Sign In
Blogs from Lima, Peru, South America - page 154
Advertisement
May 20th 2006
So...onwards to Peru´s capital city. We stayed pretty close to the Plaza de Armas in the centre of the city, but Lima is a massive place with almost 10 million inhabitants and many varied districts. Wandering round the main square, which includes the presidential palace, it was very reassuring to see a myriad of riot police equipped with shields and tear gas guns, and there was even a tank peering round the corner. Great. At the time, Peru was gearing up for the election run-off between Alan Garcia Perez (former president from 1985-90, his term characterised by hyperinflation, devaluation of the economy and resurgence of the Sendero Luminoso - Shining Path) and Ollanta Tasso (radical nationalist, who by all accounts is a bit of a nutcase...promises to release the Shining Path leader if elected etc.). So ... read more
May 19th 2006
So I am here, the final destination: Peru. Spent the first day in Lima, walking around the financial district with a group of Israelis. Tomorrow I head down to the desert, and in a few days will celebrate my birthday in the Andes in Arequipa. I will finish my trip in Cuzco, probably won't hike machu picchu, but will visit for sure. I am so excited to be here. Already it has such a different feel, part of which is probably just my mindset, but already the people, their faces, mannerisms, etc. are different. And the crafts are incredible. There'll be a lot of night buses, rushing around, fighting against the altitude sickness, and then taking in a whole new culture and land, all meaning complete exhaustion by the end, but oh so worth it. Can't ... read more
May 18th 2006
Back in Lima for a final dose of diesel exhaust fumes. Spent an enjoyable few hours at the Museo de la Nacion catching up on pre Incan Peruvian history, took in MI3 at a theatre and ate one more massive roasted chicken meal. They have perfected the roasted tender chicken here in Peru... one whole roasted chicken fresh off the spit, one large plate of salad, one massive pile of french fries, and one big bottle of Inca Cola for as little as $8-10 Can. incl a beer and tip. The following morning no one had any enthusiasm for the ruins of Pachacamac south of Lima, they will still be there if we return. We went out in search of an american breakfast and found pina juice, fried eggs, buns and butter. Took in another movie, ... read more
May 16th 2006
Well! Lima surprised us both. We had planned to stay just two days, thinking we would probably hate the place. We booked a hostel and a pick up over the internet and so after a very decent flight, we had a driver with our sign ´Schenk Home Peru´. Oh so civilised! We met a great couple on the flight, Becks and Ben and the four of us made our way to the lovely hostel Home Peru in Miraflores. To be honest, the great hostel (and of course great people we met) made our stay just brilliant. The hostel, was on the one of the main avenues (Avendida Arequipa) in Miraflores and nice and central. It was a fantastic old colonial place, wooden floors, incredibly high ceilings and a lovely courtyard garden including a braai !!! Ken ... read more
Advertisement
May 16th 2006
Lima is as you will know the capital of Peru. It was once the seat of the Viceroy of Peru the most powerful man in South America. He was representative of the Spanish king in South America during the colonial era. My guide book didn’t give me much hope as it described the city as big and overcrowded but also mentioned that it has its nice sites. I started wandering around the streets without much expectation but I have to say that I liked the city in the end. There is not heaps to do but the buildings, which were mostly build 1800 and 1900 look quite nice and give the city something. The only sightseeing I did was to go to the Monastery of San Francisco. They have apart from the usual paintings, tiled ... read more
May 16th 2006
Lima is as you will know the capital of Peru. It was once the seat of the Viceroy of Peru the most powerful man in South America. He was representative of the Spanish king in South America during the colonial era. My guide book didn’t give me much hope as it described the city as big and overcrowded but also mentioned that it has its nice sites. I started wandering around the streets without much expectation but I have to say that I liked the city in the end. There is not heaps to do but the buildings, which were mostly build 1800 and 1900 look quite nice and give the city something. The only sightseeing I did was to go to the Monastery of San Francisco. They have apart from the usual paintings, tiled walls ... read more
May 16th 2006
Well, another day, another country.... I finally got my stuff from my homestay family and shipped out of Quito. I was really quite happy to go, too. The rain was starting to really bug me, and the whole place had taken on quite a menacing feeling, as quite a large number of people at the hostel got mugged during my stay. While I was there, I did however make a quick visit to "El Centro del Mundo", the line of the equator. Did some weird experiments that shows how your sense of balance gets messed up and you lose strength on the equator. Due to my extended stay there, I decided to skip the rest of Ecuador, and the north of Peru, and head straight down to Lima. 38 hours by coach, but what the hey. ... read more
May 13th 2006
What a great last night in Lima!! Gracias Diego for being my 'night guide' in Lima!! :) I'm gonna miss you guys! Well, my horseriding guide from Cuzco, who accompanied me to the Colca Canyon, was not understanding the fact that I was not interested in returning to his family in Lima and, I think marry him and live happily ever after! He told me AFTER we´d hopped on the bus to Arequipa (after pleading to accompany me... as a friend!) that his mother had only sent him S/. 50 - not nearly enough to pay me back - and that he would call as soon as we got there so that she could send him more (there were conveniently no banks in the town we were going to). My good heart couldn´t leave him stranded ... read more
May 10th 2006
We left Santiago Adventure at 4am having woken up Alejandro to take us to the Airport. The streets of Santiago were empty, something we hadn't seen before in the week we had spent there. Alejandro shook our hands & wished us good luck as carried our luggage into the terminal. The information desk was swamped with people presumably wanting information as the check-in screens were rather vague, suggesting only that you check in at the airport & not really specifying a counter. Sam was about to throw herself into the throng when I spotted our flight number on a tiny board next to a counter & we managed to beat the subsequent rush of people who had reached the front of the info queue. Our flight left Santiago with its lights twinkling in early morning smoggy ... read more
