Making myself up north - Lima

By the time I was leaving the South of Peru, I was already down to 4 days left before I needed to catch the flight to Galapagos Islands from Guayaquil, Equador. And it was still hundreds of miles away through the crazy mountain terrain. Unwillingly, I said goodbye to Cusco, and I started my 20 hour bus ride to Lima, the capital.

Though known as the City of Kings, it failed to impress me. It was the first founded by the Spanish Conquistadores, who were not so keen on staying in the Andes and the high altitude. They desperately needed a city by the sea to become a major port for South America. Lima thrived as such. However, nowadays, aside from the Plaza del Armas with its beautiful cathedral and royal court, it is a beach city without the glitz and glam of Rio or Buenos Aires and is overcast with clouds half of the year.





Unfortunately, the central Lima is known to be a bit dangerous so most people stay in a district called Miraflores, 20 minutes outside of the city. A nice port district, it features everything a gringo could want - a shopping mall, park, and various fast food chains. Other than that, the food is supposed to be really good, especially the seafood.

As soon as I got into town, I decided to do the mandatory (if there is one)free city walking tour. I figured as the City of Kings, it must have a pretty interesting history. And it did. But I didn't have the most credible or knowledgeable guide, which unfortunately ruined the tour. I'm sure she could get much better with experience, but reading a script doesn't really count as a tour. Much of the tour focused on Francisco Pizzarro and the Spanish occupation of the continent. The one interesting site in Lima is the San Francisco Church. It used to be COVERED in silver obtained from the Petosi mine in now-Bolivia. Thousands of miners and builders perished in the process, and the church has an underground catacomb that you can visit, which displays all of the bones. An entirely eerie sight.

Aside from the tour, I just walked around the city center before it got dark. It's a sprawling city that didn't hold my attention for too long. Even Miraflores was, blah. Most of my time was spent looking for The Origin of Species without much luck. So I opted for The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, which I absolutely devoured in less than 3 days.

The nightlife was interesting, though. I stayed at Loki, which is a party hostel chain that is all over Peru. But the bar was absolutely dead except for this Belgian friend I went to dinner with and a couple of American guys. We quickly ditched the hostel bar and headed for a club on the beachfront. At first, it was charging each of us 100 soles ($33!!) cover charge. Absolutely ridiculous. After some negotiation, we got it down to 25 soles each, which we regrettably accepted. But frankly, I'm starting to realize more and more that I don't enjoy glitzy mega clubs, and this was no exception. Just a different crowd.

But yeah, I guess that's about it for Lima. Nice as a passing point. Maybe nice if I put more time into it. But for somebody lacking time, not the most pleasant city.

The next day, I got on a bus and booked.

- Ryoji