We arrive in Lima around 11am local time. Grab our bags, relieved that nothing was lost during the transfer through Sao Paulo. Our transfer pickup at Lima airport hasn't arrived yet, so we draw some money and have a Starbucks coffee. Our transfer meets us at the Starbucks, and we head off into Lima. It's a sunny day with a cool breeze. Lima is a big city, the dusty urban sprawl seems to go on forever as far as the eye can see. Eventually we reach the pacific shoreline and follow it south to Miraflores. The beachfront area seems to be under major renovation and upgrade.The Miraflores cliffs rise up on our left. We spot wetsuit clad surfers catching waves.
Shortly afterwards we reach our destination, the dragonfly hostel in the Miraflores district just off avenue 28 de Julio. The friendly Peruvian working at the hostel desk gives us some helpful advice and a map of Lima. We have our own room this time, and we waste no time in unpacking, and after a quick shower head out to explore the city for the afternoon. We stop off at the bakery just next to the hostel to grab a bite to eat. The bakery offers all sorts of pastries and a couple of things we haven't seen before on our travels. We select a paparilla, a bit like a potato croquette but filled with minced beef, olives, peppers and even some egg. I guess we were really hungry because it was delicious.
We followed the directions from the hostel and walked to the bus stop on Avenue Arequipa. The buses are actually more like minibus taxis. The 'conductor' manages the passengers and fares, and half hangs out of the bus as passengers get on. With our limited Spanish and with the aid of the map, we manage to find the right bus to plaza San Martin. The bus is crammed, we only manage to find a spot to stand. I hand over 4 Soles for our fares and the conductor produces some tickets and change. The bus lurches forward and we are on our way. The traffic is somewhat chaotic, taxis and busses tend to stop unexpectedly, causing all the other traffic to back up or try to pass them on the left. Eventually some seats open up and we get a chance to sit. There is an open seat next to the driver but his antique speaker is parked there, blaring out a continuous news broadcast with lots of shouting. The trip takes a lot longer than expected but eventually the conductor motions for us to exit the crowded bus.
After a short walk up a small road we arrive in plaza San Martin. A statue of San Martin on a horse dominates the square, we make our way into the square to get a closer look and take some photos. Just below the statue of San Martin is another one of madre patria, symbolic mother of Peru. The guidebook pointed out that she was accidentally crowned with a llama, instead of flame as originally intended because the Spanish word for flame is also llama and the craftsman got it mixed up :)
The square is surrounded on all sides by stately colonial buIldings, very European and very different from the rest of Lima. After admiring the square a bit longer we start to make our way to the plaza mayor (plaza de Armas). We stroll along the busy pedestrian walkway, filled with tourists, businessmen, students and touts.
The plaza comes into view with an impressive fountain and gardens in the center. The buildings surrounding the square include the archbishop's palace, Lima cathedral, and the colossal palace de gobierno. an interesting feature on some of the buildings, are carved wooden panels or windows, which seem to be of moorish origin.
We make our way into the cathedral and pay the 10 soles entrance fee. Immediately next to the entrance is the mosaic covered chapel of Don Francisco Pizarro that houses his remains. Sadly all the information is in Spanish but its obvious that Pizarro met a violent end, his skull was only recovered in 1977 after some workers found it in a lead box.
We make our around the cathedral admiring the richly decorated chapels. At the back of the cathedral is a subterranean crypt. We crawl into the narrow space and step onto the glass walkway which crosses the tombs. It's a bit spooky and creepy, there are skeletons in the tombs, some with clothes arond them, we are not sure if they are real or fake? Towards the very end is a deep circular pit, presumably where the less well to do were laid to rest? We make our way out and enter another crypt directly under the sacristy. This crypt is much larger and seems to be reserved for archbishops. Towards the back is a niche filled with human skulls. There is also a large collection of child coffins. Climbing back out from crypt we complete our tour of the remaining chapels and make our way back out to the square.
Next we walk to Iglesia St Domingo, a short walk down a street off the square. The church is beautifully decorated, with an impressive cupola. There is a shrine for three saints, st Martin de Porres, st Rosa de Lima and San Juan Macias. The skulls of the first two lare on display. St Martin was south Americas first black saint. We decide not to visit the nunnery as its getting late and don't want to miss the archeological museum.
Back on the street we hail a cab and manage to bargain the fare down to 15 soles. Around 5pm we arrive at Mueso Larco, a private museum with the items found by a Peruvian archeologist. He purchased a beautiful white colonial building with hundreds of flowering bougainvilleas in red, purple, yellow and white, to house his artifacts. We proceed inside and up the ramp to the upper level where the main museum is located.
After paying our entrance fee of 30 soles each, we decide to hire a guide to show us around (25 soles). A friendly Peruvian, Gabrielle starts the tour by explaining the various civilizations and cultures that occupied the different areas of Peru over the centuries. Lima, Chimu, Moche, Inca of course, and many more. The tour continues with examples of pottery, used for ceremonial purposes or to communicate information in the same way as writing would. The ceremonial pottery included images of animals representing the various states of the universe (birds - upper realm, cats/jaguars - middle realm, snakes and spiders - underworld). The pottery Is very well preserved as it was buried in tombs. Subsequent civilizations copied the designs of earlier ones, and added their own improvements and embellishments.
The tour moves on to a gallery of textiles, some thousands of years old. A burial shroud is on display, again with images of animals woven into the fabric. The guide points out a set of knotted cords, used for keeping count of significant numbers such as a census etc. We enter a gallery describing human sacrifice and the sacrificial knives used in the process.
Further galleries contain a large assortment of fine jewelery in silver and gold. The Peruvians only used gold and silver for decoration and not for currency. The kings especially had elaborate gold and silver crowns, earrings, nose rings that made them shine like the sun and inspire awe in their subjects. There are even huge garments decorated in gold.
One of the strangest objects in the museum is a very large ceramic object, covered in textile "clothing", jewelery, and with a gold face and a feathered "hat". The guide tells us that inside is a child in the foetal position, and this is confirmed by X-rays on the side. The child would have been the son of a rich or royal person. In another part of the museum was a huge collection of pottery on shelves stacked to the ceiling.
The tour ends with the erotic gallery. This houses pottery portraying various sexual acts, child birth, male and female organs, and sexually transmitted diseases with surprisingly graphic detail. The purpose of the pottery was not for pornography as would be interpreted from a western viewpoint. Instead these items would have been used for ceremonies and education. The Peruvians believed sex was an important and essential part of maintaining the cycle of life. There were dozens of pots depicting dead men in clinches with mother earth, the Peruvians believed that when men die they returned to mother earth to fertilize the soil. the tour wraps up and we say our goodbyes.
Exhausted, we turn to the restaurant for some bibidas (drinks). We order an inca cola, pisco sour cocktails (grape brandy, bitters, lime juice, sugar topped with beaten egg white) and a chicha morado (non-alchoholic purple corn drink). The restaurant is situated in a beautiful garden filled with cactus, bougainvillea and inca statues.
We leave the museum and find a taxi to take us to huaca pucllanya. Soon we arrive at the restaurant and the ruins beyond. The restaurant itself is richly decorated in traditional Peruvian style. We find our table and order some drinks before going outside to take photos in front of the ruins. The ruins seem to have been constructed out of bricks or flat cut rocks. It's hard to see if this was a pyramid temple. We get back to the table and soon the rest of our party joins us. The group consists of Dave (Nicki's dad), John and Bev (Nicki's uncle and aunt from New Zealand), and Mike and Sandy Morrison (friends of John and Bev from New Zealand).
We spend some time getting to know everyone and catch up while making a selection from the menu. We try to order the guinea pig starter but it's not available, so we opt for a quinoa & corn salad and a yukka spirals. For the main we select ceviche and tiradito, basically raw fish in citric juice which partially 'cooks' the fish. The fish we choose is tuna and sole. All the food is delicious and beautifully presented. The ceviche was actually quite sour and spicy.
It's great to have some more company to chat to about our adventures past and present. The conversation turns to plans for the coming days. Eventually we find ourselves almost falling asleep at the table, it has been a long day and an early start will follow tomorrow, so we settle our bill and get another cab back to the dragonfly hostel. We finish our packing and fall asleep almost immediately.
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Location:Lima, Peru
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