Lima, 'City of the Kings'

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Trip Start Oct 30, 2008 Previous
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  Lima, Peru
Sunday, December 21, 2008

What ever you do stay in the Miraflores district, it is beautiful, clean, there is lots happening and it is very safe, unlike other parts of Lima so we are told. We had heard bad reports about Lima but our experience was pretty good, we really liked the place, great food for a start. Miraflores is easily the most modern and sophisticated area we have been to on this trip so far. It is full of bars and restaurants, small parks and larger plazas, and a cliffs that look down on the beaches below and the Pacific beyond. It is espresso town.

The people in the city are much lighter in skin colour and dress far more Western, even in downtown. As with most of the places in South America there are a heck of a lot of street sellers constantly in your ear, but we are pretty used to it by now. In weather terms we were fortuntate as the city is mostly shrouded in fog, not smog (although downtown is very polluted) due to the gulf stream and surrounding mountains. It was pretty clear during the few days we were there. To get our bearings we took the open top bus city tour, much to Julie's delight (she loves them), which takes three hours and costs 50 soles. the sun was shining, always a good thing, and we got to experience a number of different districts and see the contrast between Miraflores, the upmarket part, and the frenetic downtown area, a mass of traffic and people. We passed through a number of residential areas, including shanty towns too and could see how the money seems to be focused around the coastal areas.

The most important square, Plaza Aramas, was dressed for Christmas and a number of nativity installations were dotted around it. The Cathedral adorns one side with palace and civic buidings on the others. It is a nice place and good to walk around. From there you can take a short walk to the San Francisco church (seems every town in Peru has a Plaza Aramas and a church called San Francisco) famous for its catacombs, it has the remains of 25,000 people in its basements. It has numerous eerie displays of these bones, so if you like that stuff, go for it.

We stayed at Loki's Backpackers after moving out of a hotel we stayed in for one night when our Southern Cross tour ended. Our private room at Loki's was very clean and pleasant, and it has a great position on the main square in Miraflores, plus the guys on reception are super friendly. It was sad to say goobye to everyone on our tour though, we literally spent 24 7 with them for about 45 days, so we have swapped contact details and may even cross paths with a few further along this trip if not in the future. But before we said the goodbye's I had to get a few of them to join me in doing some paragliding off the beachfront cliffs in Miraflores. The wind was too dangerous back in Rio, so I had to put the paragliding on hold but seeing the opportunity I grabbed it.

It cost 35US for 20 minutes and it was awesome. Jumping off a perfectly good cliff directly over a dual carriageway some 100 metres below was an experience that my pants will never forget (joke). We soon picked up altitude and we were up and above the high rise hotels that line the cliffs, one had a lovely rooftop pool, God I miss five star. Gazing down at the people in the cafeŽ's below I was busy taking pictures, they allow you to take your camera, when I noticed the fog coming in. Within minutes we had gone from a clear blue sky to what looked like a table cloth being pulled across the city. I got some great pictures before it became too bad.

As me and my pilot had gone up last in our group, about 5 to 10 minutes after everyone else, he told me we that we would be landing not back where we started on the cliffs like everyone else but on the beach. It was too dangerous to get back to the cliffs, he couldn't judge our landing, much safer to go for the expansive pebble beach below. Landing between groups of sunbathers was like something out of James Bond. People were half asleep on their towels when we found a large enough gap and got ourselves down. As we got up the beachgoers were stood hands on hips looking at us and then at the sky in bewilderment. We nonchalantly gathered up the gear and walked out onto the road where a quick mobile call got us a pick up. I think by the time I got back the others were getting a bit worried as I had been gone nearly an hour.

We successfully crossed this great continent, east to west, and so now we head North to Colombia to begin our journey South.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

James and Justin all kitted up	On the cliff edge	Over the edge!	Holding on!
Sea below	Beautiful coastline of Miraflores	So floaty light!	Beautiful buildings
Look closely at the car	Lovers Park

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