Peru - Lima

---

Lima

We were up at 4am to get to the airport for our flight. The owner of the hostel took us to the airport with some religious reggae playing in his car. Just what we wanted at that time of the morning!! We got on our flight at Sao Paulo and landed in Lima at about midday. We got through immigration very easily picked up our bags, which were first on the carousel - never happens!! Went to customs where they told us to press the green button. The random traffic light system then decides whether you get your bags searched or not. Luckily it flashed green and off we went!! We had a cab waiting for us which was paid for by the B&B we were staying in. When we arrived at the B&B it was like walking into someone’s house, probably because it was their house. We met our host, Angelo and he was very helpful and welcoming. We went up to our room and settled in, it was huge. We went back down stairs where Angelo sat down with us to tell us about Lima and what he recommended we should do. We were staying in the suburb of Miraflores, which is the more expensive suburb, and he had set out a nice route for us to see everything. He told us that Lima is in a desert and that it hadn’t properly rained in over 2000 years, crazy. We could see this on our walk because they have no drainage system or gutters on their houses. We walked out of our B&B and it wasn’t what we expected. They had the best kept parks, roads and pavements we had experienced so far in South America. There were mini buses everywhere as that is their main mode of public transport. We set of walking with our map that Angelo had written for us. Our first stop was down by the beach front, at the top of the cliff at Parque del Amor, Love Park. It is where the locals hang out to have a smooch and has a statue of 2 people ‘getting it on.’ From there we walked up to the light house and back round to the Huaca Pucllana ruins. It is an adobe pyramid from the Lima Culture (pre Inca) and dates from AD400. It is still being excavated, but was very impressive. What was weird is how it is surrounded by residential houses. Some of it has been damaged from building on it without knowing. Adobe refers to the bricks used. They were not built out of stone, they were built out of mud, water and shells and left to dry in the sun. They didn’t have to worry about the rain damaging it, as it never rains. The only problem they had was earthquakes, and they overcame that by positioning the bricks like books in a bookcase. This meant that the building could move with the earthquake. From there we carried on walking to the Indian Markets. On the way we saw loads of Casinos, not what you really expect to see in Peru!! We got to the street full of Indian Markets, which contain hand crafts from around the different Peru regions. We picked up a few things and spent a while walking around, before going back to the B&B. We were pleased that Angelo had told us where to go otherwise we would not have seen as much. We headed back into town in the evening for some dinner and a few drinks. The level of English speaking in Peru is amazing.

Today we were going into Central Lima, about 20 mins from where we were saying. We had to call down in the morning to ask for our breakfast and they delivered it to our room - cant beat that for service. We got a cab into town and it was heaving, so much so we jumped out early. Turns out the Argentinean Prime Minister was in town. The traffic meant that we missed out on seeing all of the changing of the guards but we got to catch the ending. The soldiers march like Basil Fawlty, with really high legs. They do this at the presidential palace in the Plaza de Armas, (Plaza Mayor). It is a beautiful square, very Spanish, with amazing wooden balconies. Our first stop on Angelo’s tour of Lima was La Catedral de Lima. It has been destroyed by earthquake on numerous occasion, the last being in 1746. We went inside and took a tour which was very interesting. They have the coffin of Francisco Pizarro - the conqueror of Peru. The cathedral is beautiful and made entirely out of wood, so it moves with the earthquakes. This also means that none of the candles are lit!! There are some beautiful carvings and we learnt a lot about the history and religion in general. They even have a carving of the first black saint. The tour took about and hour and the lady that took us was brilliant - we even had a it of a debate about Opus Dei and how it was portrayed in The Da Vinici Code. We walked down through the square to the old post office and to the highest building in that areas, all 4 stories of it - again due to quakes. We stopped off for some lunch and tucked into traditional Peruvian cuisine and it is lovely. Supposedly they invented the potato and have over 4000 different types - give the Irish a run for their money! From there we walked to the park which has the old city wall of Lima. We then walked all the way down to the Plaza San Martin. Again it is another beautiful square. In the centre is the bronze statue of General Jose de San Martin. If you get a bit closer you can see the statue of Madre Patria. Commissioned in Spain under instruction to give the good lady a crown of flames (eternal life), nobody thought to iron out the double meaning of the word flame, (Llama) and the craftsmen place a Llama on her head!! We jumped in a taxi and headed back to our B&B. Relaxed after our 2 days of walking a headed to the supermarket - again the most advanced in South America! Grabbed some drinks and food and headed back to our room.

We were up early and headed into town. Today we were getting the open top bus out to the Pachacamac Inca ruins. We got on the bus and headed up to the top deck in the heat!! Off we set and we had decide that we were going to count the amount of old VW Beetles we saw. By the time we got back, which was about 3 hours, we had seen 179!!! Our first stop on the windy open top bus was a small nature reserve. It wasn’t that impressive but strange to see in the middle of the desert!! Then we arrived at Pachacamac. It was an important Inca site and a major city when the Spanish arrived. The name Pachacamac variously translated as ‘he who animated the world’ or ‘he who created land and time,’ comes from the powerful Wari god. The bus took us around and it was amazing to see. They don’t receive much funding so most of the building are now little more than walls of piled rubble, except a huge pyramid temple and one of the Inca complexes, the Palacio de Las Malaccans (House of the chosen women), which have been excavated and reconstructed. We had a good guide but you don’t get to walk around much because they have stopped it due to vandals! Back on the bus and back to Lima. It was a good trip and I got a bit sunburnt, well, very sunburnt. We had a nice lunch and headed back to our B&B. Angelo laughed at my face and told me to put some vinegar on it before bed, which I did and it cleared it up. Good tip to all!! We went back to the Indian Markets to stock up on present for others and of course ourselves. We went out for a lovely dinner in town, the Peruvian cuisine is the best in SA. Back to the B&B and off to bed.

Today was our last day in Lima. We headed back to the Indian Markets to get some more presents and went into town for lunch. We both had traditional Peruvian dishes, and I had their most famous. Cibeche!! It is raw fish with lime and chilli’s. It was so fresh and lovely. We had a fair amount to drink and went back to the B&B to get our bags. We sat down with Angelo, one last time, and he told us the history of potatoes, the reason why it is called Peru and many more interesting facts. All we asked him was the recipe for one of the dishes. He told us about a guy who had a brain tumour but didn’t have the money to pay for the treatment. The doctor said he would do the operation for free, but only if he could do it in old traditional Inca methods. The guy didn’t have much of a choice and in the end was saved due to this doctor. He gave us a traditional Peruvian gift each, which was a lovely gesture. Our taxi driver turned up and off we set to Lima airport. We had to stop on the way so the driver could fill up with gas, not petrol, but actual gas!! It took us ages to check in because we were flying with American Airlines and their over the top security measures. We went through to departures and set off on our evening flight to Miami. Our last stop in our big adventure!!

---

Photos

Huaca Pucllana
With Miraflores behind