Lima
We are ending our trip in Lima. It’s grey - the weather seems to be generally cloudy / foggy, due to it’s position on the Pacific coast. It’s a desert - despite the cloud, it very rarely rains. But despite all of that, we’ve enjoyed wrapping up our trip in Peru’s capital.
Our flight up from Arequipa got us to our hotel for about 10am, so we had a relaxed morning and then embarked on a private tour to Pachacamac in the afternoon. This site is about 35km south-east of Lima. We stopped to see the Chorillos fish market en route and bought a few scraps to feed to the resident pelicans who get rich pickings from the passing tourists.
Pachacamac is a pre-Incan/Incan site, much of which has disappeared into the desert. There was a small but very good museum and the site is extensive but difficult to make much of in its current state, which has been further impacted by seismic activity in recent years. The photo below shows the Temple of the Moon, which has been most heavily restored and will at least give you an idea of what we saw and of the greyness and desertification of the local area.
Yesterday, Saturday, we had organised a full day private tour of the colonial city centre, including a visit to the Museo Larco. We had a very interesting morning walking the streets, including seeing the bar of the Gran Hotel Bolivar where the ubiquitous Pisco Sour was invented (Diana with our guide, Fiorella)….
…and the Plaza de Armas or main square, including the Cathedral and various other 16th-17th century palaces, now mainly government offices of one sort of another. The city council decreed the yellow colour to relieve the uniform greyness of the stone and skies!
The Museo Larco was the highlight of the day, and indeed of our time in Lima. It’s a brilliant museum. A picture of the wonderful planting outside and the a few pictures of the treasures within below.
Today. Sunday, was our last day. We got a taxi to the neighbouring district of Miraflores, which sits on the cliffs above the Pacific. After grabbing some breakfast, and a photograph of Paddington, we walked along the cliff tops through Miraflores and the next district south, Barranco, which is a bit more bohemian. An hour or so of walking took us to the Pedro de Osma museum, which was also excellent and housed in a beautiful early 20th century building. Then back, on foot again for part of it and then by taxi, to the hotel to collect our baggage and make our way to the airport.
We are now in the lounge, waiting for our flight, and at the end of a really great trip. When we get back, I will be updating the blog with some reflected thoughts on Peru and details of our itinerary/accommodation etc - in case there’s anyone out there who may be thinking of following in our footsteps. In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed reading about our travels and look forward to seeing you all soon.