Lima
Trip Start
Oct 10, 2006
1
58
110
Trip End
Ongoing
Lima, ****,
Peru
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Lima, Peru`s capital and largest city, surprised me in the finest of fashions. When Burkie and I were planning our rapid trip through Peru and Bolivia in 2004, we flew to Cusco from Buenos Aires via Lima. We had contemplated stopping over in Lima for a few days but decided that it wouldn`t be worth the time or money as we had heard only bad things about the place. We thought that Miraflores might be a nice rich-kid spot but with the exception of this, we were onto a losing location.
Since then, I had not heard many positive things about the place and Lima, was for me, a mandatory stop to see the cultural and economic hub of one of South America`s more touristy countries...and sher it was on the way anyway after all
port in Lima
. The LP bible claims that it is "sprawled untidily on the coastal desert" and makes references to other people`s conception of it being a "polluted, frenetic and dangerous city." We heard that it was filled with pollution and that between April and December, a gloomy fog descends upon the coast.
These reports could not be further from the truth. Lima is spectacularly located along the Bay of Lima in the Pacific ocean with a variety of neighbourhoods to spice up everybody`s life. There is the glitzy area of Miraflores where all the best bars, restaurants and shops are located. It also has the shopping centre of Centro Comercial Larcomar that is impressively constructed into the side of a cliff. There`s San Isidrio which is Lima`s central Business district and we also walked to Barranco, which is a Bohemian neighbourhood by day and the centre of all that is cool by night.
I was a bit dubious before going to Lima`s centre as I suspected that it would be like San Salvador; A chaotic, filthy, smelly place that the rich avoid at all costs. But it was far from it. Central Lima is indeed a little more chaotic than the wealthier areas of Lima but it is also a very cultural area
views from Lima`s promenade
. The area is ted by the Plaza de Armas which is home to the city`s Cathedral and the Palacio de Gobierno (government palace..see how Spanglish takes hold so easily..so similar eh?) We watched the changing of the arms at the Palacio de Gobierno at 12pm and it was a very complicated affair altogether, lasting about 20 minutes. There were also combat police lined outside the gates of the palace during the changeover, armoured to the last, which I saw as a little unnecessary. But they are obviously needed and are presumably present in the event of some kind of protest. The protesters must have had a hangover from the weekend, however, because on this particular Monday, the only threatening group in attendance was a group of very young school children equipped with signs requesting "fresh air"
It was great to see actually. The world is so full of apathy (well with the exception of those few extremists!) yet in Lima, famous for its pollution, a young, male teacher put in a huge effort to bring about 30 very young kids to the palacio to get their voices heard. No doubt the kids hadn`t a clue what was going on but I`m sure his lessons about the environment will stay with them for life...hopefully... cos no one needs more lessons bout environmental control than the South Americans who are blessed with some of the greatest natural treasures on this earth
views of Lima
. They make the Irish look like German fanatics.We also visited Lima`s China town which was a bit disappointing. Although Lima has the highest percentage of Chinos per head of population in South America, we only spotted two in all our time wandering round the town of China! Lima does have an astounding amount of Chinese restaurants,(called Chifas) however,... over 2,000 to be exact..We didn`t indulge in these but to be honest, I`m not impressed by Central or South America`s answer to Chinese restaurants so far...They do not compare even slightly with the China Palace in Ros..all I want is some black bean vegetarian Goddamnit..is that so much to ask???!
We did have one very tasty meal beside Parque Kennedy in Miraflores, however, in a place called Pizza Shehadi. It is owned by Jay Shehadi who is a friend of my Couz Chris in NYC. We said that we couldn`t leave Lima without popping in for a chat and a bite to eat. The restaurant is fabulous, very tastefully decorated with a very attentive group of waiters...it was a little above our current low budget levels but Jay treated us very well and we had one of the nicest meals since leaving Mexico..So thanks to Jay for all and to Chris for thinking of his little cousin`s hungry tummy!
I`d like to think that we saw quite a lot of Lima city but as to what is actually part of the city of Lima is difficult to say. It is considered that as many as thirty out of the forty-three districts of the Lima province are part of Lima city..so we didn`t quite make all of these I`m afeared. But what we saw, we liked and Lima is defo worth a visit.
Wednesday night, I hopped on a bus heading North to Huaraz. Collins caught one heading South to Arequipa. We are splitting up for about two weeks cos he`s doing the Cusco route I`ve already done and Peru has soo much to offer that I want to use my time wisely.
So 7am, I arrive like a loner two hours late in Huaraz....
