21/07/2019 – Day 1 in Lima, Peru

We got woken by the cabin crew announcing breakfast at around 08:00. We got served some very sweet and processed bread and a biscuit and used the on board toilet, which was a little less appealing than it had been at the start of the journey! At least we had some alcohol hand gel with us, definitely a must for some of the places we have been to! We watched an episode of friends before reclining back to get some more rest. When we came to and got ourselves up again we were just arriving into a built up area, we were in Lima! Apparently Lima is home to a quarter of the country’s population, and is the second driest capital in the world after Cairo. We were surprised then that it drizzled on and off throughout the day, especially as it is currently the dry season here! It was grey and overcast and to be honest the built up city and the busy roads didn’t get us too excited, but it makes for a good pit stop on our way to Cusco, and we've got to see the capital whilst we are here really! We managed to negotiate a taxi to our homestay and directed our taxi driver there with our mapps.me app. We are in a big double room (well actually there is a double bed and bunk beds, this seems to be a common running theme in South America double rooms) there is a kitchen for us to use, there is a shower with hot water and we are in the nice area of Miraflores. Miraflores is an area of Lima that is filled with bars and cafes and backpackers, and we have read is safe to wander around by foot. It is more expensive than any of our accommodation so far (still only £7.50 each!) but I guess because we are in the capital city. We showered (it felt so so good to be clean as I hadn’t washed after my sea swim yesterday and still had sand and seaweed on me!) and sorted a few bits out before heading out. We used out map to get us to ‘panaderia de la Chola’ a lonely planet recommended café a 30 minute walk away, in the more touristy part of Miraflores. It was even better than expected, excellent coffee and we ate some lovely fresh bread with hummus and olive oil. It was very hipster, straight out of East London, and sold Monmouth coffee to my exclamation! We spent a good hour or so there, feeling quite comfortable and at home. We were walking towards the supermarket when we randomly passed a tech shop. To our delight they had a few headphone splitters to choose from! Next we went to the supermarket, which definitely felt upmarket, like a Waitrose. We stocked up on groceries, planning to make the most of our communal kitchen in our homestay so as to be as budget friendly as possible. We had been reminded of the pro’s to being in a city. A nice big beautiful café, electrical goods, supermarkets, all luxuries that we haven’t really seen since Quito! There is definitely something comforting in the options and the facilities available, that the smaller more remote towns just don’t have. When we walked back Josh noticed a Hummer and a Maserati alongside other fancy cars parked on the curb. There is definitely a lot more money here than elsewhere we have been in Peru. I am sure there is another side to the city that we have not experienced, but it is interesting to see the contrast to the smaller towns we have so far been to. Another thing we have noticed is that most people we have met from Lima speak good English (bar our casa host!) as I think the education here is generally much better. We didn’t realise at the time, but we bought what we thought were pepperoni sticks as snacks, but later when looking (prior to eating) realised they were horse meat – I am so glad we realised before we ate them! Going to ‘accidentally’ leave them in the fridge of the casa here…

We got home and prepared a pasta and vegetable dinner before wrapping up warm and ordering an Uber. We went to the ‘magic water circuit park’ – basically a ticketed public park where you can see lots of water fountains and light shows. Apparently it is in the Guinness book of world records. It seemed a bit bizarre to me that Peru can afford 13 million USD to spend on this water fountain park, but doesn’t have the money to fund further excavation of their ancient ruins sites, but maybe there is more to it than that! It was quite busy, I think the Peruvian schools have broken up. We walked around a bit bewildered, but very entertained, and Josh enjoyed taking some pictures.

Jen at fountain

Josh went in the fountain maze whilst I held the bags and videoed him – it is basically a maze that you run around trying not to get got by the random sprouting of fountains and water. Everyone was absolutely soaking, and the kids were squealing with delight, although it was quite chilly! We went to one of the bigger fountains and watched the main ‘show’. There were lasers and lights, music, and projections onto the water fountains, it was very impressive! Josh and I shared a dulce de leche churro, very sweet but completely delicious! Then we got a taxi home and, very tired, got ourselves into bed.