DAY 3 TUES. OCT. 2 LIMA

Lima is a huge city. Our tour included some wonderful colonial neighbourhoods, similar to those we've encountered in Mexica and Cuba. There is money in Lima, so we saw many buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries in rather good shape. But the problem is that there is so much old stuff and only so much money. As a result, much of central Lima is in disrepair or under some degree of construction.

The central square, unfortunately, was cut off from us due to the presidents' summit. Our guides were powerless to gain entry.

But there were 2 highlights: a museum of pre-Inca ceramics, featuring an erotic area ( ! ) and a hacienda called Las Vicas which featured the wonderful Peruvian paseo horses, who put on a lovely equestrian display for us. We enjoyed a fine barbeque dinner at the hacienda, then beat a hasty retreat to hotel to prepare for a 3 am wake up call ... "this so-called vacation will soon be my death", borowing from Spirit of the West.

An additional note: our drive today along the coast out of Lima took us through all the faces of this giant city: incredible affluence, hard-working middle class neighbourhoods, and crushing desolate crowded poverty. It is all here in Lima.