I usually fly directly from Miami via American Airlines or LanPeru, but I was able to save over $200 by flying in via Copa and changing in Panama City. The flight out required me showing up at MIA at an ungodly hour in the morning, but arrived in Lima at about 2:00 PM. The return flight leaves between 3 and 4 PM, and the travel time is only an hour and a half more than flying direct.
The flights were on time, and the plane change was simple. I have no elite status on Copa, so I couldn't get an exit row seat, and they sure pack 'em in tight on Copa (I'm pretty tall). Unbelievably, the food was worse than in American on coach, but the price savings and timing **may** make me consider this route again. I will have to think it over.
I was through immigration and customs in nothing flat (by the time I changed money in the baggage area, my bag was out), and I grabbed a cab and headed to Miraflores and the Residencial Las Americas hotel.
Residencial Las Americas
Calle Bellavista 216, Miraflores (directly opposite the rear entrance to Pizza Alley)
242-6600
12° 07.259' S, 77° 01.922' W
www.hoteleslasamericas.com
I like this place a lot. It is smaller than the Hotel & Suites Las Americas, but the rooms are nicer. And it is 20 steps from Pizza Alley. Aside from the location, the beauty of this place is that every room has a small kitchen area with a microwave and a refrigerator. The air conditioning is good, and the windows shut tight, so you don't hear any of the noise generated by the entertainment venues downstairs. All deals come with either a continental or American breakfast, and there's wireless internet down in the restaurant for $5 for 5 hours. Also, you get use of the full health club/gym on premises.
I wound up getting upgraded to a better room. I had a full living room and dining room, in addition to the separate bedroom.
The prices for this hotel are all over the place. List price for rooms are about $115 for a regular room, and about $160 for one of the better ones. I wound up paying $47 through one of the Latin American travel consolidators this time. I have paid $60 another time, and all my other trips, the prices were in the $80+ range, so I didn't stay there. At $60, it's a bargain, and at $85, it's priced right, but there are so many options in the $35-$55 range, that I would be hard pressed to fork over the extra money. No chica fee, of course, but they do take the girl's ID when they get to the hotel.
So I head to the supermarket and stock up on beverages and snacks, and get right to work. I had looked in a few different advertising sites (Placeres Del Peru, Nena's Peru, Tentacion Del Peru, and Chicas Tops) and narrowed the hundreds of girls down to about 12 'finalists'. I exchanged emails with one of my new local friends, asking his opinion. He came back with 3 that I should stay away from, 3 or 4 that he didn't know anything about, and a half dozen that he recommended either personally or that had excellent reviews on the local board.
I tried calling the girls on the recommended list, and it was just like back home: answering machine, answering machine, not working today, no answer, and call me back later, baby. I was a little disappointed, but not surprised. These are girls that we're dealing with. As an aside, I have basic Spanish skills, and I was able to deal with these phone calls. Someone that spoke no English would have problems with most of these girls. If you're dying for an outcall, most of the agencies have someone who speaks some English answering the phones. You'll pay a $30-$50 surcharge for the privilege, but a girl will show up for a hassle-free hour.
But I digress. Undaunted, I break out the 'don't knows' and start dialing. I get an answer on my first attempt. Dayana said that she would be happy to see me soon, and the price was 150 Soles plus 20 more for a taxi (a total of $51.52). I suspect that with negotiation, I could have paid 30 Soles less, but I didn't bother. We set a time (6:30 PM), and she called 5 minutes before to say that she was on her way. Here are some pictures from her ad:
I go down to the lobby to wait for her, and she pulls up just around 6:45. Dayana was a little thicker than her photos led me to believe and a couple of years older than the 19 that she posted, but was well within tolerances.
We sat, chatted, and had a drink in the living room for a bit, and started making out a little on the couch. When I told her how pretty she was and I wanted to take a couple of pictures of her, she really wasn't willing. I dropped down to 'photos with your clothes on', and she agreed to about a dozen pictures, as long as I would burn a CD of them for her before she left.
Photos: Dayana 01 02 03
Once we went into the bedroom, Dayana was a willing, but not all that enthusiastic partner. She seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. We did everything that I would have hoped to do (her ad offers anal, but I didn't ask for it). The blowjob was short and with condom, and she seemed to want to get to the main event a little quickly.
I probably wouldn't repeat. There are too many other girls available in Lima to have to settle for a so-so session. We took some time cleaning up and getting dressed, and I gave her the CD as promised. She left, and I was in front of a TV watching the Heat lose to the Bulls and talking to my waitress friend by 8:30 PM.
She was happy to see me, and happy to see the couple of gifts that I brought her. She had to work until 2 in the morning, so we made plans to meet tomorrow at noon for lunch. I gave her a peck on the cheek, and headed to Casino Miraflores to play some blackjack.
The '21' gods were fairly kind to me, and I left a little after midnight with some of the house's money, and walked back towards my hotel. I figured that I would find someone in the Pizza Alley area, or I could head to one of the 24-hour Banos Turcos for a nightcap.
As I'm going up Avenida Larco and about to make the left on Diez Canseco, I see a thin silhouette (with a really big rack) getting out of a taxi. We both pace ourselves to hit the corner at the same time. Jackpot! Young, thin, pretty, stacked, and looking for someone to talk to.
Sofia asks me my name ('RT Gooch'), what I'm doing ('heading home - I'm tired'), and just how tired am I ('not passing out tired. Why?')? Once we get the preliminaries out of the way, we decide to stop somewhere and get a drink, and talk a little.
It turns out that, aside from having an exceptional pair of knockers, Sofia took some English lessons and wanted to practice, so she spoke English, while I butchered the Spanish language. I found out that she is 24, lives alone, no kids, and thought that I was cute.
Since she was obviously blind, I offered to hold her arm as we walked back to my hotel. She shyly informed me that she was having a good time talking to me, but if we went back to the hotel, that was how she made her money. She didn't explain it very well in English, but I assured her that I understood, and that $60 (she quoted me US dollars) was acceptable. I brought up the concept of photos, but she was dead set against it, so I dropped the subject for a while.
We got back to the hotel, and things went swimmingly. She was in absolutely no hurry, and she looked as good out of her clothes as she did in them. She was soft in just the right places, and pretty much didn't say no to anything I asked, bearing in mind that I don't stray too far off of the beaten path. I again brought up the subject of photos, and she again rebuffed me, but said that I could take one when she was leaving.
We finished in about an hour, and she asked if I minded if she slept over. Let's see… warm, soft, young… er, OK, be my guest. We both dozed off. Her cell phone rang at about 4 or 5. She took the call, and then told me that she was going to go home. I got my wits about me long enough to remind her of her promise. I got off one photo - it doesn't do her justice, she's much prettier than the picture shows.
Photo: Sofia 04
I got the door locked and went back to sleep. An excellent start to this trip.