Barranco Lima

Lima - finally arrived in South America for the first time. After a long flight and the time difference I have not really 'arrived' yet - It will take a few days if not weeks for me to leave the old world behind and embrace the new one. But I am looking forward to the unexpected and the unknown. At least that's a start.

I check into the ' …

We flew into Lima from Cusco and arrived at its modern airport. It was a far cry from the mayhem I remembered when I arrived from Madrid in 2003. This was to be a consistent theme over the 4 days we stayed in Lima. We caught a taxi to our hotel in the Miraflores suburb. Miraflores is Lima's most affluent suburb, situated on a cliff top overlooking …

Entry containing 13 photos titled: Plaza de Armas - Historic centre of Lima , Lima shanty towns , Lima at night , Miraflores , Miraflores - coast , Miraflores streets , Miraflores handicrafts , Barranco , Magic water circuit , Magic water circuit , Students anti smoking & drug campaign

Our last visit is to the residential suburb of Barranco. It's considered the city's most romantic and bohemian district, being the home and working place of many of Peru's leading artists, musicians, designers and photographers. In the 19th-century, it was a very fashionable beach resort for the Limeņo aristocracy, and many people used to spend the …

Yes fairy tale fans, after 17 years of boring everyone to tears banging on about it, various get rich quick schemes to save up enough for it, and two months of leaving do's, I've finally made it here to get on the gringo trail woooo hooooo!

First stop Lima, Peru and Condors House Hostel in Miraflores, where we were greeted by a table of …

...are crazy.

So crazy, in fact, that I'll have to get that particular part of my story out of the way before I touch on anything else. I thought Alberta drivers were terrible. I was wrong.

Most streets in Lima are one-ways. I’ve only seen one or two that aren’t, so far. There are clearly marked lanes, just as in …

We arrived full of trepidation into the Cruz del Sur bus terminal, having heard many a horror story about the city's taxis and robberies. We managed to find a radio taxi where the driver had an official badge and then headed straight into Lima rush-hour for our hostel, the number 1 hostel in Peru 2011.

The place was a bit like Fort Knox to …

... it on the way from the market but we got to see the very end which was lovely.  Our last stop of the day was Barranco, the bohemian area where we walked across the only original wooden bridge in Lima and had a walk from the plaza through some of the ...

... and it is a bit unfair. We were very cautious taking taxis after stories of strangle muggings but walking around Miraflores and Barranco was fine. Miraflores and Barranco are the "Posh" neighbourhoods and most nice houses have an 8 foot electrified ...

... a big city, including world class shopping, cosmopolitan restaurants and a good nightlife. Somewhat touristy and upscale neighborhoods like Miraflores, Barranco and San Isidro are also great places to walk around and just chill out in for a few days. So ...

... and skulls had been arranged in an attractive circle. There was even a box of assorted foot bones. We took a taxi to Barranco, the cool student bar area and then walked along the coast back to Lima for dinner. The next day we checked out the Inca ...

... only realised the place's status, when we turned around with our drinks already in our hands. The second night in Lima, we go out for the night in Barranco and find a street lined with door to door bars. One of the bars stuck out as being the busiest ...

... for some time!). Side note... bypass Europe if on a budget RTW tour. I m staying at Hostal Gemina (Avenida Grau 620 Barranco) which is in an excellent location, just south of Miraflores Larcoma Shopping Mall... this is where I met up with Anderson, ...

... , the way there always are on group trips like this. Should be fun to watch!! After the welcome meeting, we went to Barranco, a suburb of Lima by the sea, for lunch, as suggested by the trip leader. Barranco is a really lovely place, with lots of ...

... year I was in Nicaragua at this time. Now I am in Peru's big captial city, Lima. Since arriving in Lima, I've found a cool hostel in the Barranco neighborhood called The Point. And my timimg couldn't have been better as they were looking for staff... so, ...

... kinda died for us, we had to go out Sunday night to celebrate my 5 month anniversary of travelling. We went to Barranco, the supposedly hot centre of Lima nightlife with 2 Sams from our hostel. To our dismay it was dead and we settled on a bar with a ...

... nbsp;Mango's overlooking the Pacific Ocean having a few drinks.  From there Mirasol took me to El Blvd. de Barranco for a few more drinks, it’s a busy street lined with nightlife.  Somehow I managed to meet another amazing ...