Three Days in Lima, Peru

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Saturday 26th - Tuesday 29th November 2022

Waking up early, as we bumped along with the continuous rumble of the bus, we were met with beautiful views of huge sandy hills, intercepted with the winding road we were following and various little towns along the way. A few more hours later, and we suddenly saw a much bigger town ahead of us, sprawling inland from the Pacific Ocean to the desert like land, Lima. Happy to be getting off the coach 20hours later, we had a confusing time finding our pre booked taxi, followed by another 2 hours in a taxi from one end to the other; turns out Lima is pretty big. Pure Lima traffic, apparently normal for here, meant quick starts and stops, clear attempts at trying to whizz off the main road and return later in hope of skipping some traffic, cars beeping, street vendors selling and, surprisingly, a local radio station playing English music (most heard radio here; with the taxi man answering that he likes the music but doesn’t understand it!).

After almost 24hours travelling, we were super happy to reach our hotel, Casa Porter, to find welcoming staff and a cool, clean place. The staff here also spoke English, and reassured us that the parts we were likely to be here in Lima, especially this area of Miraflores, were really safe (keeping usual common sense of course) and after an evening stroll, being surprised at the sheer cliff edge drop between the city’s tall buildings and the ocean, we agreed. With probably the most western feel we’ve had so far, this area of Lima is clearly a well developed and affluent area, and gave some sense of respite from the recent days of being overly alert. We even got to enjoy the beginnings of some Christmas festivities.

Finding the tourist info centre, we noted some free walking tours and opted to join one to the historic centre for our first full day. Whilst we both agreed the tour was alright, giving us a good sense of the area and some interesting facts, (mostly enjoyed talking to the tour guide), we did feel a bit on show, as we wondered around with this large group of tourists. Choosing to stay in the centre once the tour was over, we quickly returned to our more relaxed pace of self exploring and finding cafes with good coffee, even working ways around cornered off sections by the police due to possible strikes around the government buildings bit. The highlight has to be the San Francisco Convent though, with a good tour around the building and down into the catacombs, full of a huge collection of bones and skulls, of all those religious who thought they had paid for a lifelong spot to rest under the church.

Meandering our way down town, through some parks, with Paul almost walking us into an area we clearly should not go in, we found the park of fountains, (circuito Magico del Agua) which was a cool place to wonder around. Being too early for the light show though, and getting hungry, we used Uber (surprisingly easy and cheap here!) to return to our area and found maybe the best Indian food we’ve had outside of India (Massala). Full and happy, we ended up walking around again, and enjoyed strolling along the coastal section, through different parks full of people chatting away and eating crepes. We even found a Smeaton’s tower!

After an already busy hour first thing, getting our dirty washing to a laundromat and finding a post office to finally send those Galápagos postcards, we decided to give another free walking tour a go, and joined a much smaller group (all English and one French!) in the area of Barranco. Known for its street art, poets, artisan shops and good food, and generally a quieter area to the old historic centre, we enjoyed this tour more. Staying back after again, we found a great local cafe, (La Bio Cafeta) hidden inside an old building, and were treated to a delicious veggie 2 course lunch and drink for only £4 each; clearly used by locals in the area with many packed lunches being sorted and sent off.

Having had a few hours back at the hotel to plan and book the next couple weeks, we later ventured back out. Returning to Kennedy Park, having briefly walked through it earlier, we sat and watched the cats. Yes, cats! So many, everywhere, in this little park full of people enjoying the late afternoon warmth. Picking up our washing (thankfully all there!) we stopped for a ‘lighter’ tea, to find the cheese board really did come with a lot of cheese!, before returning to the hotel once more, full, fed and happy.

A later morning today, but we challenged ourselves to using the local bus, which, eventually, we managed; with no clear bus numbers, signs or stops, we actually still don’t know how you’re meant to know. But hey ho, we got ourselves to the old, pre-Inca temple like we had planned. Well, actually, we didn’t. We ended up at a different, smaller one, (Huaca Huallamarca) but it was still cool to see. We decided to walk back, which not only meant seeing some of the flashier houses and cars around, it also resulted in us walking by and seeing the actual pre-Inca temple we had read about (Sitio Pucllana)! Turns out it is shut Tuesdays, so maybe it was all meant to be. A pretty long walk back, and we found a pub with the football on, in time to watch England win! No one seemed bothered though…not as exciting as seeing Ecuador win whilst in Ecuador I guess.

We’ve really enjoyed our time here in Lima, at least the ‘safe zones’ we wondered around, finding it to be a busy yet calm city, with a good mix of old and new, many green spaces and parks, a beautiful long coastal section, friendly people and some amazing cafes and restaurants. Whilst we could easily stay longer and visit different areas and museums, and find more yummy veggie food, we’re back on a bus again tomorrow, ready for some more adventures.

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