Sierra Whiskey Echo Lima

  Lima, Peru
Saturday, May 31, 2008

Peruvian Hooters

Peru only has 4 letters making it one of the shortest countries in the world.  We arrived in Lima after 2 flights, Rio to Santiago (via rest break in Sao Paulo) and then Santiago to Lima.  I'm sure this could have been done easier but such are the air routes.  We arrived at 1.00am so didn't do a great deal other than get a cab to our hostel in Milaflores.  The following morning I awoke to my first observations of Lima - there are 8 million taxi's in Lima (unofficial Anton stat) and they all honk like crazy.  At first I thought it was to attract potential punters attention or to warn other cars of their presence, but no I think they honk for the hell of it.  I spent the day wandering around Milaflores which is a nice enough place, but nowt too special.  My highlight was lunch in Hooters, and yes I know its full of scantily clad waitresses but seriously the foods excellent value; starter, main course and drink for 21 soles (just over 4 quid).  The next day we went into downtown Lima, first of all to get a bus ticket out of the city for that night, and the bus station was handily next to the national stadium so I did a walk around that.  Next we went to a few of the more touristic sights including the Plaza de Armas (very nice central square), La Iglesia de San Francisco (church with great architecture and you can go into the underground the catacombs) and the presidential palace and cathedral.

Plaza de Armas

Lima Cathedral

Iglesias de San Francisco

That night we took the 8 hour bus north to Huaraz on the comfiest bus I'd been on in the whole of South America, and that was saying something as South American buses are generally superb.  Unfortunately I now know that it doesn't matter how comfy your reclining seat is if the roads are as bumpy as a roller-coaster.  Huarez lies at an altitude of 3000 metres and I'd never been to altitude like that before, so wasn't ready for the difference in air that affected my breathing and left me light headed.  It took a while to get rid of that but it soon went as I acclimatised.  Didn't do a great deal that first day there apart from walk around and get acclimatised to the altitude.  In the evening I made my own meal of fanny tuna and pasta.  Indeed fanny is quite a big thing out here as you can get fanny jam, fanny marmalade, fanny fruit salad and even fanny con carne.  My other favourite brands in the Peruvian supermarkets are Mounds (a dark chocolate version of a bounty) and Batti Mix (a cereal and yoghurt mix).

Fanny Tuna

Fanny Jam

Fanny Con Carne

The following day we were up at 7am for our first bit of trekking at altitude.  We drove for an hour and half up to Lago LLaca which was a big lake standing at an altitude of 4474m.  This was part of the Peruvian Andes and was very scenic and cold.  From here we hiked for 3 and a half hours around the lake and up to the foot of the tremendous looking glazier.  I've done a few hikes before this and consider my general fitness to be reasonably good but this completely took it out of me.  Breathlessness, headaches and a sore stomach from the previous nights fanny tuna hadn't helped.  Got round it all okay though even though the marked trail disappeared into big clumps of rocks at certain points.  All good practice for the further trekking at altitude I'd be doing in Cusco.

Cordillera Blanca

Laguna LLaca

Tough Terrain

My last day in Huaraz was spent just chilling and looking around the town.  There isn't a great deal to do here other than hike, but its interesting to see the people here and how they live.  This is a relatively poor country and this becomes more evident away from the towns and cities and it's something you particularly see when you head further into the mountains.  Housing is small and fragile looking, made from simple materials yet their churches are beautiful buildings, a clear view of their religious passions. 

Streets Of Huaraz

Our last night in Huaraz was spent eating a Peruvian specialty, guinea pig, in a French/Peruvian restaurant and then drinking in a Swiss/Peruvian pub with a French bloke, the Swiss owner and a rather intoxicated Peruvian guy who shouted 'Yee-Haa' a lot and insisted that his uncle was Harrison Ford.  Our bus back to Lima the next day was mainly uneventful, despite the highest security checks on getting onto the bus including security scans and a guy videoing everyone getting onto the bus and then while sat down on the bus. 

Huaraz Church

Back in Lima we didnīt do a great deal on the Saturday night other than get something to eat and find a bar masquerading as an English pub.  For the next 3 weeks we were going to be joining an organised tour of Peru and Bolivia, as it was the only way we could get permits for the Inca trail, so on the Sunday we checked into our new hotel.  It was the plushest place Iīd stayed in for months and reveled in the little bits of luxury like a TV set, towels and complimentary soap.  In the evening we met the rest of our tour group, 5 Aussies, 3 Kiwis, an English girl and a South African girl.  The South African and English girls were on their last day, as their tours finished in Lima, leaving me and Rich to pick up our new collective name of īThe Pomsī.

Fountains Park - No Water

Fountains Park - With Water

That evening our tour leader, a Peruvian lady called Belgie, took us to a water fountain park that was about 10 metres away from the national stadium we visited days earlier, but completely missed this huge park.  This place didnīt seem like Lima at all and had a vast array of different water fountains, spouting in time to the classical music being played around the park.  Quite a cool place that Iīd have missed completely if it wasnīt for joining the tour group, so one plus already for the tour.  After an evening meal with our new group that was it for Lima, next stop would be Ica the following day.