Lima, Peru – February 22 – 27, 2011

We arrived in Lima and had a transfer from the airport to our hotel where we arrived around 4 p.m. We met for our final group dinner at 6:30 and in between some went for a walk and others rested or sorted out their wet gear from the rainforest. I did the latter and tried to get some blogging done. Dinner was down by Kennedy Square in an outdoor restaurant. It was very good but a bit more expensive than our normal fare. But I guess the extra was worth it since our tour was officially finished and everyone was heading in a different direction the next day.

I got to sleep in a bit on the next day (23rd) so got up, had a leisurely breakfast with some of the group and then a couple of us transferred to another hotel where we’re staying for three extra nights in Lima. After getting organized we walked back to Kennedy Square and bought a bus ticket for the afternoon city tour. That occupied three and a half hours and covered most of the highlights of Lima. We stayed on the bus except for one hour at Place de Armes, the main square, in the old city centre. At that point we took a tour through the Cathedral and afterwards walked across the square to catch the bus in another location. There was a band playing in front of the government palace but we didn’t have much of a chance to see what was really going on because we were heading into the Cathedral.

The “Basilica Catedral de Lima” is the main church of the city. It was originally built in 1540, expanded and rebuilt in 1551, and further expanded and rebuilt to its present size in 1622. There are two light coloured towers with grey roofs at the front of the cathedral but the cathedral itself is done in a slightly darker shade of brick or stone. The towers are quite plain but very pretty with white highlighting on curves and sections. The interior of the cathedral is very plain and yet beautiful. The walls are light but the ribbing on the arches and ceiling is a gold colour and it really looks impressive. There are eight individual altars or chapels down each side of the building. Some of these are quite plain while others are very ornate. Each one has a story and I have to admit that I got pretty lost by the end of the tour as I had never heard of any of the saints involved. I had heard of Pizarro, one of the founding fathers of the city, and the first chapel was dedicated to him. The main altar is very ornate and it is flanked by choir stalls. The choir stalls, although not used any more, are all wooden with very unique carvings. They included regular seats for people to sit on and, when folded up, they included a small stool that singers could lean against while singing and yet look like they were standing. That seemed pretty useful to me.

In rooms off of the main building there were paintings, sculptures, vestments, jewelry and artifacts relating to the life of the cathedral, all donated by various people. It was interesting to see but we didn’t spend too long in this section. It was interesting to note that one of the vestments that they had to wear for official purposes weighted as much as 10 or 12 kilos. It was beautiful and had lots of beadwork and fancy stitching but obviously it would have been hot and heavy to wear. Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral and also left some artifacts behind. They didn’t tell us how heavy his vestments were. We also took a quick trip down to the crypt where important people and rich people were buried. I’m not sure what happened to the common person but apparently there was no cemetery in the area for many years.

Once the tour was over about 5:30, we decided to pay for the night tour and just keep on going. As it turns out the night tour covered exactly the same route as the day tour so it was a bit of a waste of money. And it was quite cold on the bus at that end of the night as we were driving along the beach. However, the whole price was worth it simply due to our visit to the park of fountains. This is a big park with several fountains in it and in the evening they are lit up and music is played so it is quite an attraction. We got there around 7 p.m. and the place was packed. We stayed for just over an hour and I certainly would have enjoyed staying longer. There were tall fountains and round fountains and fountains that became screens for laser show projections. There were fountains just to look at from a distance and other fountains to walk right through and try not to get wet. And of course there were fountains for kids of all ages to play in. There were lots of people around so the pictures will be questionable; however, it was still a great experience.

The 24th was another slow start but then we walked down to the beach and all along the waterfront, which was very nice and quite a change from the usual tours. Lima is right on the Pacific Ocean but it is perched high above the water. The cliffs don’t look very stable and apparently they are trying to plant greenery on the cliffs to keep them more intact. At the bottom of the cliff there is a road and then a space for cars to pull in and park beside a sandy beach where people can relax before hitting the stones that actually form the beach. The stones have obviously been brought in to protect the beach and keep it from eroding but I certainly would not want to be swimming or surfing in the area with all the rocks around. There were a few people in the water in a couple of places and there were some surfers in the water but I didn’t see any really great waves. To get to the beach we had to climb down a lot of stairs and to get back up we had to climb up a lot of stairs. It was hot and sunny (as it always is in Lima) so I was definitely worn out after a couple of hours of walking. We had lunch at the large shopping centre, Larcoma, overlooking the water and it was very nice. After a late lunch and some shopping I walked back to Kennedy Square to visit the church there and then walked back to the hotel. Dinner came later at a nearby restaurant and it too was very good.

On the 25th we took a taxi back to the shopping centre and caught a tour bus to Callao and Fortaleza de Real Felipe. The whole tour took five hours and the ride each way was over an hour so we didn’t have a lot of time for touring and lunch. Lunch was very good and in a small restaurant in Chicuito. We had a choice of ceviche, fish or lomo. I took the latter which is a stir fried beef dish. It was very tasty. We also got chicha to drink. It was fine but I later switched to coke. Chicha is a cold dark drink that is made from boiled corn. It’s definitely not my favourite. We had a few minutes to walk around the harbour at Callao. This is the major port of Peru and was the main port for hundreds of years. Both Callao and Chucuito were pretty little villages with narrow streets and lots of character.

The fortress of Real Felipe was built in 1747 to guard the city from pirates. The Real Felipe refers to the Felipe, King of Spain at the time. The fort has been called other names since it was built but it has now been restored and gone back to its original name. The people they considered pirates we called explorers so I guess it’s all just a matter of perspective. The first one they mentioned, for example, was Sir Francis Drake. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him referred to as a pirate but I guess from the Peruvian perspective he might indeed have seemed like a pirate.

The fort is pentagon shaped with five large enforcements at the corners. The walls are very thick and could easily hold a two-lane highway. On two of the corners there are larger round towers that were self contained in the event of attack and could be defended on their own. The larger one was called the King’s Tower and the smaller one was called the Queen’s Tower. There are 240 cannons all around the outside of the fort and a cannon can be fired every eight minutes so they could pretty much fire continually. We learned all the different steps and duties of the people who fired the cannons. It is definitely a textbook example of division of labour in the workforce as everyone has their own unique job to do and nothing more. Unfortunately if one of the people involved gets shot then the whole team is stopped, which isn’t all that efficient.

In the King’s Tower we toured the prison area. The prison was simply a narrow tunnel 60 cm wide and about six feet high. It wound its way through the interior of the tower and it was very, very dark. Prisoners were packed into the space and had to stand in the dark day and night. No one escaped and no one survived. They got five lunches a week and that’s all they had to eat. There were no bathrooms so the whole area got very dirty and smelly. The guards didn’t like the smells that came from the area so they would periodically clean it with boiling water and lime. Unfortunately the prisoners were not able to get out of the way of this solution so they were often burned in the process. Once a month the guards would go through and remove any dead bodies but that was all the contact they had with the prisoners. Well, not exactly all. In the guards’ room there were many holes in the wall. These were apparently winding shafts that eventually led to the prison chamber in all different locations. These allowed the guards to listen in on the conversations the prisoners were having. According to our guide, it was the Spanish who used these prisons and anyone who even thought of freedom from the Spanish could be arrested and sent to this prison. We went into the tunnel and with no lights it was pretty claustrophobic. I might have been able to survive for a few minutes but I don’t think I could have survived for weeks or months and definitely not for years.

The views from the top of the towers were good. You could see out to the ocean and the nearby islands in one direction. Inland you could see to downtown Lima, and along the coast you could see down to Miraflores where we are staying. It was starting to cloud over at this time but it was still a pretty spectacular view. Our drive back along the ocean and beaches was quite spectacular. They are creating lovely green spaces near the tops of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. One of the most famous spots is Lovers Beach, which has a large sculpture of two people kissing. Another beach has walkways around green grass and then flower beds in the shape of the Nazca lines on the grass. It was quite impressive. We were dropped off at the Larcomar shopping centre and as usual we had to go for something cool and refreshing but did very little shopping. From there I walked back to the hotel and went out to dinner later in the evening.

Lima is interesting weather wise. According to earlier guides it never rains here. Our guide today said at certain times you might get a wet mist but that’s it. Another guide book says it gets drizzle but the total precipitation for the year is less than 3 cm. The temperature is nice right now is around 24 degrees Celsius at 9 p.m. During the day it is into the high 20’s and feels higher due to the humidity. However, it’s the driest place we’ve been for a long time so we’ll take the humidity. Apparently in the cold season the temperature gets down to 12 or 15 degrees and they think that is really cold.

Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru and has a population of about 9 million or about one third of Peru’s population. The city is 154 metres above sea level but the beaches are obviously below the city and at sea level. (And if I haven’t said it before let me say it now, it’s great to be back at a lower altitude. I can actually breath normally again!!!) Lima was founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro and named The City of Kings (Cuidad de los Reyes). It was the main city for the Spanish in all of South America. That is why the other South American countries all helped Peru gain its independence as they knew the Spanish would always be in control of the continent if they had Lima as their base. The word Lima is actually close to a Quechua word for talker and the Peruvians have always called the city Lima.

The Rimac River runs through the city and the main city square (Place des Armes) surrounded by the Government Palace, City Hall and the Cathedral is against the shore of the river. Most of the city lies between the river and the ocean, which is the flatter area. There are more hills on the other side of the river. There are archeological remains throughout the city from the Pre-Columbian era, which I just learned is any time before Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492. Some of the sites found in Lima date back thousands of years.

The people of Lima are very diverse with Japanese, Chinese and European influences mixed in with the Peruvian features. At times it is hard to tell who is a tourist and who is a local but judging by the tour guides we had throughout the city and throughout Peru, the native Peruvian features still predominate. I am actually taller than most people here, even the men. They all have large distinct noses with a high bridge between the eyes. My nose actually looks small here! Black hair and black eyes are the norm and high distinct cheekbones. They are very beautiful people and obviously very proud. In Lima most do not wear their traditional costumes except perhaps on special occasions but certainly in the smaller towns and villages they all wear the brightly coloured clothes.

There are lots of cars in Lima and very few motorcycles or bikes so I have to assume that gas prices are reasonable and most people can afford to drive. There are also lots of buses and small vans that drive up and down the streets with someone hanging out the door calling their destination. People just waive them over and they seem to stop anywhere to pick people up or to drop them off. At rush hour the streets are just full of these vehicles and it is quite noisy with everyone shouting their destinations. It also gets a bit polluted at times as most of the vehicles are puffing out great plumes of dark exhaust. We have been walking everywhere so getting lots of exercise. That is of course aside from all our bus tours.

Speaking of driving vehicles, most of the ones we see are very clean and there may be a good reason for that. When you pull into a parking spot (called a playa here although that means beach to us so we’re not sure of the word use), whether it be on the side of a street or in a general parking lot or a lot specific to a business, you have to register and perhaps pay although I haven’t seen any money change hands. Then while you are off shopping or having coffee or getting your groceries, they wash your car. The first time I saw this was on the side of the street and it seemed quite strange. However, having seen it time and time again, it seems quite normal now. I’m not sure how clean your car actually gets but at least the top layer of dust is removed. Sometimes the rags appear to be dry and sometimes they seem to be wet. I haven’t seen any hoses or huge water supplies so I think it’s basically a dry wash.

On Saturday the 26th we had a slow start and relaxed over our breakfast, which is just white rolls and butter and marmalade so nothing special. I’m blogging right now and still sitting at our breakfast table. We probably won’t get away until about 10 a.m. and then I think I’m going to head for a museum. I’m not sure how long I’ll last today but it is the last full day in Lima so I should make the most of it. I’ll let you know how it went when I get back to this blog later.

The Larco Museum was quite interesting. It is a private museum that was set up by Rafael Larco Herrera and has been in operation since 1926. I’m not sure he was an archeologist or anthropologist by training but he was interested in Peruvian history so he spent most of his life looking for artifacts, classifying them and preparing them for the museum. He died in the 1960’s but the museum is still doing well. It is the most expensive museum I’ve been to on this trip but still only 30 soles or about $10. The museum has collections from the last 4,500 years. Peru was one of the few places on earth where ancient civilization developed on its own and that’s why the artifacts go back so many years. The museum is in an old 18th century mansion that was built on the top of an ancient pyramid from the 7th century. You just have to believe the last part because there is nothing at all in the museum that identifies the pyramid or even mentions it. There are many different exhibits in the museum: jewelry, fabrics, pottery, tools, weapons, etc. It is amazing what they could do 4,000 years ago and even more amazing that so much of it has survived so we can see it today. Most of the museum’s material came from the burial sites and other excavations. Some of the gold and silver masks and jewelry were quite spectacular. Even some of the pottery was quite uniquely decorated. There were lots of pieces in the exhibition and then at the end you got to walk through the storage rooms where all the extra pieces are stored. In total there are over 45,000 pieces in the collection. Also at the end there was an erotica gallery with a lot of ceramics of a sexual nature. We might call it pornography today but back then I guess it was just natural to depict all facets of human life. The grounds of the museum are very nice with flowers of various colours. There is a dining room at the end with seating on the patio shaded by vines and branches. It looked so relaxing that’s where we decided to have lunch.

After the museum I took a taxi to the main square or Place des Armes and wandered around there for a bit. I wanted to go to the river but when I headed in that direction I ended up at Estacion de Desamparados or the old train station. It is a colonial style building that is now used for exhibitions only. I went through the sixteen rooms very quickly as there was no English at all. It was basically an exhibit about the important authors, poets, film makers, etc. from Peru.

When I left there I went to the Franciscan Monastery. They have guided tours through the facility and it was interesting, although in some spots I wanted to stay longer than the tour was staying. We viewed the library, choir, cloister, meeting rooms, catacombs, etc. As noted in a previous blog, there were no cemeteries in the early years so people were buried under the church. Over 25,000 people are assumed to have been buried under this church and now there are piles of bones sorted into boxes all over the basement area, which is really just a series of tunnels made of bricks and mortar. The catacombs survived many earthquakes over the years because of the structure and building materials. Other parts of the church did not fare as well and have been rebuilt on numerous occasions. The library was on the second floor and was very interesting. There were two tiers with about ten shelves on the bottom for books of various heights and the upper tier appeared to be a bit shorter. There were spiral staircases leading to the second level. Some of the books were the old choir books and they were in really big print so the entire choir could see the words from where they stood. Many of the other books were obviously well used and quite worn. The Franciscans needed natural light to read by so there were several sky lights in the library. The monastery has pictures in almost every room and some of them are by Rubens and other European artists.

From the Church I headed back to the main square for a bite to eat at an outdoor restaurant. Then I went to watch the lowering of the flag at the Government Palace. It started at 5:50 with a 15 piece brass and drum band and ended with them at 6:10. Just before 6:00 a marching group of 18 came out and marched to the entrance. They then just stood there and later walked away. Meanwhile someone totally different up on the roof lowered the flag and that was that. If you hadn’t been watching you wouldn’t have known it happened and the two groups down on the ground were totally irrelevant to the whole process. Oh well, at least I saw the flag going down.

The crowd seemed to be heading to the left of the Government Palace toward the river so I decided to follow them. There was a bridge across the river so I went out and took some pictures and then went back to the same side. All along the river there were small stalls selling everything from balloons and ice cream to alpaca gloves and souvenirs. It was all very festival like. There were two large circles with lots of people sitting around. I thought they were probably circles for joke telling, which we had seen before, but these seemed way too serious. I think it was something like a speakers circle and everyone was listening intently.

Eventually I made it to the next bridge and decided it was time for me to head back to the plaza. I came across a pedestrian street that was very busy with shoppers. I was going in and out of stores on both sides of the street and eventually found myself at a spot that looked familiar. I had actually backtracked and was back where I had already been. At that stage I decided I was too tired to walk any further so I hailed a taxi and went back to the hotel. And I should note that in order to hail a taxi or a bus in Lima you simply put your hand down palms facing to you and then wave your hand. It seems strange but it does seem to work.

Lima in many ways seems like an old city as there are many small streets and not very many high buildings. Then, in certain areas, you get lots of shiny high rises and wide streets with beautiful boulevards. And there are lots of green spaces throughout the city so you can always find a cool park if you need one. Lima is not yet totally set up for tourists but it is getting there. The mix of old and new architecture throughout the city is a real attraction and around every corner you are reminded of the history of the city. It’s also a very walkable city so it’s easy to enjoy on foot. And I think that’s all I have to say about Lima except that we left the hotel around 9 a.m. on the 27th, spent 3 hours at the airport and then flew off to Buenos Aires. When we left Lima there was a fog hanging over the city but it was another hot day. Buenos Aires is also supposed to be hot so hopefully we will get a week or so of sunshine and heat before we head off to Tierra del Fuego, which is supposed to be really cold. I don’t think I’m ready for that part yet!