Lima, Peru

Lima Museo San Francisco Catacombes
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2009-01-07

The flight from Quito to Lima was a little over two hours. Lori was able to finish her book, Three Cups of Tea, on the plane. It was excellent, inspiring and she would thoroughly recommend it. Fortunately, unlike in Ecuador, we sailed through Lima’s customs. However, our baggage took over an hour to arrive. Ours and another flight baggage were put onto the same carousel, but for some reason they could not mix the two flights, so we had to wait until all the baggage from the other flight was taken off the carousel until they would put ours on. After we had our baggage, we attempted to get a taxi. As none of the taxis in Lima are metered, we tried to negotiate one before exiting customs into a sea of people. However, the “official” taxis wanted $40, which we knew was too much. We were able to pick up a taxi just outside for $25, but found out after we arrived at the hotel the official rate was $15, but at almost 1 am, we were just happy to arrive to Hostel Gemina safe and sound.

There was a beautiful wooden ceiling where we first joined the tour, a beautiful library with books dating back to the Spanish Conquest, the church had ceilings that had shapes cut out and painted and the catacombs were estimated to have 70,000 people buried in them.

Lima Museo San Francisco Catacombes
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2009-01-08

As we arrived late and the hostel proved to be noisy with the street traffic and the people below, we tried our best to sleep in that morning. We moved by hunger around midday. We found out later that night that breakfast (bread, coffee/tea and juice) was included, but we missed it that first day. The hostel gave us a map of some local places, so we headed in that direction and within a few minute we had found the Refil sandwich shop. Ian had a chicken sandwich and Lori tried the chorizo. Both of them came with lettuce, tomato and crisps (chips), which we both found amusing as they were in the sandwich. After our stomachs were satisfied, we decided to take a taxi into the center of Lima. We were very lucky and got picked up by Juan Young, who was very friendly and gave us some advice about things to see in the city center and the Inca trail. He dropped us off at Plaza de Armas. Around the plaza are the Archbishop’s place, Palacio de Gobierno (where the president lives) and La Catedral de Lima. We had a quick peep inside the cathedral, but as they wanted 10 sole (3.33 dollars/2.16 pounds) a person and it did not look that different to many churches we had seen before, we decided to give it a miss. We wondered around the rest of the square and we really started to feel the heat again like in the Galapagos. We were both glad not to be in the cold weather that we kept hearing about back in the UK. The Palacio de Gobierno had guards similar to those at Buckingham Palace in front of them and tanks around the sides. There was a changing of the guards at mid day, but we had missed it. We heard from the others in the group that we joined later that night that while there was a ceremony with music, the guards did not appear to change. Juan had given us directions to the Catacombs that were inside the Monasterio de San Francisco, so we headed in that direction. We passed the Congress along the way. As we walked, it was amazing to see the hussle and bussle of the city and the range of characters in it. Our books and people had told us that Lima was dangerous and to really watch our bags. We were luckily and did not have any problems and really enjoyed the architecture of the city as we walked through it. We did find out that the night before two people in the group we were joining had their bags stolen on a night bus though. We arrived at the Monasterio de San Francisco and managed to get tickets for 5 soles per person, which was a much better deal then the Cathedral. We joined a tour, but most of it was in Spanish, so we only understood bits and pieces of it. There was a beautiful wooden ceiling where we first joined the tour, a beautiful library with books dating back to the Spanish Conquest, the church had ceilings that had shapes cut out and painted and the catacombs were estimated to have 70,000 people buried in them. You were not supposed to take photos in most places, but Ian managed to sneek a few in. We then walked to Plaza San Martin and then to the where most of the museums were housed. We decided to head back to the hostel at this point. At 7 pm, we had a meeting with the GAP group that we were joining. We met Maruja, our tour leader, who was from Lima; Andrea, Paula, Vicky, Christine, Catherine, Alex, Caroline, and Amelia who were from the UK; Lauren from Boston/NYC; Jesper from Denmark; Dirk from Belgium and Lothar from Germany. After a brief orientation, we then we went to dinner at Songoro Cosongo (which is featured in 1,000 places to see before you Die), which was a short walk away. Ian and I both had fish dishes and shared a Pisco Sour, which is made from white grapes and brandy.

Lima Plaza De Armes Catederal de Lima Lori
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2009-01-09

As we had seen most things in the center of Lima and we were not interested in returning to see the museums, we decided to look walk around Barranco and Miraflores, the area where our hostel was. We got up for breakfast, but Ian decided to go back to sleep afterwards. Lori stayed and worked on the journal and photos. In the afternoon, they found a local cafe and managed to interpret the menu to work out there was a combination deal. Ian ordered a starter and a main, while Lori ordered a main and a dessert. Ian’s start was covered in corn maze, but we were not sure what was on the inside, but it was tasty. The chicken and rice for the main was filling and Lori washed in down with homemade lemonade. It was too sour for Ian though. The mango mousse for dessert was a nice way to finish the meal. After lunch, they walked back to Songoro Cosongo, where they had eaten the night before, as there was a neat bridge with terraces of flowers on the other side. We found a walkway that lead to a view of the ocean as well. We decided to follow the streets around and were able to find a walkway that seemed hug the coastline. We were able to get views down below of the packed beaches and across to Miraflores. The apartments in this area looked very nice compared to some of the more shantytown like conditions that were around them. They also seemed to have well maintained flower gardens in front of them. After our walk, we spent some time catching up on admin and working on the journal and photos. We were also able to pick up some medication at the pharmacy for altitude. For dinner that night, we went to an Italian place, Canta Buna, that Ian and Lori had seen on their walk in the afternoon. Paula, Andrea, Lauren, Vicky and Catherine joined us for dinner. Steven, who arrived late the night before, also joined us, he was from the UK as well. Ian and Lori really enjoyed the pasta that they ordered and it was great to watch them make the pasta from scratch. After dinner, we had a few beers with everyone and then met most of the rest of the group. We went to a really cool bar around the corner from where we were staying. For our traveling budget, the drinks were pricey, but we decided to have one and soak up the atmosphere of the place. The rooms were all different, but the walls were mainly white with ornate woodwork around them. One room had bright coloured shorts with Asian style embroidery on them and were sealed in hard plastic containers with spot lights on them. Another room seemed to be African themed with grass coming out of the wall and origami shapes hanging up.

Lima Plaza De Armes La Catederal de Lima Ian
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