Lima to Pisco

  Pisco, Peru
Saturday, January 3, 2009

Plaza San Martin

After breakfast at the hotel, our tour group went on a walking tour of downtown Lima. We began at Plaza San Martin, which is dedicated to the man who lead the indepedence from Spain. There was a 'flash' KFC in the hotel, with a sign that blended into the building like the McDonalds in Paris. 

Walking through downtown Lima

From there we wandered down the main walking street of Lima to Plaza de Armas. The street was very quiet as most of the shops were still shut. The Plaza de Armas is surrounded by beautiful buildngs - the parliament buildings, the Mayor's house, the main cathedral... and the Plaza itself is also stunning. We soon learnt this as because the current mayor, who was first elected 15 years ago, was determined to change Lima. One of the things he did was give a different colour of paint to each household to provide better view when looking out over the suburbs. There was a display showing some of the improvements and  so much has changed in Lima in such a short time!

Colourfu houses of Lima

We took a tour through the San Fraciscan Monastery. Some of the painting were very good and there was an intricately pieced together wooden dome ceiling which had collasped in an earthquake and had to be rebuilt. Down in the catacombs there were thousands of bones. An archaeologist had been through them to count the number of bodies buried there, and all the bones had been put back in neat patterns. 

Walking back through Lima

Back at the surface we passed by a 'changing of the guard' ceremony to find a restaurant for lunch. Back at the hotel we jumped in a minivan to the bus station before a 4 hour (no toilet stop) bus ride to Pisco. The scenery on the way was a shock after the beauty of Lima. There was desert from the hills to the rolling surf. Amongst the sand were houses, some of them without roofs, where people obviously lived as there was washing hanging outside. 

Outside of Lima

Pisco looked pretty direlect when we first arrived, so our nice hotel was a bit of a surprise. After beng warned not to go alone or take any valuables into the town, a group of us walked to the main square. The square had a statue of San Martin and beautiful old trees.

Earthquake hit Pisco

A major earthquake hit Pisco in 2007, and many of the building have yet to be repaired or replaced. One of the buildings that miraculously survived was the church. Pisco is not a large town, but surrounding the square were banks, tourism offices, a pharmacy... Hundreds of rickshaw taxis were flying aroudn the square and you had to be careful not to be run over.

Church in Pisco

Back at the hotel for dinner of fish, chips and mushroom soup, we had our first Peruvian Pisco sour. It was so much nice than the one I had in Chile.

Now we're off to bed as there is an early start tomorrow. We're heading out to Ballestas Islands (known as poor man's Galapogos).