Blogs from Lima, Lima, Lima, Peru, South America - page 3

Plaza Mayor de Lima: Archbishop's Palace of Lima The bus ride to Lima was memorable. Jana told me about a local bus scam artists that would poor water on the floor to wet your bags on purpose. Then they would ask to help you put it up on the overhead compartment and as soon as you did, they would hope off the bus with your stuff. It sounded a bit juvenile, but it did happened. This scenario played itself out as described by Jana during our ride. Word for word. I kid you not. I was baffled...We reached Lima and went our separate ways. I would continue to run into Jana throughout my travels through Peru. I actually saw her again in Lima a day or two before my departure. I reminisce my time traveling with ... read more

As always, before a new group of volunteers comes we have a free week during which we do a bit of work but I also take the opportunity to travel a bit. This time I went to Lima. I was very well surprised by this city as I had not heard the best things about it. I really enjoyed it though. I stayed in the hipster area called Barranco, its really cute and had a great burrito take away place. On the first evening I went to parque de la réserva which is à Park full of fountains and when it gets dark they lighten up! Was really cool! The next day I walked around the historical centre and met up with Jessica in the evening who works for windaid but had to stay in Lima ... read more

Arriving in the early morning, we looked out of the fogged up window of our overnight bus. The sun was rising and we could make out the shapes and colours of the city as we entered into its heart. Despite hearing the many things this city had to offer; the churches, theaters, archaeological sites and other things of very little interest to us (such as the 24hr nightlife scene) we decided to limit ourselves to a day here. This meant a busy and tiring day of exploration. Always the the last thing you want after a sleepless overnight bus. Walking through the city we came to realize that Lima was a mish mash of buildings, divided by the enormous but busy roads that criss cross their way across the city. Huge colourful but weathered colonial buildings ... read more

At 2:00 pm we were collected from the hotel by our tour guide for the afternoon, Miguel, and his driver. We were the only people in the small minibus and had a fascinating insight into Peru past and present. Our first stop was Hunca Huallamarca, a pre-Inca pyramid. It is made of mud bricks (adobe) and has lasted because this coastal part of the country receives virtually no rain. The bodies stored in the pyramid were buried in sacks and rather than mummified dried out. The contest between the pyramid and modern surrounding residential area was startling. From there we went to the cathedral. The two most interesting points were the chapel to Francisco Pizzaro and the cathedral's construction. The substantial pillars are not stone but hollow wooden frames with a very light weight wooden roof ... read more

We spent all day today travelling between the Galápagos Islands and Lima, Peru. Ugh! We all wished we could stay a week at the Royal Palm Hotel, but we had to head to Peru our next exciting South American destination. So, at 9.30am we were picked up and bussed back to the Itabaca Canal. We crossed the canal and then transferred to another bus that took us to the airport. It was very slow checking in because the computer was down. The plan was to check our bags through to Lima so that we wouldn't have to collect them and re-check them at Quito. Since the check-in staff were doing the job manually it was beyond them to check our bags through to our final destination. C'est la vie. I felt sorry for them having to ... read more