Exploring Lima

Woke up very early and walked the streets in a grey drizzle in search of a cafe and Internet. Not much open at 6.00am! I seemed to find all the worst streets in town and after an hour or so I spied a beacon of hope in the sky scape. I headed towards the neon Sheraton sign on the top of the high rise hotel in the sure knowledge that there would be a Starbucks in the vicinity and free Wifi.

Later on I walked through some more dirty and decrepit streets until I gave up and took a taxi to the Museo Larco. This houses an amazing archeological collection of Pre-Columbian artefacts all discovered by Senor Larco from the tender age of 25, when his father set him up as an archeologist. He devoted the rest of his life to discovering masses of these treasures, which are housed in this beautiful museum. There are treasures dating from 1200bc and a few even before then. Most are from Chavin, Moche and Inca periods. There are ceramics, textiles, statues and finery of gold and silver worn by Inca nobility. All of these items are symbolic and often tell a story or depict ceremonial and important events.

It’s easy to forget the grizzly and tragic ceremonies when looking at beautiful silver swords and cups that were used for human sacrifice. Likewise there are many ceramics depicting sacrificial ceremonies and treatment of defeated warriors (such as being thrown off mountaintops).

I particularly loved the textiles and was really interested to see a small display of sling braids, as I have made these myself during my phase of making Peruvian and Japanese braids (which I really must get back into). The weaving were superb and some of them are made of feathers. I am really looking forward to taking some beginner weaving classes when I stay with my volunteer family in Huancayo.

There was also a collection of erotic ceramics that was actually very funny. Unusually the museum store was also open for viewing and there were a few rooms stacked from floor to ceiling with numerous cases of ceramics, rather like a library.

The museum itself is housed in a beautiful colonial style building and grounds with masses of bougainvillea everywhere. I had lunch at the cafe in the grounds under a pergola of bougainvillea that was just stunning. It was a very smart cafe served by very sweet and polite young waitstaff and the menu was obviously the cuisine that Peru is famous for. I had a kind of passion fruit drink with my steak escalope, beans and rice, fried banana and chutney. Delicious and only set me back about $20. It is possible to enjoy high quality accommodation and eating out quite reasonably in Peru. If I was staying for a couple of weeks I would live it up very nicely, but as I am here for a long time I have to budget more carefully.

I was going to try to walk to Miraflores to find the South American Explorers Club, but was easily persuaded by a waiting taxi driver. Although the museum is in a quiet back street, it is obvious that people are getting to and from there by taxi as it is a bit out of the way. I find when walking about that I am either approached in the street by taxi drivers or they hoot and slow down to see if I want a lift. The museum is in the very nice San Isidro district so driving through there and Miraflores I saw a completely different side of Peru to the historic centre and downtown. Smart townhouses and apartments all with 10 foot walls or railings with spikes on top. Larger residences hidden behind massive walls. Spikes everywhere. Security guards are all over Lima and standing outside of every large building, business, bank and residence. So although I heed the warnings about being careful of muggers, you can’t go 50 metres without seeing a policeman, traffic cop or security guard.

I couldn’t find the Clubhouse as they had moved, so went in search of another Starbucks. I was a bit sick of their coffee so had a chamomile tea instead (they don’t have proper tea). However, the place was heaving with travellers and students so the internet was so slow it kept shutting down. In the end I chanced the free Wifi in the park opposite to look up the new address.

It was a tiny little park in the middle of the shopping area with an art exhibition and a population of dozens of cats. They were of every different colour and pattern, all slim but healthy looking, and completely at home sleeping on the grass and amongst the flowerbeds. Occasionally people would go and stroke and cuddle the cats and I saw one old man relaxing on a park bench talking to his friend with a cat on his lap. Far from being neglected, the cats seemed to be appreciated and enjoyed by the locals. Tourists like me looked on in pleasant surprise at such an unfamiliar site.

I found the clubhouse and a very helpful young woman in there. She recommended a good bus company to travel to the southern city of Arequipa and advised me to travel overnight (it takes about 14 hours and scenery nothing special). I hope to go on Sunday as I really don’t want to stay in Lima much longer. Arequipa is a pretty city, but she advised that I would probably like Cusco the best. I agree. I really don’t want to stay in cities and around Cusco I can travel to and stay in lots of small towns and villages. Cusco itself, according to this young lady, is such a special place and is a really fascinating city to stay in.

After blowing out the taxi budget I determined to walk back from Miraflores to the historic centre where my hostel is. It took two and a half hours and I had a sore throat afterwards from breathing in all the traffic fumes in the rush hour. However, it was a great way to get my bearings and see the different districts. It was also interesting to see how the city wakes up in the evening. Shops and restaurants all open late and the museums and art galleries are also open at night. It gets dark about 6pm year round in Lima but it seems everyone is out and about. I walked past a couple of universities that were still full of students at 7pm. After all, I decided, Lima is not such a bad place. Even the prospect of my hostel room seemed inviting and I found I had adjusted to it after all when I returned. It is fusty but interesting.