Thursday 9.10.14 – Lima, Turibus.

Awake about 7.30. I slept perfectly, Suzie not so much. We did breaky – not bad…good OJ, some nice muesli, bread is OK.

We went out to exchange money/hit the ATM for some Peruvian Nuevo Sols. Suzie changed hers at nearby Casa de Cambio. I tried 5 bank ATM’s with no luck using ANZ Travelcard.

Back to the hotel, Suzie for a snooze, I took off again armed with other cards to try the banks again. Tried a different bank with my card and bingo, it worked first off, not sure if it was the banks or me…maybe I wasn’t thinking straight. I also managed to get a Peruvian SIM card, but the queues at Claro and the process was long and drawn out. Even made Telstra Shops look good. I was glad to be on my own and not holding Suzie up.

Back to the hotel to meet Suzie, then we headed off towards Lamarco, with plans to do a City Bus Tour. 

Larmarco is an area near the beach/cliffs of LIMA, where there are plenty of café’s/restaurants and some trendy shops, also where the Turibus departed from. With tickets in hand, we grabbed a delicious Chicken Caesar Salad, overlooking the cliffs with Paragliders flying about and the Pacific Ocean, before boarding the bus at 2.15.

The Cliffs of Lima, with Paragliders.

Looking down to the Pacific
Ocean. Looks like a gravelly
beach from up here.

It wasn’t our best City tour, but we drove through nearby Barranco – a seaside suburb, where the rich and well to do have lived for years, we stopped here to visit an old church, which had been damaged and not rebuilt, interesting to see the construction of mud bricks, straw and wood. It was covered in Vultures too. There was a statue nearby of some famous Peruvian Opera Singer and some bloke on a horse. 

We then returned to Miraflores, before the bus eventually made it into Downtown/Central Lima, we drove past Huaca Pucllana ruins. 

Hopped off the bus in Plaza de Armas where we had a quick look at the square then walked to the Franciscan Church and Catacombs. 

Here we took a walk through the Catacombs, where thousands and thousands of people were buried. The people being very Catholic, paid much money to be buried in tombs below the Church, little did they know, that they were buried for about 15months, at which time they were exhumed and the bones were sorted into groups and thrown into pits, thus allowing the tombs to be reused…more money to be made for the church. In walking through, you could see into the pits, full of dusty human bones, mainly leg bones, but also hips, scapulas and quite a few skulls as well. It was very eerie. There have been no more burials since 1871 when independence was proclaimed and San Martin banned the use of the Catacombs.

Another beach shot from the bus.

The Old damaged Church in Barranco.

The decaying window.

Villena bridge.

Street art in Jose Larco Ave - he was lying down
and was up at the double decker bus height.

Some French building in Lima.

The Franciscan Church.

Inside the Franciscan church.

It was really quite cold when we had finished there, so the return journey on the bus was in the front seat downstairs, the traffic was horrendous. These guys merge and push in and come so close to other vehicles, it is chaotic, but it seems to work. The horn tooting here was a bit more pushy and aggressive.

A street seller.

One of the motorbike driven carts. Hard day at work
for the lady, asleep in the cart. This was in amongst
the chaotic traffic.

Transit Police, in his little stand...
conducting traffic.

Went to a little restaurant close to the hotel for tea and we were home early for an early night. 

Here we are with our Pisco Sours, after the bus tour.

In our reading about Lima, we had the impression it wasn’t a particularly safe city. This morning at breakfast, we met a couple from the USA, she had had money, credit card and medications stolen the night before. They were in a taxi from the airport and the back window was broken and she had a bag stolen. Luckily they did not get her passport. It seems she thought they were in a shady area. Anyway, we were extra careful when we went out, but didn’t feel unsafe or threatened at any stage during the day.