Peru - Part 4 in Lima

Rduxfield
Wed 7 Jun 2006 13:53
Title: Peru - Part 4 in Lima

The final day was spent in Lima. We headed back with mixed feelings. Lima was the place where I'd lost my baggage (bags are not automatically transferred between flights at Miami, despite what the airline staff believe, although somehow Kaz's bag was), we'd had a 3 hour fog delay for our flight to Cusco, and the hotel where we were staying was closed for renovations so we didn't have anywhere to stay. Add to that my total lack of Spanish and the fact that the holiday was coming to an end, and it seems like doom and gloom. However, after two stunning weeks in Peru, we were feeling totally relaxed and not even all of that could phase us.

We had a half-day tour around Lima, the highlight of which was a trip to the archeological museum. As most of the Inca work was destroyed or stolen by the Spanish that part of Peru's history is much less strong that prior history, where artefacts and remains were already buried and lost, and have only been recently rediscovered. Of particular note was the porcelain work from the Moche tribe from the north of Peru, which was highly detailed and well made, unlike other porcelain from different parts of Peru from the same period. We also visited a monastry built by the Spanish in Lima, which had a crypt underneath that was overflowing with skulls and bones. They'd thrown many of these into a well to make space for more burials, and more recently archeologists have uncovered these remains and put them on display. Needless to say that the monastry has experienced large amounts of damage during earthquakes…

Photos from Lima are stored here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=2cqjy4v.4lqlctov&Uy=j95p0a&Ux=0

The rest of the day in Lima was spent shopping (great t-shirt shop: www.cuy-arts.com) and we had dinner in a Japanese sushi restaurant - the oldest in Peru. The owner had arrived from Japan 32 years beforehand and hadn't managed to leave yet. I could understand how he felt. The sushi was fantastic, access to very fresh fish being one advantage of being close to the Pacific ocean.

Finally it was time to leave Peru. A 3 o'clock taxi to the airport to check-in for the flight 3 hours beforehand, as required. We wondered why. It was because we departed half an hour ahead of schedule to beat the fog. Otherwise we may have been fogbound in Lima for a second time…

I think I will go back to Peru some time soon to undertake the full 4 day Inca trek. It would be nice to spend more time at Machi Picchu as well. And the Peruvian people are so friendly it's will always be a nice place to visit. :)

Robin


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