Day 72 - Eggs for Brekkie, Sushi for Cena

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One of the best things about the Lighthouse is the continental breakfast, not just the two rolls and one ball of butter like most of the South American hostels serve, but rolls, jam, fresh juice and fried eggs! Eggs make a breakfast. Apparently enough to persuade Sophie and I to spend an extra day in Miraflores instead of heading straight out. We moved rooms and said goodbye to Taryn, waving her off in a taxi to the airport. This is a good point to say that the taxis in South America don't have the safest reputation, and for the third time on our trip, I made a point of writing the licence and registration of the taxi as it drove away with one of our friends.

With an extra day in Miraflores, we headed off to explore, finding ourselves drawn down a road with Pizza Hut, KFC, Domino's etc, where we spotted a treat for later and eventually stumbled upon a hidden gem - Huaca Pucllana. This is an archaeological site in the centre of the city, built by the Lima culture between 200 and 700 AD. The culture lived a simple life of farming, fishing, hunting, gathering and making textiles and pottery. The site is a flat top pyramid built with adobe bricks, blocks of mud, in a bookshelf pattern (mud between each layer but nothing between each block as a form of protection from earthquakes as the structure was allowed to move with seismic activity). It is believed the people (5 foot in height according to the remains) were not slaves but helped with the building, effectively as taxes. The culture worshipped the sea and buried their members with pottery and artefacts covered in sea creatures. They also sacrificed young women whilst having meals of shark as an offering to their gods. The culture ended in 700 AD due to new religious and political ideas, but the site was worshipped as a Huaca (burial ground) and later by the Incas as a Nawpallacta (ancient sacred place). People actually lived on the site until the 1980's, when the landowner knocked three blocks of it down to make way for modern buildings before the government took control of what was left of the site and started the restoration process.

We headed back into town and stumbled across another great find for the day - a back street cafe full to the brim with locals charging just one pound fifty for two courses and a drink. With that many fans it had to be good, and it was! More local dishes with local company. The afternoon was spent, ice cream in hand, exploring the parks; central and Kennedy and just soaking up this very different area of Peru. In the evening I think we made Sophie's week by heading to Mr. Sushi for an evening of mixed sushi, sashimi, maki, soup and a bottle of wine.... making a very relaxed evening meal.

How Sophie Sees It

Lima was certainly different - very similar to western cities. One of my favourite past-times recently has been to oggle at the pharmacies here - the sole reminder of home with their shelves stacked with familiar brands and products too luxurious for me to bring travelling! They look out of place in most of South America, especially amusing is that most products, even toothpaste, are locked up in glass cases to prevent thieving! Lima was certainly a reminder of home, and I quite enjoyed wandering up the street of take away chains. And Chris wasn't exaggerating when he said the sushi made my week - we had not had a bottle of wine in a long time, and it is rare that we sit for hours over a meal over here, like we so often do at home. Basically a night of luxury!

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