Having been in Lima nearly a week we've decided that bits of it are actually really nice. We are currently staying in the Flying Dog Hostel in Miraflores (one of them anyway). It is really nice. The rooms are big, clean and new. The communal spaces are also really nice and there is a great view over-looking the park. The TV room suposedly turns into a bar in the evening but we have yet to see that happen. I think that maybe the Flying Dog hostel across the road is a bit livelier. The staff are friendly and they have a kitten, so that's a bonus. Miraflores is pretty, there are lots of green spaces and nice restaurants. We've seen some tourists buying loads of clothes etc. so the shopping is probably good, I am forbidden to shop. In the evenings there is usually a band playing in the park and there is a craft market.
Yesterday we went into central Lima and that seemed nicer than we expected too although we did only go to the touristy places. The Plaza de Armas had beautiful buildings and we unepectedly got to see some sort of procession. It was quite cool although neither of us had a clue what it was for. We also went to the Monasterio de San Francisco. It's a Franciscan monastery (if you couldn't guess). Monks still live there in a newer part of the monastery and the old part is open to tourists. The guided tour was good and they take you down to the catacombs where people were buried. There are piles and piles of femurs and skulls there. Apparently when the monks buried people they covered them in quick lime to speed up the decomposition process. Over a couple of years all of the other bones are dissolved by the lime. They don't know how many people are buried there as the site cannot be fully excavated, (years of earthquakes mean that it could result in the monastery becoming unstable) but they think it is probably between 10 and 50 thousand!
There were loads of school kids at the monastery, some asked us our names and then for the next couple of hours every time we went anywhere near them all we could hear was "David!" "Stephanie!". Funny at first, not so much after the tenth time. The kids were really friendly though and just wanted to say 'hello' in English.
We also went to the Museo de la Santa Inquisicion. Luckily it was free because the tour guide was either stoned or ill and very disinterested. It was a few rooms showing the different torture techniques of the inquisition. We also went underground to see what were presumably some of the cells. That part was quite good. It's probably worth going to because it's free but I wouldn't make a special journey to visit it.
Back in Miraflores we walked down the road from the hostel to see an ancient temple called Pucllana. It was built by people from the Lima Culture between 200 and 700 AD. It's on a 10 acre site but the original buildings covered a much greater area. The guide was really good and we also got to see some Peruvian dogs. They have NO HAIR. Entrance fees to museums and places like this seem to be really cheap, between £1 and £1.50.
So, basically we're fairly impressed with Lima, but especially the Miraflores area. We have met people who have been in the rougher areas of Lima for volunteering purposes. It does sound very poor and dirty. One person even said that people defecate in the street! Fortunately the area we are in is nothing like that. Oh, and the sun shone this morning!
On Monday or Tuesday we will leave to go to Pisco, another coastal town.
