Lima: Seaside Cycling

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After a surprisingly brief and simple taxi negotiation, we were making our way through the heavy Lima rush hour traffic doing our best to put up with the continual frenetic beeping from the taxi drivers. 20 minutes or so later and we were dropped off in the heart of the affluent district of Miraflores. Surrounded by McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks, we felt a long way from the serenity of only 24 hours earlier. With expectations of dilapidated buildings and crime ridden streets, it came as a huge surprise to be able to comfortably stroll the clean and pleasant streets in the surrounding area. We decided to take a stroll along the two main streets en route to and from the beach. Once reaching the boardwalk, we walked from the lighthouse on the far right, all away along the high cliffs overlooking the crashing waves far below, before reaching the shopping centre perched on the cliff edge overlooking the sea. After a browse around the shops and restaurants, we slowly made our way back to the hostel through a couple of the many parks in the local vicinity.

That night, we decided to sample the famous Peruvian dish of Ceviche. Raw fish, served in lemon juice and chilli, it seemed right down Rich's street. A quick flick through our guidebook and we had soon decided on a restaurant. Starving hungry, we arrived at the restaurant ready for our feast...and a feast is certainly what we got. We decided to both go for the the ceviche to start (one portion each), and a fishy main. Once the starter arrived, it immediately became apparent that we didn't need one each. Yummy as it was, it soon became a battle against the dish to finish it all off. After a long hard slog of continual fish, Rich was done...Gem didn't get quite as far. In fact, she got a about three bites in and decided enough was enough. Already full, next to arrive were our main courses. After yet again giving it our best efforts, this time we both had succumb to the enormous portions and threw in the towel...that was after we shared a cheeky chocolate brownie and ice cream for dessert of course! Barely able to walk, we wobbled back to the hostel and rolled into bed.

Bright and early, we were up and ready to work off the gargantuan meal from the night before with a guided cycle ride around Lima. Sticking to the coastal districts, we made our way along the entire bay and back streets taking in the local sights along the way. En route back, we made a stop at one of Limas oldest pubs for a soft drink and bite to eat. Cycle done and feeling like we had redeemed ourselves somewhat after the evening before, we decided to go and treat ourselves with a coffee from Starbucks. With Cat and Josh arriving in Lima that day, they came and met us in Starbucks and we took a walk back down to the boardwalk before having a few cheeky cocktails whilst watching the sun set. Hungry once again, we made our way back up town in an attempt to find a place to eat. Settling for a pretty naff pizza joint, we gobbled it up before taking an evening stroll through JF Kennedy park to watch the locals dance the night away in a tiny little arena and take a look at some of the hundreds of cats which call the park home (we have no idea why).

With a bus booked for 12:45am the following night, we still had another whole day free to explore the old town of Lima...however, Gem's belly had other ideas. With the diarrhoea still in full flow (literally) for the seventh consecutive day, we thought it was time to do something about it, so we headed to the local hospital. Upon arrival we were pleasantly surprised at the relative organisation and cleanliness. A young nurse working at the hospital noticed our confusion and helped us with registration and where we had to go. Payment made, we headed up to the gastro department and to our despair discovered a somewhat monstrous gathering of people waiting to be seen. After being told we were likely to be waiting about four hours, we decided to head off and try and get something from the chemist. Unfortunately, without a prescription we weren't able to get anything we didn't have already. So we hailed another taxi and headed back to the hostel, rested and waiting for time to pass until we had to leave to catch our bus.

Despite the unfortunate end to our Lima experience, we still saw a lot of the city and were surprisingly impressed with what we saw.

It was now time to board our midnight bus and head back into the mountains for our final hike. Seaside city to snow capped peaks...next stop Huaraz.

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Photos

Flying high
Sunset hang gliders