Peru Day 7 - Puno to Lima and back home

This is almost the last post on the Peru trip. Just realized that there is a folder full of Panorama shots on the iPhone. 

Day 6 post is here..

Day 7 was the last day. We started at Puno in the morning and drove to Juliaca airport. We almost missed the flight out to Puno. The bus driver stopped at every street corner and waited to pick up passengers, not all of them going to the airport.

We were cutting it very close and a lot of airport folks said "please get us to the airport". This person was tryig to make a few extra bucks picking up people en route to drop but it could have cost us a lot more if we missed the flight. There were not that many flights out of Juliaca!

Finally after some anxious moments we made it through a traffic jam to the small airport and made it to Lima. It was almost 3PM in Lima. Our original plan was to stay in the airport till our 1AM flight back to US.

We were sitting at the starbucks in Lima airport talking to a girl and her mom who were on their way to India for a two week sightseeing tour, giving them tips when we realized we had time.

We called our tour agent and said "please get us a driver to take us around some local sights in Lima and drop us back at the airport at 9 PM or so". He quickly arranged a 4 hour block and guess what? we got the same driver who had picked us up 6 days ago when we started the tour. He was a really nice guy and we talked about his family and life history while we talked about ours.

He also volunteered to take pictures of us. We had four hours. So we decided to spend 2 hours in Miraflores, the waterfront recreation area in Lima. It was beautiful! Nice breeze, sunset, lots of people out there on new years eve coming to celebrate.

We walked and rambled on top of large stones to go into the edge of this walkway of sorts and got some great family photos!

We had to take one picture with what a Beligian couple told was "sexy llamas" the previous day in Isla de Tequile. I took a photo of them on their camera and they were doing this with their fingers. 

We stopped outside one of Lima's top rated restaurants for a few photos. Then we were on the other side of the road as we made it into Lima for the last stop. Dinner at an Indian restaurant to close out the new year. 

As we watched the sunset over the large statues of a man and a woman in various kissing holds and the bustling night life around the statues, we realized that the trip was coming to a close and this had been a lot of fun!

Dinner at Mantra was a quiet affair. There was Shah Rukh Khan hamming his way through some song and dance sequences on a big screen and an international crowd that had come in to celebrate New Year. We had a quick dinner as our driver was waiting outside and wanted to get home to his family by 9:30. 

Then he dropped us off at 9 and we were back in the airport. Lima airport is small and it has one VIP lounge. Usually they let only one guest in with my United pass, but given it was New Year's eve, they let the entire family in. We had a decent Wifi connection and an unlimited supply of orange juice and chex mix! 

So the family settled in for the next 3 hours till boarding time. Then we watched the ball drop in NYC on the big screen with spanish commentary and all the agents in the gate area did a little walk for us and we thanked them all for their service.

Next thing you know, 2017 started with a 1AM flight. 

Day 7 in video..

I am glad that Sangeetha pretty much forced me to agree to this trip. Had wanted to laze around and recharge at home during the break, but the wife and kids gave me an ultimatum. We are going somewhere!

It was a lot of fun and I did get to recharge with all the activity. This year, I am not going to fight it and instead join in the plans.

There are a lot more places to see in Peru and package tours within package tours. We might go back again in a few years to see the Nasca lines, the jungle tours and see more excavated sites in the high mountains.

Old Town San Diego and Double Peak park

After visiting the Leo Carrillo Ranch, we moved on to Double Peak park. This was a beaufiful park with some play area for kids and a trail path for everyone in Carlsbad/San Marcos area. 

Reminded us of Hunters point in Cupertino. The views were awesome and the kids had fun with a triple fulcrum see-saw! It was interesting and we have never seen a see-saw like this where 4 or 5 kids can walk up and down. 

Then we took a short break and drove to Old Town for New Year's eve dinner, at El Coyote! Most of the shops were closed but we got to watch the window displays in this area.. some of them were quite interesting!

Then we watched ladies make tortillas at Guiness book record speeds. 

The dinner itself was quite interesing with a couple of guys with guitars singing for the ladies! My three girls were either not amused or were embarrassed by the attention. 

El Coyote has a separate "vegetarian menu" and they give it if you ask for it. It was good that our friends knew that and made ordering a breeze. 

It was a memorable evening and we all slept well. On first we had the last stop on the trip. The San Diego Zoo! 

First time visit for everyone in the family and there are still hundreds of photos from that day that have yet to be edited. Will take a break and post them next week. By far the best Zoo we have seen..

X-mas in the Park - San Jose - Photoblog

A street in downtown San Jose filled with rides and lights, two dozen mini Christmas trees decorated with everything from lights, ornaments to music CD's, twilight giving bright hues and saturated colors..

Here are a few photographs..

Did get to practice motion blur shots and pulled off one with San and the little one on a swing ride. All the ideas not tried this year or ideas that came to my head only after reviewing the photos at home will be tried at the next opportunity.

When you see a Ferris wheel after dark, one should at least take one shot with long exposure times with a high f number and a curtain flash. Try it.

Here are some HD videos..

If you live in the bay area, X-mas in the park is definitely worth an evenings visit!

Walking around is free. The rides cost you tickets. An arm band for 13 bucks gives a kid unlimited rides. However, the kid has to be at least 42 inches to ride alone. If shorter an adult has to accompany the kid.

That costs you a lot of tickets or a screaming kid... your choice!

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