Lima, Peru

Trip Start Jan 12, 2008
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Trip End May 05, 2008


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Sunday, March 9, 2008

I flew from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Lima, Peru and settled into the International Youth Hostel on Casimoro Ulloa. It has cheap dorm rooms with an outside pool. Unfortunately they were remodeling and the noise was pretty loud during the day time. I was amazed to discover that I was only five blocks from Heather and Antonioīs apartment in Miraflores. I connected with them the next morning. They are doing great, and enjoying their year in Peru.

Antonio talked his dad Pepe into driving me around on a City sight seeing tour. We went to an archaeological museum which had lots of clay pots and models of archaeological sites. After lunch we went to City Center. That sounds simple, but the traffic is horrible when you go that way. There are too many cars in Lima. Driving down the highway you see a swarm of taxis, weaving back and forth between lanes, like a pack of killer bees, driving wildly until they come to a halt in the middle of backed up traffic. Pepe and I stayed in Center until after dark, then cruised through Plaza Mayor with the well lit Basilica Cathedral and Presidentīs Palace. Thanks Pepe!

The next day I took a taxi into Plaza Mayor and did a tour of La Basilica Cathedral de Lima. It is an interesting church. They have Pizarroīs tomb inside. There are also a lot of wood statues, paintings, and other religious relics. In their underground burial site, the first occupant was Geronimo De Loayza, the first archbishop, 1543-1575.

Next was the San Francisco Church. They have a nice courtyard with purple blossoms. And they have catacombs with bins of bones, and a large circular well with bones and skulls artistically arranged inside. My last stop was the currency museum. After I got back to the hostel I had a nice dip in the pool. That night I went out for dinner with Heather and Antonio. We walked around the Miraflores area looking at the parks and street vendors, before settling on an outdoor table at a cafe. Afterwords we went to one of the local dance clubs, but the band hadnīt arrived yet so there wasnīt any dancing going on.

The next morning I flew to Cusco.


 
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