Plus, Lima is a big dirty city of 8 million people, and not all areas are what could be considered safe for tourists. In fact, our Uber driver told us that "Lima is full of bad people".
Nice welcome to Lima huh?
And so, we called an Uber driver to take us downtown. We like to walk, and so I purposely put our destination a couple of kilometers outside of the central area and on the way there, the driver asked why we wanted to get off at that location. I explained, to which he replied "it's not a good idea".
I figured he was just trying to make a couple of soles, but he said that in the downtown core where the tourists are you are okay, but you still have to be cautious. But that the area I wanted to be dropped off was "muy peligroso" ... very dangerous.
Okay. So for an extra two dollars or so we were taken right downtown. The entire 45 minute ride cost 19 soles ($7.50 CAD, $5.70 USD).
First stop was the Claro cellular customer service center so that we could get a local SIM card for our phone. There was a lineup out the door, but it was just to get your ticket to know which teller to go to. In fact, the whole process happened fairly quickly and we were in and out of there in less than 40 minutes.
We paid 35 soles ($13.70 CAD, $10.50 USD) for a SIM card with unlimited calling and texting and 3GB of data. Given that we have wifi at all of the places we are staying, that should easily do us for the whole 3 week trip.
Next, we went for a walk on the Paseo de Nuestros Heroes Navales (Path of Our Naval Heroes).
It's a kind of an odd walkway because while it's in the middle of this bustling downtown area, it doesn't go anywhere. As such, there is nobody on it!
The Edificio Rímac (Rímac Building or Casa de Roosevelt).
Ruth with a non working fountain.
There are lots of them not working!
The Italian Art Museum.
It was open, but we didn't see anybody coming or going.
Paseo de Nuestros Heroes Navales (Path of Our Naval Heroes).
And, looking the other way.
Palacio de Justicia.
The guy on the right didn't look very impressed with me.
The guy on the left looks like Steve Urkel.
Oktoberfest in Peru!
Plaza San Martin.
We started walking down a pedestrian street to look for somewhere to have lunch. We saw a bit of a commotion going on where some girls were trying to get their picture taken with this guy who was dressed up all fancy. We figured he was some kind of Peruvian television star, and we were right.
We found out after the fact that his name is Edson Davila "Giselo", and he is a tv show host as well as a participant in the Peruvian version of Dancing with the Stars.
Edson Davila "Giselo".
Even this guy was star struck!
We found a busy "menu del dia" (Menu of the Day) restaurant.
10 soles ($3.90 CAD, $2.95 USD)
Includes a starter salad and a drink.
Just another church.
Scenery along the way.
Pedestrian street.
Plaza Mayor.
All of the government buildings are painted this yellow color.
We found the tourist office and spoke to the girl there for a while figuring out what we wanted to do. We decided on the Museo Convento Santo Domingo. A church that has a museum and tower. The main reason we wanted to go was to climb the tower steps and get a view of the city.
It cost 10 soles ($4.00 CAD, $3.00 USD) each.
A model of the building.
This ceiling was amazing.
The courtyard.
The courtyard.
Lots of tilework.
There's the tower we will climb.
The library was kind of creepy.
So was the basement!
The one guy still looks pretty happy!
The church.
We climbed the 136 steps to the top of the tower. They only do it at certain times and there were maybe 8 people in our group. We got to talking to one girl in Spanish and it turned out that she was originally from Peru and now lives in Dallas, Texas. It was kind of funny when she switched to English, because originally we just figured she didn't speak English. We thought we were doing pretty good in Spanish, and carried the conversation quite well.
Again, we are by no means bilingual... but we are getting better all the time and constantly working to improve.
Rooftops of Lima.
You can climb to the top of this hill, but it's actually quite far away and we didn't have time.
Zoomed in, you can see the steps leading up from that blue building.
The cathedral.
Looking down on the courtyard.
Scenery around Lima.
More scenery.
Not sure what this is, but it looked like it had been that way for years.
Looking down.
Lima, Peru.
View of the hill.
Going back down the steps.
Hey, I recognize those faces!
There is a famous Peruvian cocktail called a Pisco Sour. Everybody has said "you have to try a Pisco Sour", so... okay!
The girl in the tourist office had told us of 3 different places that are popular for that drink. The problem is, they are all in the central tourist area. We knew it would be pricey, but we didn't think that each drink would cost double what lunch cost!
But, we bit the bullet and went into the old Cordano bar...
Entrance to the Cordano Bar.
Me, with my Pisco Sour.
I have to admit, it was really good, and it packed quite a punch. The guy at the table next to us was from Ecuador and he said "never have any more than three of these"!
Except they cost 20 soles (7.85 CAD, $6.00 USD) each. That's almost Canadian prices for a cocktail and it was pretty hard justifying the fact that each drink cost double what our lunch meal cost.
Ruth and a statue. Notice that it has scissors. Is it a hairstylist?
Back at Plaza Mayor it was dusk and became overcast.
The tourist office girl had told us about a sound and light water fountain show that took place at 7:15pm. It was about a twenty minute walk and we wanted to get there before it got dark (at 6:05pm) so we set out walking. Lots of busy streets, so not too worried about the "bad people".
We paid 4 soles ($1.60 CAD, $1.20 USD) to enter.
We had to wait about an hour for the show to begin, but there was lots to keep us busy.
No, the show hasn't even started yet!
Another fountain.
Ruth, in the water tunnel.
People having fun in the water tunnel.
And the show begins!
I took a video for you... turn up your volume...
And then we took an Uber home and arrived back there at around 8:30pm.
What a great day we had!
We're a little bit late starting today, but we are headed to the coast. Apparently seafood is cheap (that would be a first!) and it's a nice view. Hopefully the rain holds off.
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And in Canada...
Great photos! Thanks for sharing. This is certainly a cultural experience for sure!
ReplyDeleteWe are glad that you enjoyed them.
DeleteYes, it is at that and this is what we love about traveling. :-)
Great day and photos! That water tunnel sure looked very interesting and fun...wonder what or how the water is held up that way?!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good day and we really enjoyed ourselves. :-)
DeleteThe water tunnel is just a water fountain. The spout is in the ground and angled a certain way so that it rises up and just falls, similar to the way a drinking fountain works, just on a larger scale.
Ahh. Now I know!
DeleteYou do have your camera back! Fantastic photos and tour. Great video as the topper! Living life in a grand way! Envious!
ReplyDeleteWe are glad that we have it back as well and that it is working perfectly for us. :-)
DeleteThe water and light show was fantastic.
Thank you, thank you for so many great photos and the awesome total blog. You have found lots to see and do, but we're also glad you followed some advice about some bad areas. We're having a great trip with you!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jerry, we are glad that you are enjoying our blog posts. :-)
DeleteI always wondered what happened to Urkel, now I know! :cD
ReplyDeleteYep, now you know, lol!
DeleteIn terms of safety, I think it is the same as in Mexico. Mexicans are caught up in the hype of the news and the cartel battles and yet, rvers just putz all over the country. I was in Lima twice and I went wherever I wanted and not a worry or trouble. Sure, there are some pretty sketchy areas to avoid but it's like anywhere else. Besides, you guys are seasoned travelers and have a nose for that stuff. Have fun! The pics look great so far.
ReplyDeleteWe think you are right on that Chris at least for the most part but we have to admit that some of the areas that we were driving through were very sketchy, the Uber driver even put up his windows up when driving though one area and told us to keep the cell phone down so people can't see it. Walking downtown and around the area we are in was no problem, having said that another Uber driver was concerned about our area. Maybe they are going overboard a bit too much. We think it is going to be much better in Huaraz, as it isn't nearly as big and congested.
DeleteI haven't been to Huaraz but I just checked it on Wikipedia. Wow, a small town by all means and I bet you're right. It will be a lot more comfortable. Looking forward to the pictures and reviews. Have fun!
DeleteLol, at your comment about Huaraz being a small town when the population is 118,000, to us that is a city but when it is compared to Lima at 10 million it does sound small. We woke up this morning to beautiful mountains all around us. I think we are going to like it here. :-)
DeleteWow, I can't believe a Pisco Sour is that much, especially given the food prices! What is in them, gold shavings?! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI know right! It is made with Pisco a type of brandy that made here in Peru along with lime juice, an egg white and Angostura bitters. It tasted great. I think part of the price was because it was served in a touristy part of town and at a famous old bar.
DeleteLovely!
ReplyDeleteThank you! :-)
DeleteI've always had the impression that those sound and light shows are kind of lame but this one looked pretty impressive.
ReplyDeleteI think these water, light and music shows have come a long way. We haven't been disappointed yet. The best one we saw was in Barcelona and then back in May we saw another good one in Singapore. This one was small compared to either of the other two.
Delete