Our search for Paddington Bear

Arrived in Lima at a stupid time of day...like 7am!! I hate arriving at that time....fortunately it seems the hostel we were staying at were used to it...that is when we finally managed to find it. We were offered a taxi....and despite everyone seeming to know where the place was our taxi driver didnt! We had a very strained conversation in broken spanish....finally managing to say it was near the main square.....fortunately it was on the main square, otherwise we might never had found it! Why do taxi drivers never know where anything is??

a. Lima old Square

The hostel was fine....quite a nice old building with windy grand stairs...all looked very new! Dumped our stuff and went exploring. We were staying in the new bit of town....Miraflores...the beach....and the first thing we noticed...apart from the huge macdonalds across the road... was the abundance of places to eat...always a good sign....there was even a whole road full of cafes. We headed to the beach....i like to see the sea....ended up in a park called the park of love...with cool views of the sea.....Lima it seems is perched high on the cliffs. We then headed back to try and find breakfast....lots to choose from...we decided on a sandwich place...where neil had a groovy sandwich and i had a peruvian breakfast. Now a peruvian sounds a fairly simple affair but oh no....be warned. We had a cute little 2 seater table and my breakfast wouldnt even fit on it...let alone neils as well!!! Let me tell you if you get the chance for a peruvian breakfast...doi it....but make sure you are seated first!! I had a Orange juice....coffee.....a huge plate of pork and sweet potatoe...a bowl of onions and 2 huge rolls.....now i have to tell you i had a damn good try at getting through it all....but it would take a much bigger man than me to finish that lot!! I even had enough left to make sandwhiches for lunch....but damn it was good. My belly full we headed back to the hostel.

b. Christmas celebrations in Lima

we decided to spend the rest of the day exploring the old town. We first got a bus to the bus station we had just come from to book our bus tickets out of Lima.....yes we are stupid...we did realiuse too late that we could have done when we arrived....but thats the heat for you...or is it 6 months of travelling? We booked our tickets and then thinking we werent far from the old centre we started walking....only problem was none of the streets were on our map....or in short we had no idea where we were...so the only thing to do was flag a taxi down. Turns out we werent even at the bus station we thought we were at....and it would have been a very long walk!! Once in the old town, checked out the main square...was very pretty and very colonial looking....just for a change.....checked out the cathedral which was very cathedral looking....then had to go find the monestry cause neil thought it sounded cool.

c. Pretty Lima

We had to pay for this visit......cant say i was impressed!! We waited for our english tour...which turned out to be just us.....and off we went being shown the delights of a San Fransiscan monestary, it was funny though...as our guide was translating things literally into english and that really is hilarious. We endured the religious stuff.....the best bit being the groovy blue tiles and the paintings which all had their heads missing....until we got to the bit neil wanted to see....the catacombs. We climbed down into the dark walking on ancient graves.....was kinda spooky.....then we got to the fun bit...huge piles of bones! Apparantly all the dead used to buried here....one on top of the other 6 meters deep....until 1900 when they close it...and built a new cemetary. They then in 1950 started digging it up for archeological reasons....and replaced the bones...in a very odd way! They decided to keep certain bones....think they were leg bones....so there were huge piles of ancient leg bones in the old crypts....and one full of skulls....was a little freaky for me! The highlight for me though was the old well.....which apparantly is an earthquake prevention thing to....allows for movement....which was decorated inside with bones.....leg and skull bones....in a very pretty pattern...had to laugh! And that was our tour! We wandered back to the square through the very busy shopping area....was pretty busy...it being a week till christmas.....but not a patch on the craziness that usually occurs in England by this point. And we were done....it was only like 2:30 but we had done all the colonial we wanted to do for another day...so got another cab back.

d. Christmas shopping in Peru

We sat in the park and ate our pork sandwiches curtesy of my excessive breakfast then headed to the internet. Headed to the cool cafe street for light refreshments. Then it was time to prop up the hostel bar for a while before heading out to get pizza in Pizza street...the name we later found out of the cool cafe streeet. Now this street is hilarious....there must be 25 cafes all the way down one street...nothing else...and as soon as you step foot in the street they are all around you, shoving there menu in your face....and offering freebies....we were scared....it makes you feel mighty claustrophobic....so we opted for the one recommended in lonely planet....had to make a decision somehow. Turned out to be quite cool....got free pisco sours...which are VERY interesting....some kind of locally made spirit and lime...i think....had to try it but not my fav. Then neil decided to order the biggest pizza in the world ever....it was bigger than the table....hence we didnt manage to eat it all but had fun trying....the evil sods wouldnt let us take it away though!!!

e. Lima main square

The stupid computer has lost the second day of Lima which i just spent ages typing....so you´ll have to wait for the next bit sorry folks.....

Okay ill try writing this day again shall i?

The second day we decided to stay in Miraflores and explore the beach....had enough of colonial buildings!! We had a simple breakfast in the hostel....coffee and bread...was free. Then we headed off to find an artisan market the hostel had told us about....wasnt far and turned out to be not one, but loads of the things...so kept us entertained for a while. There really is an amazing array of cool stuff to buy out here.....how we have resisted so far i dont know....we have now decided having not that far to carry stuff now...to give up and buy ourselves some souvenirs.....i bought a beatiful alpaca poncho and neil a t-shirt.....now starts are real collection! When we had finished torturing ourselves with all the amazing stuff we couldnt afford to buy....like leather furniture and amazing paintings....we headed off to find a cool funky shopping centre which was supposed to have cool views of the sea. Walked down the main street....packed with christmas shoppers....but couldnt find the shopping centre when we got near the sea....looked everywhere....how can you miss a shopping centre? We finally noticed the car park....and followed it till we discovered that in fact the shopping centre was built underground.....actually built in the cliff side...how cool is that?

f. View from our hostel window

Was a really funky place too.....with cinema and bowling alleys.....was very western, but somwhow managed to keep some peruvian charm. We headed to Cafe, Cafe for a drink....and got seats on the balcony overlooking the sea....with its surfers. Was a cool view....with waves crashing on the shore...huge waves! Enjoyed a Mocha and chocolate milkshake.....then couldnt resist the food it looked too good....so ended up having the most amazing meat sandwiches....we checked out the shops....some of which werent built yet....all very cute and funky....then decided to go down to the beach. Only problem was we couldnt see anyway down....other than taking a cliff dive!! The one and only path down was a pile of rubble being practically part of the new shopping centre! We wandered along the cliff tops....then eventually found a road down....looked a long way....didnt fancy hiking back up. Went down anyway....wasnt too much to be worth the effort to be honest....but i like the sea....watched the surfers....had to laught when neil tried to 'touch´the sea and then had to go running when a huge wave came after him......then we prepared ourselves for a long hike back up....till the taxi drivers we usually hate....honked his horn at us...and that was it...we were in the taxi like a shot!

g. Miraflores, modern Lima

Back in town we messed on the net...then headed back to the hostel for a few cold beers! Packed our stuff and still being fairly full from our mammoth sandwiches, headed to KFC for some chicken snacks.....then it was an early night...ready for bus journey number 6 million.

And do you know what i never caught sight of paddington anywhere!!

h. Miraflores beach