Lima, Peru (Miraflores District, mainly)

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Hi there folks, here's my first blog entry. I flew to Lima, Peru on 24 Sept 2011 and have stayed in Miraflores for the past few days.

On Sunday, I left the hostel to explore on foot. I was at Parque Kennedy and a guy asked me to take his picture, so I did. And he asked me if I was headed to the ocean and I said yeah. So we ended up walking around together for a few hours. His name is Freddie and he's from Paraguay. He only spoke Spanish so that was really good practice for me.

On Monday, I went to some nearby ruins, Huaca Pucllana. And on Tuesday, I went to some other ruins south of Lima, Pachacamac.

Today, I just walked around Miraflores more and bought a much needed belt.

Nothing too exciting so far. I plan to go to the center of Lima tomorrow. It sounds like there's some interesting buildings and museums.

More photos posted below and on next page.

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Photos

Vegetarian Airplane Meal
This was a very disappointing meal. It was vegetarian, but also low-fat, low-sodium, and there were sugar free cookies, so ok for diabetics. AND the main dish was Indian food, which I don't care for anymore since getting sick in India.

Tennis seems popular in Miraflores
I've seen many tennis cours walking around

Path down to the ocean
Me on the path.

Parque del Amor
Park of Love

Park in Miraflores
A park on the cliffs above the ocean

Parasailing
There are a lot of parasailers in Miraflores. You can ride along for 150 Peruvian nuevo soles (~$55 USD) for 10 minutes.

John at the coast
Above the beaches in Lima

The Cliffs of Miraflores
cliffs

Self Pic in Miraflores
with the cliffs and coast in the background

John and Freddie
Freddie asked me to take his picture outside of a church at the edge of Parque Kennedy. He then asked if I was headed to the ocean and I said yes, so we walked around together. He wanted me to take his picture everywhere, including on a non-descript park bench, on an escalator, and even in front of a Chili's Restaurant (the very same as the ones in the US). In various places, he asked if I wanted him to take my picture in that spot, and several times I said, "aquí, no" ("not here").

Entrance to Huaca Pucllana
Entrance to the ruins

Huaca Pucllana
The side of the pyramid.

John at Huaca Pucllana
Self-pic with the pyramid

Huaca Pucllana
The ruins of Huaca Pucllana

Huaca Pucllana
Pyramid

Huaca Pucllana
View from atop the pyramid

Huaca Pucllana
More of the pyramid

Huaca Pucllana
Llamas and Alpacas.

Guinea Pigs at Huaca Pucllana
A peruvian delicacy. The guide joked that at the restaurant that is at the entrance, when you order guinea pig on the menu, they go out and get it fresh for you.

John at the entrance to Pachacámac
Entrance to Pachacámac

Pachacámac
The building below housed beautiful women. Some women who lived there never married and remained living there, some married elite men and left, and some were sacrified. There was a wall surrounding this building so that no one could see the women. Any man caught looking would be killed, his family killed, and his neighborhood punished. There were guards for this building and they were castrated.