Peruvian sol, a sol is about €0.25. On the 2nd day we did a free tour of the markets, but it wasn't as good as the one in Bogotá, for example. Later we looked at the historic city center with various sights. You can also eat relatively cheaply in Peru, a menu (starter, main course, dessert) costs about 10 soles. On the third day there was another city tour, we also passed the city beach, where there were quite a few surfers every day.

On 08/23 was our trip to Cusco. Cusco is located in the south of the country (which is about four times larger than Germany) and is still considered the capital of the former Inca Empire. Cusco is at an altitude of a good 3300 m, which was quite exhausting in the first two days (since we arrived from sea level). The bus from Lima to Cusco takes about 24 hours, which is why we decided to fly (flight time 1.5 hours). In Cusco there are many (sometimes untrustworthy) taxi drivers who offer a ride to the city center for 30-50 soles (Uber costs 20 soles). When asked about the overprice, the taxi drivers also drive for 20 sols. We opted for a colectivo, which is much more expensive, but only costs 1 Sol. Arrived at the room, despite ringing, knocking and calling, we were not let in for half an hour.