Lima

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With Jill living in China and me in Australia, this trip took quite a bit of organising. We started planning over 6 months earlier and now we were on our way at last.

Day 1
After 30 long hours, 12 of them spent in airports, I arrived in Lima about 10:30pm and was greeted by a sign with Jill's name. No, it was only me they were picking up. It was so good to get out of the very dry plane air-conditioning. Because of a volcano erupting in Chile we had cancelled flights and delayed flights, only just catching our final connection to Lima. I was introduced to South American safety, or rather, lack there of, when my pick up told me to hide my bags below the seat to avoid getting robbed at red lights.

Lima sits on a cliff overlooking the cold Pacific Ocean. The coast of Peru is desert, so any greenery survives with the help of irrigation. The safest part of Lima, to the south of the city, is also the prettiest.

Day 2
Being Sunday, I found a church just around the corner and joined over 1000 people at one of the 4 services that day. There was great music, but I can't comment on the preaching as I didn't understand a word of it. But it was passionate and appreciated.

I picked up a native (or did he pick me up) and chatted over lunch with him while watching the para gliders on the cliffs. Or you can join them at US$55 for 10 mins. It's very popular and they can be seen soaring and circling all along the cliffs.

I ended up at the cliff top shopping plaza for lunch. It was packed with Lima residents and a few tourists. Couples, groups of friends and families were enjoying lunch and the many forms of cheap entertainment.

Being the weekend was good as I saw the dance pit in action in a nearby park where they were dancing tango during the day and salsa at night.

Jill arrived from China late that evening after an equally long flight from China.

Day 3
We walked along the cliffs from the lighthouse to the big shopping plaza, now very quiet compared with the Sunday crowds. After lunch we hopped on the topless double-decker bus for a city tour. These are a good way to see the cities when you don't have a lot of time. We were leaving bright and early the next morning.

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Photos

Lighthouse
foreshore of Lima

paragliding
a park runs along the cliffs

cliffs of Lima
because it almost never rains, everything green is irrigated

Pier, Lima
the beach is grey gravel/sand and the water is freezing - not very inviting

silver shoes
the cathedral has shoes for baby Jesus

Comments

[Jill]

Window shopping
The prices were too high!