The Unruly Passenger
Trip Start
Aug 02, 2007
1
22
Trip End
Aug 22, 2007
Lima, Peru
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
We had a really nice breakfast at our hotel (Hotel Antigua). They actually had something different than eggs. The vast majority of free hotel breakfasts that we've had on the trip were scrambled eggs or fried eggs served with toast and marmalade. There hasn't been much variation. A few hotels in Peru had buffets which had fruit and other things, but those were the mainstays. We hung around at the hotel for a bit and used their free Internet. Then I led us on a circuitous path to supposed pyramids in Miraflores - the Huaca Pucllana. We eventually found them but that was after walking for at least an hour and stopping at a Starbucks for a coffee and asking for directions. And the pyramids turned out to be a major disappointment. They were surrounded by a big wall and we really couldn't see in. From what we saw through the fence, it just didn't seem worth it and they were still excavating so I'm sure they'll be better when they're done. After seeing what it was, the only reason I kinda wanted to go in was because I saw alpacas. :) (If there had been vicunas, I definitely would have made us go in!)
So, we continued walking until we could find a cab that Mike approved of. We had read that taxis in Lima are touch and go. Many of the cab drivers don't know where anything is and charge high prices. So, Mike figured we should only hail cabs which were driven by older guys. I think it worked out best that way too. We decided to go to the national museum...boy was that a mistake. Before we get to the museum, we did have an interesting cab ride. But at least this time it wasn't because he was trying to get us to pay more money - it was because the driver wanted to make sure that he dropped us off at the right entrance. I was second-guessing our decision to go to this museum when he asked me which entrance we wanted to be dropped off at and when I told him I didn't know, he pulled up and started asking the security guard where we buy tickets. We headed over to where he pointed and then the driver hopped out and ran up and asked someone there if it was where we should be. Clearly not many people visit this museum if this older cab driver doesn't know where to drop us off! Anyway, we got in, bought tickets, and went to find a map of the museum. Another bad sign...the museum has no map. We perservered...but it was the worst museum that we've ever been to. I mean, really bad. At first, we thought maybe we didn't like it because we loved MAP in Cusco so much and were spoiled. But then, we saw this totem pole that looked interesting...except then I noticed that it said on the description that it's a replica. What is a replica doing in a museum?!? We trudged through the museum only because we were there and we felt we should. We pretty much hated it though.
After the museum we decided we should see what downtown Lima is like so we got a cab to the market. Big mistake. Mike was right in thinking we should just turn around, but I insisted we should at least check it out after making it through the traffic. Boy was I wrong. Downtown Lima is pollution filled and really gross. I'm sure there are nice things about it but I just couldn't get over the pollution. I've never been to a place like that. The market wasn't really for tourists either. It was more for household supplies than anything. So, we quickly caught a cab back to Miraflores with an older cab driver who charged us less than the young cab driver who drove us from the museum to the market (which was a shorter distance).
So, we stopped at a coffee shop and that same Internet cafe for a while, and then to dinner at Las Brujas de Cachiche. We had this enormous appetizer platter of traditional Peruvian dishes and also each had a main dish. The food was good, but not great. The restaurant and service were really nice though.
After dinner we met the driver at the hotel who took us back to the airport. We were looking forward to getting on the plane and sleeping. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be se easy. The airport was 10 times as crowded as we had seen it before...it was 10pm...what was everyone doing there?!? Apparently, this was the time to travel out of Lima. It took forever to check in and finally we boarded the plane (after returning our cell phone and having a few tasty drinks at the bar). As we were pulling away from the gate, a flight attendant asked a woman in the row next to ours to push her baggage underneath the seat in front of her. The woman responded that it wouldn't fit, so the flight attendant told her she'd have to put it in the overhead bin. Pretty much that was all that was said when the passenger started saying: "Don't use that tone with me!" Really, there was no tone. She was saying what every flight attendant says. You have to store your bags completely underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bin. Well, the passenger wanted the flight attendant to guarantee that her precious ceramics wouldn't get damaged if they were put in the overhead bin. Of course the flight attendant couldn't guarantee that. The passenger continued on about how she shouldn't be given attitude and how she should just keep her bag in her lap. Another flight attendant was called over to talk to the crazy passenger but it didn't help and she'd already gone too far. The pilot got on the intercom and informed us all that we had to return to the gate because we had an unruly passenger who violated federal law by not following the instructions of a flight attendant. The passenger was escorted off the plan and we had to wait there for over an hour while they removed her luggage from the plane. It was craziness and we were so exhausted. We were happy to arrive in Houston even though we were 2 hours late. That was til we felt the humidity...
