What to do when there's nothing to do

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Having spent most of my day in Starbucks yesterday blogging, I decided that I really ought to try and see more of the former 'City of the Kings'. I had walked through Miraflores in the late afternoon sun yesterday to take in the air. It was an interesting suburb, much lusher and greener than other parts of the city I had seen when I arrived. I escaped what appeared to be 'Gringoville' surrounding the hostel and walked down Diagonal and La Valle to Parque del Amour. The park was filled with people all enjoying the warm weather on the weekend, and was surrounded by tall palm trees and well tended lawns and flower beds. A huge terracotta sculpture of two entwined lovers took pride of place at the parks centre, and from what I could see was being mimicked on all sides.

I continued along the seafront where people were exercising, families were playing or friends were just hanging out in the various parks. I eventually arrived at a lighthouse overlooking some clay tennis courts, that Pariwana's map had indicated was the end of the 'recommended walk'. Having found nothing of interest, apart from the views of the setting sun over the Pacific, I turned around and retraced my steps. I passed back through Parque del Amour and continued down towards Parque Salazar, under which sat the LarcoMar shopping mall. With an increasingly tight budget, and no wish to reaper through a shopping mall, I made my way back to the hostel along Avenue Larco. The Dakar Raleigh had finally caught up with me, and lots of fuss was being made over the various support vehicles that stood outside the various hotels along my path.

I went to the bar for breakfast again this morning, and was thought how wonderful it was that I would only be limited to bread, butter and jam for breakfast for just one more day. Although I'd explored the internet extensively yesterday for things to do within Lima, whilst drinking copious amounts of hot chocolate, I had arrived in the city at the wrong time. Most attractions closed over Sunday and Monday so I decided I would hop onto a local bus this morning and head to Lima Central. As instructed by the hostel, I caught one of the local buses from the corner of Avenue Larco that was headed downtown. The ride was much the same as any other local bus I had taken in South America, with a conductor constantly leaning out of the bus and incessantly shouting the destination to drum up custom.

As the traffic started to crawl to a grinding halt, I got bored of waiting and decided to go the rest of the way on foot. It had started to get ridiculously hot because it was so close to midday, and as much as I tried to hide in the what little shade was available the beads of sweat still began to run down my forehead. Having hopped off the bus just short of Avenue 28 de Julio, I made my way through Parque de la Cultura. It was yet another well kept park, with crisp green lawns and guinea fowl roaming freely. I continued up towards Plaza San Martin along the cordoned off Parque Italiano. Yet more Dakar Raleigh vehicles lined the streets here, with people clamouring to get their photo taken with the cars. It was astonishing the pride that the Peruvians had in the fact that the race had come to their country.

Passing through Plaza San Martin, I walked up the pedestrianised Jirón de la Unión. I began to get a little lost and confused, as the streets seemed to change their name every block or so, making the map I had been given practically useless. Jirón de la Unión was lined with mini shopping malls and the odd flashy designer store, reminding me a lot of Avenue Florida in Buenos Aires. I bypassed them all, along with the many shop keepers vying for my attention, heading straight for Plaza de Armas. I was met by scaffolding and stages that dominated the central island of the Plaza and it was hard to tell if it was being put up or pulled down.

I managed to find my way to the local tourist information office, where my fears of having nothing to do for the day were confirmed. I decided to head to the cities cathedral, as it was one of the few tourist spots that was open. Although it set me back S/.10 (£2.42) I was pleased to do something that filled my time rather than letting the grass grow under my feet. It was a far more modern looking interior than I was expecting, given what I'd seen already in Peru. Happily though, I was allowed to take photos of the inside of this cathedral, without fear of being caught! I wandered up towards the alter and saw yet another masterpiece carved out of wood, much like the choir pit at the cathedral in Cusco. Sadly it didn't keep me entertained for too long, because I was soon making my to Tacna where I caught the local bus back to Miraflores for just S/. 1.20 (£0.29).

Once back in the safety of the hostel, I decided to prepare for my departure the next day. My flight was at 10.35am and I wanted to be as organised as I possibly could. I asked at reception if they knew how many hours before my flight I needed to arrive at the airport. My jaw almost hit the floor when they said told me a minimum of three hours before my departure. Daring to ask how much a taxi would set me back, I was convinced I hadn't heard her correctly when she said S/.56 (£13.54). I went away to calculate exactly how much money I had before the transfer had hit my back account. Once I had added up my bill and the cost of departure tax from Lima, I only had S/.46 (£11.12) with which to feed myself tonight and get to the airport.

I went upstairs to check my bank account and thankfully the transfer had arrived! Breathing a huge sigh of relief I decided to eat at the hostel tonight, as they had beef lasagna as the dish of the day for S/.12 (£2.90) and I felt like something stodgy to fill me up.

Having booked my taxi for the next day I turned in to try and get as much sleep as I could. I knew all to well now how much stress the body went through flying internationally and I wanted to have my wits about me.

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