After spending the last 36 hours traveling we were not looking forward to finding a hostel at 4.30am open and willing to have us. We tried to avoid this problem by finding and booking a hostel beforehand, however we were told by the taxi driver that the hostel Jamie had researched was in fact in a very dangerous part of the city and after checking this info with others, who all agreed, we avoided that area. So after recommendation we found ourselves driving round the sleepy district of Miraflores being turned away by numerous hostels. Eventually we found one that charged us a fortune for 4 hours kip. Not best pleased with our hostel we upped sticks and went in search of a better one. Oh how I love walking around in the boiling heat with backpacks with no idea where we are or where we are going! Eventually I convinced Jamie to stop and get a map of the area and ask for a recommended hostel.
We found a great hostel called HitchHikers in the Miraflores area of Lima, the 24hr attended security gates gave us a feeling of security within our hostel but not so much around that area! Whilst wandering around trying to get our bearings we stumbled upon a fantastic traditional restaurant with a very charismatic waiter that served us the best food we had had since being in S.America. For 8 pounds we had a 2 course seafood meal, drinks and best of all one of the dishes was Cerviche a classic Peruvian dish consisting of fish, marinated in lime juice and chilli peppers then served with raw with corn and sweet potato and onions - which was delicious. We both decided the area was very safe and pleasant with lots of funky cafes and bars.
Back at the hostel we got chatting to a French guy (cant remember his name) and his Spanish girlfriend, it wasn't long before there was a group of us sat round drinking wine outside. We are continually surprised by peoples kindness and generosity - Eddie, one of the Spanish guys had made soup for us all ( we had only known the guy 5 minutes) this was followed by the French couple making Pisco sours for us all, after a few drunken games of table tennis we hit the sack.
Sat 8th March
A little worse for wear Jamie headed out to a bar to watch the England Vs Scotland 6Nations Rugby match, I however was not feeling like spending my morning in a pub so I went sight seeing. Walking along the beach promenade, I didn´t feel much like sunbathing on the rocks and the heat was unbearable so I caught a taxi into the centre. I wasn't feeling brave enough to take the bus so for only 1pound a 30min taxi ride didn't seem too bad. I was instantly paranoid about having my bag snatched but once I relaxed and realized it was fairly safe I enjoyed walking around Lima centre. The buildings turned from colonial or fake colonial detached buildings to concrete monstrosities to lovely ornate old, french looking galleries and then colonial different coloured buildings. I walked to the mustard coloured Plaza de Armas and wandered around the cathedral, governors palace etc before noticing that a demo would be starting shortly. Police armed in riot gear started to congregate and I noticed some armoured vehicles with water canons.
Deciding to avoid this area I walked along the river front to see street entertainers performing in mini amphitheaters that had been dug into the streets, it was a nice touch, which attracted crowds of people. Feeling brave I caught the local bus back to the hostel for 1 sole (10pence), that was an experience it stopped every other minute picking up people to completely overcrowd the bus, which made me worried I wouldn't be able to recognize the area for my stop. All went well and I felt very proud of myself.
Later I discovered Jamie had spent all day in the bar, he come back a little sleepy but I dragged him out as it was Saturday night and we hadn't been out partying for ages. An Irish girl (Julie) from our hostel joined us, we found a main street filled with restaurants and bars pumping out a very lively atmosphere. We ended up in a bar with a great cover band playing, we met a couple Peruvian guys who were good fun and could luckily speak good English, taking in turns to buy each others drinks we had a fun night.
Sun 9th March
Not much happened today, we just vegged out at our hostel watching DVDS all day.
Mon 10th March
Tourist day today! We ventured into the centre of Lima on the bus, Jamie was armed with his camera ready to be snap happy with all the amazing architecture. We tried to walk into Rimac but were escorted away by policemen telling us the area is too dangerous for tourists! Had lunch in China town where each street sold different things from wedding dresses to dentist chairs onto any type of medical equipment. Street sellers sold only tape measures or cooked quail eggs. It makes you wonder how people make a living, if they do at all, and how poor so many families must be. Later we visited the Museo de la Inquisicion, formerly the headquarters of the Spanish American Inquisition (1570 - 1820). The guide was out of lunch so we took ourselves round the museum only being able to look at the models and pictures as the explanations were in Spanish but that didnt matter too much as the requisite creepy dungeons and torture chambers were enough to let our imagination run wild as to exactly what went on there.
Tues 11th March
Feeling a little out of shape, I went for a jog round Huaca Pucllana, a big pre-Inca mound in the middle of the houses in the Miraflores area. It is a system of pyramids created from adobe with bricks about 1400 years ago. They were constructed in chambers one on top of each other and then filled with layers of offerings to the gods consisting of farmland, seafood remains and human sacrifices (usually women). Deciding we had seen enough of Lima we got a Cruz del Sur bus overnight to Trujillo, this in itself was an interesting task as we had never seen a bus station like it - we had to go through the process of checking our bags in, our fingerprints were taken and we were filmed whilst sat in our seats before we departed, apparently this was all for security. I don't know if it makes any difference but we definitely felt safer because of it.
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