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Photo Album: Lima the Peruvian Capital
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It was another 90 minutes or so driving along the coastal
deserts before we reach the outskirts of Lima,
Gradually, I could see what appeared to be gated ( or fenced ) seaside
communities, some seemed to be brand new.
It is a sure sign of nearing Lima the Peruvian Capital, when we start seeing traffic packed highways, ugly urban built ups. It is a city of 8 million people or more, what can we expect! With the grey sky, it certainly did not raise my enthusiasm of another large city.
It took some effort for Will to negotiate through the narrow streets of the town central to get to our hotel, being detoured due to road closures and late in the afternoon did not help. And the grey sky was not very motivating as well. Perhaps, it was the anti-climax of nearly two months on the road......perhaps.
The Tucan Truck took us from Santiago 37 days ago, and 7753 Km later, safely arrived Lima. Other than the excitements of being blockaded for 2 days at Uyuni ( Bolivia ), it's been safe and fun filled along the way. Thanks to our tour leader, Ninka and Will, our captain driver !
On the night of our arrival, we had a group dinner together to bid farewell to a couple of our fellow travelers, as they are leaving the Tucan Truck. On the return walk back to the hotel through a couple of crowded malls, for the first time during the whole, I felt there are a couple of people try to brush pass unnecessary close, which I alert myself to take extra precautions, lest these are pick pockets. Like many other big cities in the World, Lima is one of those with bad reputations with crimes.
The next morning, I tried to motivate myself out of the hotel for a late morning breakfast...very late, and walked towards the main square, Plaza Mayor, it is not that hard to locate the main square of any Spanish or Spanish Colonial City, ask Plaza de Armas, Plaza Mayor, or the Cathedral, would always get you there, that's my experience.
The Cathedral is always next to the Government Palace ( or office ) or opposite. In this case, we have the Government Palace and the Cathedral sharing a corner.
Every noon (actually starting at 11:30 ), the Changing of the Guard is not to be missed, I was told. So here I am, approaching the fence with many others, with anticipation. Suddenly, we were waved off by the soldiers guarding nearby, and then plain clothes type appeared ( with their tell-tale ear-pieces behind the collars ), sending everyone standing outside the kerb on the road. It seems a strange way to welcome tourists, and there weren't many people, by the way. So we watched the spectacle which lasted about 30 minutes.
I ran into our fellow traveler, Kam and Yvon after the spectacle, with no particular idea on where to go, we then walked towards what we think may be Chinatown for lunch. Indeed, it is, one can not miss them with all the signage in Chinese characters, and the typical busy trader stalls, and of course, restaurants.
The market nearby has stalls that sell raw nuts of different types, which are my daily snack at home. The last time I was able to get some, was some 3 weeks ago in La Paz ( Bolivia ). The prices are nearly as expensive as in Australia, but with lesser quality. I bought enough for the next 3 weeks, just in case, as they are hard to find in unfamiliar lands.
We then visited the Museum of Congress and Inquisition, which is built on the original site where the Spanish Inquisition was held for 250 Years. It was here that local people suspected of heresy, blasphemy or witchcraft were detained, interrogated, and sentenced to public burning and execution.
Ghastly dungeons and wax figures showing scenes of different
forms of cruel tortures are on
display.....not something one want to experience. Well, injustices in the name
of religion, so it was !!
The same site was later the first Congress of Peru after its independence. Here we can see the different versions of her constitutions.
On the next day, I decided to see the coastal Lima, what the beaches are like etc. I decided to try the El Metropolitano which is a bus based rapid transit system running on a dedicated network on the surface roads.
It is quite a new system, however, it totally relies on swipe cards, and there is no ticket booths, fortunately, at the station I entered, there is an attendant who asked another commuter to swipe her card for me, which I paid and thank her. Subsequently on my return trip, I did the same. It certainly has allowed for short term visitors.
It took about 45 minutes to get to the stop near the Barranco Beaches, then another 15 minutes of walking.
While I can see the areas near the beaches are well to do area, but it is full of gated houses and private sentinels guarding street corners.
The beaches are not very interesting, when comparing to the pristine and white sand beaches of Australia. However, this seem to be the best beaches in the surrounding area.
At the other end, there are also many newer high rise apartments, what seems to be mainly expats and middle class communities.
However, there is a big contrast between this area and the other areas we passed, which were much more underprivileged and dirty.
By the time, I got back to Lima Centro, it was nightfall.
.
It is a sure sign of nearing Lima the Peruvian Capital, when we start seeing traffic packed highways, ugly urban built ups. It is a city of 8 million people or more, what can we expect! With the grey sky, it certainly did not raise my enthusiasm of another large city.
It took some effort for Will to negotiate through the narrow streets of the town central to get to our hotel, being detoured due to road closures and late in the afternoon did not help. And the grey sky was not very motivating as well. Perhaps, it was the anti-climax of nearly two months on the road......perhaps.
The Tucan Truck took us from Santiago 37 days ago, and 7753 Km later, safely arrived Lima. Other than the excitements of being blockaded for 2 days at Uyuni ( Bolivia ), it's been safe and fun filled along the way. Thanks to our tour leader, Ninka and Will, our captain driver !
 |
The next morning, I tried to motivate myself out of the hotel for a late morning breakfast...very late, and walked towards the main square, Plaza Mayor, it is not that hard to locate the main square of any Spanish or Spanish Colonial City, ask Plaza de Armas, Plaza Mayor, or the Cathedral, would always get you there, that's my experience.
The Cathedral is always next to the Government Palace ( or office ) or opposite. In this case, we have the Government Palace and the Cathedral sharing a corner.
Every noon (actually starting at 11:30 ), the Changing of the Guard is not to be missed, I was told. So here I am, approaching the fence with many others, with anticipation. Suddenly, we were waved off by the soldiers guarding nearby, and then plain clothes type appeared ( with their tell-tale ear-pieces behind the collars ), sending everyone standing outside the kerb on the road. It seems a strange way to welcome tourists, and there weren't many people, by the way. So we watched the spectacle which lasted about 30 minutes.
I ran into our fellow traveler, Kam and Yvon after the spectacle, with no particular idea on where to go, we then walked towards what we think may be Chinatown for lunch. Indeed, it is, one can not miss them with all the signage in Chinese characters, and the typical busy trader stalls, and of course, restaurants.
The market nearby has stalls that sell raw nuts of different types, which are my daily snack at home. The last time I was able to get some, was some 3 weeks ago in La Paz ( Bolivia ). The prices are nearly as expensive as in Australia, but with lesser quality. I bought enough for the next 3 weeks, just in case, as they are hard to find in unfamiliar lands.
We then visited the Museum of Congress and Inquisition, which is built on the original site where the Spanish Inquisition was held for 250 Years. It was here that local people suspected of heresy, blasphemy or witchcraft were detained, interrogated, and sentenced to public burning and execution.
 |
| The Inquisition Court |
The same site was later the first Congress of Peru after its independence. Here we can see the different versions of her constitutions.
On the next day, I decided to see the coastal Lima, what the beaches are like etc. I decided to try the El Metropolitano which is a bus based rapid transit system running on a dedicated network on the surface roads.
It is quite a new system, however, it totally relies on swipe cards, and there is no ticket booths, fortunately, at the station I entered, there is an attendant who asked another commuter to swipe her card for me, which I paid and thank her. Subsequently on my return trip, I did the same. It certainly has allowed for short term visitors.
It took about 45 minutes to get to the stop near the Barranco Beaches, then another 15 minutes of walking.
While I can see the areas near the beaches are well to do area, but it is full of gated houses and private sentinels guarding street corners.
The beaches are not very interesting, when comparing to the pristine and white sand beaches of Australia. However, this seem to be the best beaches in the surrounding area.
At the other end, there are also many newer high rise apartments, what seems to be mainly expats and middle class communities.
However, there is a big contrast between this area and the other areas we passed, which were much more underprivileged and dirty.
By the time, I got back to Lima Centro, it was nightfall.
.
