havecarryonwilltravel

Farther afield today. Destination Miraflores, a district of Lima on the ocean. Everything one reads whether on the net or in a travel book mentions Miraflores. So thought we should have a look see. One of the museums we wanted to see is near by in Barranco.

Yesterday we check out taxi fares and the like and were going to take a cab until the lady at Info Peru told us it would only take one bus to get there from central Lima. It sounded easy so I thought we should try it and take a cab home. Like to see how the locals live. The bus station is a bit confusing, in order to ride the bus you have to buy a rechargeable card for S./5 and then charge it for the bus rides. Cost us double but still 1/2 cab fare. When we get on it is crowded and more people get on at every stop. Sardines. By the time our stop comes the crowd has thinned out and we have only a minor squeeze to get off.

We get to the gallery Museo de Arte Contemporaneo 4 mins after it opened. I am now officially old. I walk up to the cashier and say dos, she replies ‘general’ and I ask if there is a seniors rate. We get in for S./4 each, less than $2. The gallery itself is quite nice, utilizing separate buildings for each exhibit and all surrounded by a moat to keep out the riff raff. The art on the other hand is only OK. Some of it I’m not sure is art.

The ocean!

A bridge crosses the freeway to Miraflores and we see how the other 1/2 live. The sea walk is high above the ocean atop a steep cliff. It is quite a pleasent walk winding back and forth, as the cliff dictates, with very little traffic on the adjacent road. Across the street are high rise condos for the upper eschilons of Lima society.

The beach!

The downtown area of Miraflores is definately middle to upper class and from a tourist point of view, is really quite sterile. The buildings are modern, most of the shops are generic to the rest of the world, it is extremely busy (Saturday noon) and the traffic is noisy. Even the spot of respite, Parque Central de Miraflores, is not much of a relief. Green yes, with a hundred or so ferel cats to entertain, it has major avenues running on both sides which takes away from any peace sought. For all it is touted Miraflores is not the area I would wish to spend my time wandering around in.

House in Miraflores, a district of Lima.

We end our walk 2 blocks from the bus stop so end up taking the bus home and amoratize the cost of the recharge card over two trips. This bus is even more sardine like than the one early today. Debbie’s grey hair nets her a seat offered by a young woman.

There are no rules for walking in Lima, at least none I can make in the two days I have been plying the streets. Usually, if driving is on the right, walking on the sidewalk follows suit. Here not so much. Either side of the walk will do. People here are not so aggressive as in Europe and when on collision course with an oncoming walker will give 1/2 way similar to the way things work in North America. People wait for the green “WALK” sign here much like we do in Edmonton but at an undeterminable time they will cross. Sometimes it is when no cars are headed towards the corner but sometimes it is a mystery. Being good and worldly tourists Debbie and I follow the number one street crossing rule, “Follow a local across”, especially if the local is herding a child or two.

In hot climates people of all ilks walk considerably slower than I do. Here for some reason, some people walk very fast. Even when Debbie and I are walking at a good clip people will pass us. Then there is the opposite end of the scale. Children, older children, in their late teens or early 20’s will walk arm in arm with one of their parents and, oh my goodness, are they slow. The parents are not that old, I think it is the journey that is important and they want to enjoy their time together. I am reading a lot into this but I have no other explanation for such a stroll.

Debbie here. After some rest and organizing for our flights tomorrow we walk across the street to Plaza San Martin to sit and watch the people. There are small groups surrounding speakers with microphones. We think it is like a speaker’s corner, where someone with an opinion or idea can just talk, and people gather to listen.

We stroll down Jiron de la Union to the restaurant we found yesterday and want to try. The crowds of people out strolling, shopping and hanging are amazing. There is a noticeable police presence. The crowds are just as large on our stroll back from eating. It has been a great day of wandering Miraflores and Lima.

Best route for us to western South America is through Lima, Peru. Our last few long trips we have been taking a ‘pause’ in transit to our destination, say 10 to 12 hours of flying time from home, and then continuing on our way. We are not so wasted when we reach our final destination and, what the hell, the places on the way should be interesting as well. Spent very little time on this continent so why not take in a bit of Lima in transit.

The flights into this city seem to arrive in the late evening or early night. At 11pm Lima’s airport is crowded but the place is set up for the rush and we are on the Peru side of customs in a flash. There is a service called Taxidatum, I think similar to UBER, where you can order a cab on line and the driver will be waiting for you. There it is my name in bold letters shining toward the arrivals lane. It was that easy.

Gran Hotel Bolivar, Lima

The Gran Hotel Bolivar is truly grand. It was THE HOTEL in Lima through most of the 1900’s until Peru was put on the tourist map and large chains arrived with their brand of opulance.This place reminds me of the Chateau Lake Louise, or the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff Park, Canada. It is one of the iconic buildings on one of the cities major plazas.

Foyer dome in the Gran Hotel Bolivar

The interior is a little worse for wear but the philosophy is different than say Canada. This place has as many original fittings as can be saved. They have not replaced the toilets, for example, with new modern ones. The cans are very old and I guess if they still work they are kept. So the place looks a little ‘tired’ but if you stand back and really look, it is as grand as it has always been but not in the style you would expect in a modern 5 star hotel. The reviews are very mixed on this place, I think people used to upscale places come there expecting the Hyatt and this it not that. We took a chance and are glad we did. It is a chance to live a in a bit of old world luxury. After all Julio Iglasius, Robert Kennedy and Carlos Santana can’t be completely wrong.

Today is our day to do the central part of Lima. Plaza San Martin to Plaza de Armas de Lima. Our first steps out of the hotel and the vision is arresting, it is one of the main squares, Plaza San Martin and it is suppose to be. The buildings around the square are brightly painted and imposing. I start snapping pictures before we even get to the curb. All of the reading we have done has said Lima is a not so safe city so we are on guard from the start.

The fellow at the front desk of the hotel gives us a photostated map with how to traverse the area and we walk down a pedestrian street towards the Plaza de Armas. It is relatively early and it is still quite busy. On the way we detour to a Bank of Nova Scotia to utilize the ATM. The street we walk down has traffic on it and the sidewalks are narrow, typical for a city that not built for autos I suppose.

Plaza de Armas de Lima

The entrance to the city’s main plaza is as halting as when we stepped out of the hotel. There are quite a lot of folks about and the buildings here are even more commanding. The Palacio de Gobierno, guarded by machine gun toting policia, Palacio Municipal de Lima, Glaeria Municipal Pancho Fierro, and the church in Lima, Catedral de Lima.

Again it is a busy place but this time there are as many tourist as locals. Funny how even tourists can pick out tourists. No matter how I plan I cannot look like a local in any place but Alberta???? Could be the Tilley hat or maybe it is the camera? Either of which I could have at home and still not look like a tourist.

A few blocks more and we find ourselves at the Mercado Central, central market for those of you who don’t speak Spanish. Ha, like I do?  It is like most markets in the world with about anything you want to buy in small stalls arranged in very long, very narrow aisles.

For sale in the Mercado Central.

The vegetables are piled high, and the meat and fish are open to the air on reasonably clean counters being butchered right there. Today we eat lunch, fried chicken and chips, at one of the food stalls. This is when we find we have taken out far too much money from the ATM and will have to figure out how to change it back before we leave. Lunch cost us $3Can. I think my budget was for $30. Oops.

One of the pedestrian malls in Lima.

As we continue to walk up this street and down that one we note many of them are closed to vehicular traffic. Discussing this point we think there are must too many pedestrian for the aforementioned small sidewalks. The solution is to convert them to pedways. By noon these storefront to storefront sidewalks are busy. The city was built as a whole, that is not ad hoc. So it was planned on the model of the great cities of Europe with the plazas as focal points, and grand avenues to connect them. These pedestrian streets traverse from plaza to plaza and somewhat do what the planners intended so many years ago.

As we walk and get comfortable with the place, we find the tales of street crime, so prevalent on the web, are far too many compared to the hospitable place we experience. I’m sure there are places to get into trouble and one could go there by accident but being travel aware is half the battle and Lima seems tourist friendly so far.

Tonight we venture out. In warmer climates the evening and early night is the time to be out. Spring is on it way and the people are ready for summer. The Circuito Magico del Agua is our goal. It is maybe a 1/2 hour walk to the park but we go a zig-zaggy route and it takes a bit longer. The fellow at the front desk of the hotel told us there is a ‘show’ that starts at 7 and repeats every hour. As we approach the park and walk down the long shuttle set up for a queue I realize there is fee to see this show. The sign says S./4, so I fish out a S./10. It is the first place I have been where the locals pay to get in, albeit about $1.25Can, and it seems the tourist don’t as We get to the gate and the lady hands back our money and passes us a ticket marked 0.00, Free.

The show is a combination of lazer images on fogged water and dancing fountains. Quite impressive really. As we tour the other waterworks there are kids playing in the spray park fountains and they are soaked. It is not summer yet, we are talking 18C here, by the end of the night they will be frozen.

We are here one day and already we are eating like a South American. Because we went to view the fountains and if we had tried to find dinner at 5.30ish we would have missed them so we waited till after. 8pm and we walk into Norky’s, a chain chicken joint. Paid S./32 for a 1/2 chicken, fries and a salad. Too much food really but it has been a long time since lunch and we are hungry.

Day one of our stop over in Lima, rest is a good idea. It is an easy way to get an extra bit of touring in on a trip to elsewhere.