Three and half years ago I booked a spontaneous flight to Lima. I arrived at the airport and didn’t know what to do except that the guidebook tended to herd me towards Lima’s upscale Miraflores district. This is one of the posh neighbourhoods and I thought that would be a cool way to start the trip to Peru. And it sure was.

↑ Police car

↑ Avenue

The Huaca Pucllana ruins, with a giant pyramid, are located in Miraflores.

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Busy streets of Lima

Today was the last day of my vacation in Peru and I arrived in Lima in the morning from Cusco by flight. I had a flight back to Toronto later that night so that left me with 15 hours in Lima city. I stored my backpack at the airport and ventured out. Taxis from the airport to the city center were very expensive S/. 40 ($13) so ignoring all warnings to foreigners, I ventured out into the city myself. After asking around for help, someone showed me a crowded mini van and shoved me inside it. It was very sweaty, very crowded and the guy was putting more and more people in it 30 minutes, bucketful of sweat and S/. 1.5 ($0.50) later, I was dropped off at a point some five minutes walk from the city center, aka Plaza Mayor.

Since I saved so much money by not taking the taxi and also since it was my last vacation day, I decided to promptly spend lot of money by treating myself to a lavish Mexican meal. However remember that, and I learnt this when it was almost too late, they charge you $31 as departure tax for all outgoing flights from Lima. As a result I came back to Toronto with $3 in my pocket, which was not funny.

Cathedral at Plaza Mayor, Lima

Lima (लीमा), the capital and largest city of Peru, is located on the Pacific Ocean. Founded in 1535, this “City of Kings” is home to one-thirds of Peru’s population and it’s name originates from river Rimac that flows through it. The city flourished during the 17th century as the center of an extensive trade network which extended as far as Europe and the Philippines. To protect the city against sea pirates, a wall was built around the city. In the 18th century, Lima had to be rebuilt after being almost completely destroyed by an earthquake.

Parliament Building

There are several sights to see in Lima and most of them can be walked comfortably. Churches, Statues, Library, Parks, Colonial buildings, Plazas etc. are all located around downtown Lima. The bus network is excellent and some university students can generally speak few broken sentences in English (certainly better than my Spanish).

The National Library in Lima is a mammoth building. I ran into the director of the library who arranged a special tour of the place for me. That was very sweet.

Lima is a typical city and being my last few hours there, I was very tired.

China Town

A great number of Chinese immigrants, and a lesser amount of Japanese, came to Lima and established themselves in the Barrios Altos neighborhood near downtown Lima, coming in order to work on farms and domestic services. Lima residents refer to their Chinatown as “Calle Capon,” and the city’s ubiquitous Chifa restaurants – a small, sit-down, usually Chinese-run restaurant serving the Peruvian spin on Chinese cuisine – can be found by the dozen in this Chinese enclave.

Few Indians, primarily the Sindhis moved to Peru in the 60′s but many left due to economic recession of the 80′s. There is a very small Hindu community of Hare Krishna (ISKCON) in Peru and they have little establishments in almost all towns of Peru. Have you heard a Krishna bhajan in Spanish? With Spanish Guitar and drums instead of Sitar and Tabla? I leave it to your imagination, but I was absolutely in love with it.

Idol of Jesus Christ at the Cathedral on Plaza Mayor. Peruvian churches are so glittering.

By the end of this trip, I had seen enough colonial Churches. The one is Lima is pretty gigantic and pretty.

After weeks in the countryside, I found the noises and crowds and pollution of the city overwhelming. Miraflores district is quite different from Lima proper which can get extremely polluted and this feeble foreigner started coughing while others looked at him jokingly. At the end of the day, I had some Ceviche (fish) at a roadside restaurant with someone I just met and within few hours I was sick with diarrhoea. Consequently, I had 2 seats on the plane to Toronto: one for me, and one for my stomach. Not the best way to end a perfect vacation!

I will conclude the Peru series in my next post.

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Lima Photo Gallery

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It’s my first morning in Lima today. I am so excited to wakeup to the fresh salty smells of Lima air. I got up pretty early although I slept late last night. Peru is only an hour ahead of Toronto, so there was no jet lag at all. It’s a nice feeling – strange but not unfamiliar. Get up early out of regular habit, realize that you own your day, go back to sleep, wake up late etc. Then have breakfast, linger around in pajamas etc. No deadlines, nobody to report to; “I like!” as Borat would have said.

Breakfast, with my darling (laptop)

A Bolivian girl, who had large almond eyes and wore eyeliner that looked like a kajal, told me how to go to Pachacamac, the old ruins. However, another American tourist who went there the same day advised me not to go there and waste a day, instead she told me to go to the beach front, and to a site called Huaca Pucllana (वाका पुक्लाना ). Since I was unsure if I’d be in Lima for over a day, I decided not to go too far and see local sights instead.

Police car, Miraflores

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Chaos on street

Later this morning, I walked around the posh Miraflores district to reach Huaca Pucllana. I was greeted by a gigantic pyramidal structure. For an entrance fees of S/. 7, an English language tour guide comes free. I had to wait for barely 5 minutes and soon a group of English-wanting tourists arrived.

Huaca Pucllana pyramid

These Pyramids were built by the Lima tribe, who were surrounded by the Waris (वारी) in north and Nascas (नास्का) to the south. They had a unique construction style. After every 15 years, they closed the existing chambers of the pyramid and built a new structure on the top of that. 3 rituals were required before the chambers were closed – a human sacrifice, a pottery offering and finally, some food. In honor of the Sea God, a young woman, age 12-25, slim, short and beautiful, was sacrificed. These girls were picked from their childhood, or as they grew up, they offered themselves to the Gods. The Lima society was matricidal, i.e. it was led by women. The style of construction is called ‘book case’ style, because it resembles the manner in which books are arranged in a shelf. This construction stood firm while the whole Lima city was destroyed by earthquakes. Wonderful!

Govinda restaurant

It was close to noon and I was now getting hungry. I looked up my guidebook and found a hotel that served vegetarian food, called ‘Govinda’. Surprised? Even I was surprised when I heard that the Hare Krishna (ISKON) movement had a bunch of followers in Peru, and South America in general. This place I went had statues and pictures of Lord Krishna, bhajans playing softly and even a modest temple on the upper floor. I was very intrigued. The caretaker told me that there was a small gathering that night and I should come. All I could talk to him was “Soy de India” (I am from India) and he started talking in Spanish for next 2 minutes with an obvious delight!

Downtown Miraflores

After I was full, I started walking westward towards the sea front. I walked on the promenade that runs along the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was a nice view of the largest Ocean. I have so far seen Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Mediterranean Sea and now the Pacific Ocean (haha!). I wanted to linger around to watch sunset in the Pacific but I decided against it because: there was nothing to do in that area, and the air was very polluted and foggy (as you can see in the pictures). Central Lima is slightly visible from here.

Beach front

Promenade along the Pacific ocean

I shopped for some supplies for the night, walked till my legs broke off and then returned to my hostel some time back. I want to have a nice cold shower now and think about what to do later tonight. I think the best place to think stink-free is while standing under the shower faucet while cold water pours all over you

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Lima Photo Gallery

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