Lima

Day 151 – Authentic Peruvian experiences

Before we left for Lima, Anna and I walked up to the top of one of the dunes to get a birds eye view over our little oasis:

The water in the middle is a natural fresh water spring, not a mirage!

Then we loaded up, got a cab to nearby Ica, a bigger town, to get on the next bus to Lima.  After a painless 4 hour journey (in comparison to our last bus ride!) we were in the delightful comfort of Villa HQ Hostel in the Miraflores area of Lima.

Following our usual format of hitting a big city, we found the nearest Japanese restaurant and for around $20 each we had our fill of sushi rolls, sashimi and few other interesting sounding things on the menu.  Poor Anna came at the wrong time for us to be introducing her to the delightful Peruvian food, most of it grease and meat anyway, so with Japanese being one of her favourite foods, we think she was happy to oblige!

 

Day 152 – Old town Lima and more authentic Peruvian experiences.

The next morning we were off to a slow start, but were out and about on a walk around the old town by mid morning.

The central square, Plaza de Armas, with its bronze fountain erected in 1650.

The Peruvian President’s house, Palacio de Gobierno.  We just missed the changing of the guard by 5 minutes!

Around the square.

We also went inside Monasterio de San Francisco to visit its bone filled catacombs and the dusty library with texts dating back to the Spanish conquest.  We couldn’t take any photos inside, but saw lots of bones! 

We went to an upmarket, but all-you-can-eat, Peruvian fusion place for lunch in anticipation of yet another night bus.  This was dessert, but sadly Anna didn’t make it this far, feeling the effects of catching Matt’s cold made worse by an upset tum : (

With Anna tucked up in bed for an afternoon nap, Matt and I went for a quick spin around LarcoMar the local shopping mall to look for a polarising filter for the new baby.  LarcoMar’s location was actually more spectacular than the mall itself, built right into the cliff side over looking the ocean.  We also bumped into Jacqui and Peter (the Canadians) who were killing a few days in Lima before flying into the jungle at Iquitos.

Back at the hostel, we spent a bit of time catching up with internet chores and then it was off to catch our night bus to Trujillo.