Layover in Lima

Having to rise at 3:00am in Rio for a 5:50am flight to Lima was always going to get our Peruvian experience off to a shaky start. It didn't help that the sluggish check-in process in Rio was followed by having to wait for the immigration section to open before we could continue formalities. Despite all that our TACA flight actually managed to pull away from the terminal a couple of minutes early. And to give credit where it is due, TACA have more than the usual amount of leg room which at least allowed us both to grab a bit of sleep during the flight.

However, after landing 30 minutes early in a foggy Lima things took a turn for the worse. Just before we reached the front of the queue for immigration their computer system went down, so we spent an extra 20 minutes waiting. Once we did get through the next problem was that none of the ATMs would accept my Mastercard, so I eventually had to resort to Plan B and use my Visa card instead.

At least the transfer to our lodgings went pretty smoothly, thanks greatly to the detailed instructions given by our host. I have to say the lifting fog didn't cast Lima in a particularly flattering light though the area where our lodgings were located - Miraflores - has been described as Gringo Central and it certainly seemed nice enough. After checking in it was still not yet noon (Lima being two hours behind Rio where our day had started) as we set off to find some nearby markets. We stumbled across some kind of festivities in progress which included the closing of a whole street to motor traffic. Never did find out what it was all about but there were lots of people about and artists selling paintings - some of which were actually tempting. Lima was starting to look better.

Paraglider in action along the sea shore

We back tracked some to look through the markets, with only modest success, before continuing on down to the beach front. Which in Lima actually amounts to a cliff front with a narrow pebble beach at the bottom. Despite it being mid April it was a lovely day and there were many surfers in action next to a nice looking pier. There were also a number of paragliders launching themselves from one of the cliff top parks.

Back at our lodging our host Francis illustrated a map in great detail about not only local and city sites of interest and how to get there by bus or taxi (including appropriate fares), but also the location and specialities of every restaurant in a three suburb area. We'd have had to stay a month longer to try them all - if we were so inclined!

Fountain by night

It was a big call but we decided that despite the fact we had been on the go since 1:00am Lima time we would head out to see the 7:15pm laser & fountain show in a park in central Lima, since it would not be on tomorrow night and we were leaving Tuesday morning. And it was well worth the effort to see. There were a number of fountains lit up and despite the crowd we scored a good position in the centre of the line of fountains which were actually putting on a good show in their own right (a la Las Vegas) before the laser show even started. When the laser show was over we checking out some of the other fountains that included a long arch made up of coloured water jets and maze of jets arranged in concentric circles that kept changing which parts were on and which were off - which was great fun for the many people (including Laura) who jumped to try and move around without being in the way of any jets when they went  off.

We ended up catching a taxi home because we found that the bus we were hoping to catch never came along, so I think we must have been in the wrong place.

We were glad that Day Two of our Lima Layover at least didn't involve an early start. The night's sleep was somewhat unsettled though. Our room curiously didn't have any external windows so we had no choice but to use the thoughtfully provided pedestal fan to circulate some air. This fan had three speeds - all of which were the same - and which sounded like a DC-9 straining for take-off.

Structure of Huaca Juliana

We started our day's explorations by taking a tour of the Huaca Juliana archaeological site, which was just a short walk from our lodgings. The site dates to the Lima culture which flourished in the area from 200-700AD. Constructed entirely of mud brick it has survived the centuries due to Lima's dry climate. It has also survived earthquakes due to the way the mud bricks are stacked together on their sides. After conquest by the Wari culture the site continued to be used but for more religious purposes and less administrative ones.

After a snack at a nearby shopping centre we caught a local bus into the city centre. The guide books had mentioned that the generally short stature of the locals means that the bus seats tend to be close together. I think the seats we scored must normally have been reserved for Peruvian school children because there was just no way I could sit there without one leg in the aisle. We also made the mistake of not getting off at the correct stop and crossing one of the lines that Francis had warned us about - the river that runs just along the northern border of the city centre - into a less savoury part of town. However it was an easy and incident free task to just walk back across the bridge. This at least brought us close to the Post Office that we required and some markets to explore.

A view of Central Lima

We joined a tour of the Franciscan Monastery (no photography allowed) which included a walk through the catacombs beneath the chapel to see some of the crypts and the hundreds of bones from the times when all burials happened here. Later we treated ourselves to a late lunch/early dinner as we continued sightseeing down the main street of Jiron de la Union. After completing our promenade as far as Plaza San Martin we caught the bus back to Miraflores - learning in the process that we had been waiting in the wrong street for the bus last night - and hopped off to buy some supplies and an ice cream before returning to our lodgings for the night.

So after an unpromising start Lima turned out to be quite a fun place. The laser/fountain show was a highlight, especially with all the fun that the locals seemed to derive from it.