Most people I met said that I’d find the coast of Peru boring.
However, having spent most of my time in mountain ranges and deserts of
Argentina and Chile, I was looking forward to spending time on the coast of
Peru, to hear the waves of the Pacific battering the shoreline, to indulge in
some of the seafood that Peru is famous for.... and, of course, to see some of
the spectacular sunsets. That was till I got there! There is no doubt that this
has to be the most boring bit of the cycle trip so far. Most of the scenery is sandy desert punctuated
with the occasional oasis of green vegetation and palm trees or litter. In fact
too much of the latter! And you are constantly covered in sand from the strong
winds. This isn’t a place for contact lenses. And, just like Bolivia, my lips
were raw from the sand and wind.
I know I should have taken the opportunity to see the Nasca
lines, but I was late enough thanks to my delay in Abancay. Plus it’s another
one of those designed-for tourists-attractions which you need to pay a fair sum
of money for to go up in a flight to see.
I was glad to finally reach Lima and made my way straight
for Miraflores which was reckoned to be the safest place in Lima, though I
didn’t find any part of Lima particularly unsafe! You can see some of the
outlying barrios on pan America sur and norte are unattractive, although occasionally
very colourful. All that doesn’t necessarily make them unsafe!
When I reached a decent hostel, I called my friend George,
who I met in Santiago airport as Silvano was catching her flight home. We
agreed to meet up for a drink. He and his wife Selina who was 39 weeks pregnant!!!....
and had just come from the hospital, picked me up in ataxi and took me to their latest tourist
attraction, Larcomar ( a shopping mall and selection of bars and restaurants on
the cliffs shadowed by the enormous Marriott hotel). We enjoyed a drink and
some picados at this very nice restaurant called Mangos. However, Selina was
feeling a little uncomfortable (as was I.....my knowledge on delivering a baby
was a little rusty!!) and so we took the taxi to drop her off at home and then
George and I headed out to Barranco. George gave me the alternative guided tour
of Barranco and Miraflores, showing me where he hung out as a youngster, and
where the best bands played. We finished off the night at 2am in the morning with
a beer and my first ever cuchillos (cows’ hearts), which was surprisingly
tasty. I returned to a noisy street just next to my hostel in Bella vista and
thanked him for an excellent night out and an induction into Lima’s alternative
night scene. George looks after GE’s interests over the whole of Latin America
and we had an interesting chat about the problem of cultural differences across
the countries. Even though they are bound (with the exception of Brazil) by a
common language, there are still major cultural barriers to overcome. He’d had
a difficult time in Mexico trying to get some guys to deliver a project there.
The next day I did a
city tour which was very interesting, made so by a really good guide and the
fact there were only two of us on the minibus! Our first stop was at the
parquet de Amour, the love park where they stage kissing competitions every
year on valentines day. The record is a kiss lasting 7 hrs and 30 minutes. “What?”
I hear you say. “Seven hours and 30 minutes......It’s a wonder they didn’t have
lock-jaw at the end of it!”
We then went to Plaza
d Armas where we saw the Presidents and that Archbishops palaces, and saw the
President being taken out in his cavalcade of bulletproof cars. So that’s
Kirschner, Evo Morales and Allan Garcia that I have seen (well not literally –
as all the cars have blacked out windows) whilst out here on my tour. This was
followed by a trip to Plaza de San Martin, where the stature of liberty has a
llama rather than a flame on her head, caused by poor handwriting on the
order!!! There is an interesting story about the Gran Hotel Bolivar, where, on
account of my charity ride I managed to blag a suite for £25. It used to be the
only five star hotel in Lima, but now has only three stars. It turns out the
owners were told they would have to modernise the hotel or they would lose
their star grading. They rightly refused and so they lost two stars. The rooms
cost the equivalent of 30 dollars and I decided that this would be my treat for
a night. It was worth it. I had a suite and a view of the square, all for £25.
The furnishing is original and it had glazed brick in the bathroom. My only bit
of real decadence ( albeit slightly dated) on the trip, but as I’ve said
before...it cant be all work and no play
The most interesting part of the tour was Iglesia de San
Francisco which is famous for its catacombs, with the bones of thousands of
dead monks and those that could afford to be buried there, following their
donations to the church. This was, it appears, a guaranteed route to heaven!
One of the most astonishing parts was the murals surrounding the central garden
of the church. These were only discovered when some large paintings were
removed for restoration. In all of the paintings Saint Francis of Assisi, was
blanked out by white paint. It is believed that this was the result of a major
disagreement in the church between the Dominicans at the time, but none of the
church documents make any reference to it!
We finished the tour with a visit to the oldest olive tree
in Lima. Lima having been the first place to succesfully grow olive trees that
were brought from Europe.
That night I enjoyed a meal in a restaurant called Scena,
which was a real treat. The best Thai green seafood curry I have ever tasted,
and you will know that takes some doing, because I’ve made and tasted a few!
There was also a trapeze show in the centre of the restaurant. This is probably
one of the nicest places have ever eaten and though pricy, by my
standards...nearly cost £20, it also had to be done. Clearly, I couldn’t afford
to be staying any longer in Lima!
The next day would be back to basic living. I would be tenting
most of the journey to the next main stop, Chimbote and then Trujillo. I forgot
to mention, partly due to the mess up with my site that I saw the first bit of
nasty violence on this trip. It started with handbags at ten paces between two
guys and ended up with a woman being punched with such force she went over a
fountain. I was sitting in the restaurant and could see the skirmish between
the two guys, but didn’t see the punch to the young woman coming. I and a
couple of chefs run out of the restaurant as this guy made his way down this
alley...very quickly! I went over to the woman and helped her up, by which time
a couple of Canadian girls had come to her rescue also. It look as if she had a
broken jaw, but her face was very bloody. I then followed the chefs down the
alleyway, only to find them coming around the corner, taking their uniforms
off. I continued down the alleyway to find this guy lying in a heap in the
alleyway. As I got towards him, it was clear that he had received his just
deserts, his face looking considerably worse than the woman he’d just hit...and
it looked like he also had a broken arm. This must have happened in the space
of 30 seconds, and it all explained the removal of uniforms they didn’t want to
be identified by people in the square. So I’d just seen my bit of Peruvian
social justice!
Just as I turned to come back up the woman who had just been
hit went to tend to the beaten man, who may have been her husband! All a bit
bizarre. I spoke to the hostel receptionist about this when I went back. She
said, “We have a saying here in Cusco, which is...If you don’t hit me, you
don’t love me” It is clear that Peru is in the dark ages when it comes to
tackling domestic violence.
Interestingly, the next day as I was leaving there was a
marchby a large group of young women
and men declaring an end to violence against women! So perhaps with a bit of
social justice and social campaigning, things might change out here!
