Lima is the centre of Peru’s spider web air travel system, which meant that we were there three times in seven weeks, making flight connections. On our second visit we stayed in central, old Lima, supposedly the dangerous area, and were in the Grand Bolivar Hotel, that had once been the ‘grand old dame’ of the city where movie stars and rock bands like the Rolling Stones stayed. It was reminiscent of “The Shining” with long halls, threadbare carpet, antique lighting, and enough interconnecting halls to get lost in. It was located on the city’s beautiful main square, Plaza San Martiin. We had most of the next day in town before leaving in the evening for Cusco, so were able to walk all around the historic centre of Lima using a print out of a walking tour that Pierre had brought from home. This part of the city has many examples of beautiful old Spanish era colonial buildings and churches. We toured San Francisco Church and visited the characteristically European macabre spectacle of catacombs with skulls and bones on display.
Lima, Peru, (Again), June 5 – 7
Farewell To Peru
Malacon Seawall, Crime & Safety, Don’t Fear Peru!
Still struggling to overcome our persistent colds, we were greatly relieved to be in the warmth of this coastal desert city. Surprisingly, the Peruvians considered this to be cool weather and some wore sweaters and even jackets while we were in Bermuda shorts and t-shirts. Finally, after three weeks I was able to wear sandals and to stave off the signs of impending athletes foot, that had been threatening to flourish between my suffocating toes in my leather walking shoes.
We are staying at the Hotel Runcu in a different part of Miraflores from where we stayed on our first trip here. All of Miraflores is a wealthier and more touristy area of Lima. The hotel serves great breakfasts with wonderful ciabatta bread, such a delight in this sadly bread impoverished country. This part of Miraflores is on the coast and our hotel is a three minute walk from the coastline walkway that loftily winds and curves along at the top of the hundred foot high cliffs. Below is the highway and beside that is a small strip of beach. Unlike Vancouver, there is no seawall along the beach, only this very high walkway called the Malecon which, due to its height, provides spectacular views. We rented bikes one afternoon and rode through three districts, from Miraflores, through Barranco and on to Chorrillos before riding all the way back. The weather was perfect for biking and the views were dramatic. Biking is always a fun way to spend some time when traveling.
We always try to avoid taxis and buses, preferring instead to experience cities ‘on the ground’, by walking for hours almost daily. We felt very safe and comfortable in Miraflores so it seemed incongruous to see so many houses with locked metal gating across their front yards and condos, hotels and banks with guards stationed at the door. Crime statistics of 448 major cities in the world indicate that forty-nine cities, eight of which are American, have higher crime rates than Lima and that Surrey’s rate is the same as that of Lima. A study has shown that many Limenos are very concerned about crime in their city and country. It is astonishing that the very residents of Lima and Peru believe the exaggerated portrayal of their capital city and country as extremely dangerous. Granted being number forty-eight out of 448 is not insignificant, but it is no higher than many cities that we do not consider particularly dangerous. Yet when walking through Miraflores at night we saw police officers or security guards on nearly every corner. As I said, we felt very safe, but we always make sure that we are not careless.
We visited the Larco museum in Lima and saw many gold and pottery relics of the ancient civilizations whose archeological sites we’d been to around the country. Lima itself has many fenced off sites of ancient ruins. In Miraflores, we visited Huaca Pucllana, dating from 500 AD and used by both the Wari and the Lima cultures. This ceremonial and commerce site is made of adobe bricks and has acquired a pyramidal shape, due to new regimes continuously dirt filling and rebuilding on top of former regimes. Later in the evening we took a taxi to Reserva Park to watch the water show, laser photos projected onto a ‘mist‘ water screen, much like Disneyland’s water show. A fun and tacky night out.
We ate at a few interesting restaurants in Lima. Costazul was a very small family run place with about six or seven tables and was highly recommended in Tripadvisor. At about 8:30, the middle-age plus, owner came out with a guitar playing friend and the two of them performed a few sixties jazz standards, then announced that they had CDs for sale. We bought one of course. Another restaurant, La Mar, said to have the best ceviche in town, completely lived up to its promise with complimentary sides of great tasting restaurant made banana, potato and yam chips.
Spending the last three days of our vacation in warm, clean, organized Lima was a wonderful way to say good-bye to Peru. Some of you who read my blog fairly regularly, have commented on the ‘hard travel’ involved in this holiday. It is true, this was not as easy and comfortable as say, driving a rented car through a warm, salad filled, Bulgarian summer. We knew ahead of time that this trip would be more adventurous and demanding than some of our trips but we went for the archeological sites, which did not disappoint, even though some of them required much uncomfortable traveling. This trip could be made into a more comfortable and shorter vacation by omitting many of the places we went to and by staying in the more tourist-ready areas, visiting only the most famous of the ruins. But, then, that would have been an entirely different trip and would not have given me nearly as much grist for my story mill.
wayfaringroamer 