Riding into Lima was, quite possibly, our most stressful arrival upon a city on this trip so far. I have ranted about Peruvian drivers being certifiably insane and Lima, being the capital city, seems to be a cesspool of the worst drivers imaginable. Not only did it seem like everyone on the road was trying to kill each other, they seem to truly love their horns. Eventually, we started to ignore all the honking because there seemed to be no apparent reason for them. Also, a certain biker may or may not have joined the useless honking club to amuse himself. I don’t know if it had something to do with arriving on a Friday, but we were relieved to have made it to our apartment without incident.
Aside from the insane drivers, we had a fantastic two weeks in Lima. Our apartment was located within walking distance to the Miraflores neighbourhood, which is where all the cool kids hang out. There are numerous restaurants, bars, nightclubs, coffee shops (yes, there is a Starbucks and no, we didn’t go there every single day), and shops in the area to spend a day or evening, which we did on a number of occasions.
But that wasn’t my favourite thing about the area. Nope. I discovered that we were within walking distance from some of the best ice cream I have ever had (and I’ve had A LOT – I love ice cream). If you’re ever in Lima, you must not pass up a trip to BLU Gelateria. Not only do they knock it out of the park with the popular flavours like chocolate and strawberry, they have some unique ones that I’ve never come across before like plum and custard apple. Best part is that none of them taste artificial; they all taste like they’ve been made from real and fresh ingredients. And yes, we went there more than once.
The Larcomar shopping center is quite the tourist attraction with both, local and foreign visitors so we had to go see what it was all about. It is basically an open shopping mall that is built into the side of a cliff. It has numerous restaurants, high-end stores, and a great view of the ocean. It is not the place to go if you’re looking for a warm place to kill some time, but if you’re looking for a designer pure alpaca sweater, look no further.
The historic center of Lima is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site due to all the historic buildings and monuments it houses. Since our eyes tend to glaze over at the very thought of visiting museum after museum, we decided to visit the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco and then explore the city center itself afterwards.
The basilica dates back to the 1600s and is quite beautiful with its Spanish Baroque architecture, but the main attraction is the catacombs that lay beneath. The catacombs served as a burial place until 1808, when the city cemetery was opened outside Lima and it is estimated that 25,000 bodies were laid to rest there. Even though I have a taste for the macabre, I must say, it was a bit eerie to see how neatly the skulls and bones were organized to form geometric patterns. Better than messy piles, I guess.
One thing we did not like was that with the 30 PEN (~12 CAD) entry for the two of us, we had a compulsory tour guide forced upon us. This was one of those times that made us remember all the reasons why we typically hate tours. We were rushed from room to room by a woman muttering everything in heavily-accented English (we should have opted for the tour in Spanish). The only time she was audible was when she was yelling at someone in the group to stop taking pictures. The building and catacombs were nice to see, but the tour was a wet blanket on what could have been a cool experience.
The historic city center was nice and we enjoyed walking around and exploring. Our exploration eventually took us to the Chinatown area where, much to our delight, there were a myriad of Chinese restaurants and stores. I finally got to replenish my five-spice supply! For those who are unfamiliar with the history of Peru, the country saw an influx of immigrants from China in the 1800s, specifically labourers from the Guangdong province. It is no surprise that there are Chinese restaurants (called Chifas) all over Peru and the influence is even apparent in Peruvian cuisine with all its stir-fries and rice dishes. We were happy to discover this as we love us some good Asian food.
An interesting discovery we made in Lima were the ruins of Huaca Pucllana. It is an adobe and clay pyramid located in the middle of the city that dates back to the period between 200 AD and 700 AD when it served as an important ceremonial and administrative center for the advancement of the Lima Culture. This was another one of those sites where we did not enjoy the fact that a compulsory tour guide was thrust upon us. The entry was 24 PEN (~9 CAD) so it wasn’t expensive enough for us to grumble too much. But seriously, Peru, is there any place we can see at our own pace?
Peru is home to street artist Jade Rivera, whose work we first saw and became big fans of when we visited the Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia in Costa Rica so, of course, we had to take out a day to check out Lima’s street art scene. We started at the Puente de los Suspiros (Bridge of Sighs) where there is a beautiful mural by the artist. We went through the doorway on the right side of the mural to check out the Jade Rivera World (free entry) before proceeding through the streets to see the rest of the stunning artwork on display. These talented street artists truly made otherwise boring spaces beautiful.
One thing we absolutely had to do before leaving Lima was have some good ceviche and El Verídico de Fidel is reputed to be the best ceviche place in town. While we haven’t tried enough ceviche places in Lima to attest to that claim, we can certainly say that it was damn delicious. Fresh ingredients and not unbearably acidic – just how we like it. We shared a mixed plate with some seafood rice and enjoyed every bite.
And that’s how we spent our two weeks in Lima. Despite its inconsiderate drivers, we had a fantastic time in the city and thoroughly enjoyed the sights and tastes it has to offer. Many people merely use Lima as a stepping stone to Cusco and Machu Picchu, but we highly recommend anyone visiting the country to take a few days to enjoy what the capital has to offer. It is a great city that we liked more than we expected to.
