City of Kings (Lima, Peru)

Chris and I arrived in Lima (known as the 'City of Kings') for the last leg of our race across Peru late in the evening before Chris's flight home to Canada. This gave us a day to have a quick explore of the city together, which we did in the company of Richard and Debbie, two fellow English travellers who were also staying at our hostel. We spent the morning checking out the main square in the centre of the city, including the Cathedral, Government Palace and Municipal Palace (aka the Town Hall), which like many South American cities, were set around a huge central square.

Plaza Mayor, Lima

Lima Town Hall, bit grander than 160 Tooley Street!

Lima Cathedral

Estadio Nacional

In the afternoon we checked out a park near to the centre of the city which Chris's Peruvian friend in Toronto had said was a must for any visit to Lima. The park was filled with thirteen huge water fountains known as the Circuito Magico del Agua which were really spectacular and far bigger than the kind of fountains you'd see back home - you could even walk through some of them, which was a lot of fun.

That evening, we walked through the Miraflores area of Lima and down to the Pacific coast where we were able to see a spectacular sunset. I ended up returning at the same time for nearly all the nights I spent in Lima as the sight of the sun disappearing over the horizon while the waves broke below and the surfers made the most of the last minutes of daylight was really special. Below are a few of my favourites from the many sunset photos I took over the course of my time in Lima...

Chris headed home for Canada later that night, but I decided to spend a few more days in Lima as I fancied a relaxing time after our busy couple of weeks travelling around Peru. Over the next few days I spent some more time wandering around the historic centre of the city, visited a museum and a Mario Testino exhibition in the trendy suburb of Barranco, and just generally chilled out at my hostel in Miraflores. Staying for a few more nights also meant that I could catch up with my friend Alex and her boyfriend Andy who would be arriving in Lima a few days after me as part of a year they are spending travellling around the world. 

Dinner with Alex and Andy

I met up with Alex and Andy at their hostel in the posh suburb of San Isidro and with my four whole days experience of what Lima had to offer took them on a bit of a guided tour around Miraflores and to the coast. I'd had my eye on the tandem paragliders taking off from the clifftops for a few days so after lunch and a good catch up about our experiences travelling over the last few months, we headed to the paragliding take off point. I couldn't quite persuade either Alex or Andy to join me, so leaving them with my bag and instructions to take lots of pictures, I was soon strapped to a paraglider and stepping off the edge of the cliff with him!

Ready for take off

The next ten minutes were spent gliding peacefully over the clifftops, getting great views of the coastline and swooping around on the sea breeze. The only similar experience I'd had before was the parachute ride down after my sky dive in Namibia, but at that stage I was on such a high from the free fall that the adrenaline was pumping and so it felt like a very different experience. The paraglide was a much more graceful and peaceful experience as rather than descending quickly towards the earth, we were flying backwards and forwards along the clifftops, never gaining or losing a huge amount of height.

Self portrait of a paraglider

Another paraglider alongside us

Me and my paragliding buddy in the air

That evening, I took Alex and Andy to the water fountain park I had been to a few days earlier with Chris and we were rewarded for visiting in the evening by the fountains all being lit up and a spectacular light show that they project on to one of the fountains every night. The park was a lot busier at this time, but the fountains were even more spectacular in the dark so it was certainly worth a return visit.

On my last day in Lima, I visited the Rafael Larco Museum in the Pueblo Libre district of the city. Before coming to Peru I'd heard a lot about the Inca civilisation and the many sites (such as Macchu Picchu) that you could visit in the country. The fact that the Incas were the predominant society when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century and the fact that many of their buildings and trails remain has meant they are held up as the main example of pre-Columbian society in this part of South America. However, on visiting Peru I have found it really interesting to learn about the other ancient civilisations who lived before the Incas, most of whom existed for many centuries more than the Incas did. These civilisations included the Nazca, the Moche, the Chimu and the Lima civilisations all of whom lived in parts of Peru before the Inca Empire was created.

The Larco museum told the story of these earlier civilisations through its huge collection of ceramics, textiles, jewellery, gold and silver, all of which were collected by the Peruvian archeologist Rafael Larco. It showed how the Incas borrowed many of their customs, beliefs and ways of life from these earlier civilisations (much as the Romans did from the Greeks) and demonstrated that it is important not to overlook these other societies when considering Peruvian history and culture. It also had a rather strange and extensive collection of imaginative erotic pottery, but I don't think the pictures of that are suitable for a family audience!!

Moche sculpture

Inca rope used to pass on messages from one city to another

Chimu emperor headdress

The Erotic Gallery - not for a family audience!

After six nights in Lima, and with my batteries fully recharged, it was time to head off for my next adventure as I said goodbye to Alex and Andy and caught a bus north to the city of Huaraz, nestled in the Cordillera Blanca mountains. More about that in the next blog....