Day Eight … not the day we had planned

Firstly I need to update you all on our late arrival into Lima last night. Our flight was smooth and for some reason SATO/LATAM  upgraded our flights so we were travelling in Premium Economy. This means that on an internal flight within South America you get a three seat row with the middle seat blocked off and not available for anyone to sit in. The legroom is also massive! So at the end of a very long day we were able to relax and be a little more comfortable. Absolute bliss!

We arrived in to Lima at about 10.30 and given our lovely seats at the front of the plane  and our luggage being tagged as priority because of those magical rows … we were off the plane, luggage collected, through immigration and street side just before 11.00pm. We were met by the lovey Rafaela and our driver Ricky who whisked us off to the car and we were on the road to our hotel. I had hoped to be in the hotel and in bed by 1.00am but we were lucky to arrive at 11.30. So by the time we checked in, we had a quick shower after our long day and literally fell into bed. Ian was asleep in seconds!

Waking up to our alarm at 6.00am for a 7.00am pick up was where things went a little haywire. Both of us were still feeling a little off with our land legs not adjusting to being off the boat, so we felt like the world was swaying. We got dressed and headed to breakfast … and then I felt really bad … and a gurgly tummy and all that entails meant we needed to cancel our full day excursion that had been planned. I was in no fit state to leave the hotel, so as Ian negotiated with our guide (Diana) about cancelling, I sat in the hotel lobby crying my eyes out.

In the end, after three toilet runs, I headed back to our room and fell into bed an absolute wreck. Ian cancelled the trip, and headed back to me. While I slept (with one more toilet run), Ian tried to reorganise our schedule for the next 2 days. I slept until about 10.30 … and woke up feeling better … tummy empty, a little weak, but more normal. So we decided to see if we could manage a little walk around the neighbourhood we are staying in - San Isidro.

[Side note … Ian had also cancelled our Get Your Guide tours for tomorrow as the travel agency here in Lima was going to try and rearrange our canceled tour for tomorrow. More on that later.]

We headed out … deciding not to push it … but as we walked along it became evident that whatever had caused me to be unsettled had passed and we would be okay. I am wondering now in hindsight if it may have been the swaying sensation which caused me to panic which led to all the rest! But enough of my stomach … we had a wonderful two hour walk around San Isidro and Miraflores.

San Isidro is a very upscale district … lovely houses, clean streets, beautiful gardens and parks. We wandered to El Oliver de San Isidro Park, a beautiful park spanning several blocks filled with massive olive trees, walking paths and a central lagoon surrounded by gardens with a small bridge allowing you to cross to the small island in the middle. Here we saw the small Saffron Finch, Black Vultures, herons, koi fish and turtles basking on logs in the lake. 

We walked through the park, passing young mothers with their toddlers, older folks sitting in the sun, people walking their dogs and just as we were leaving we came across an adorable photo shoot of a baby celebrating their 6 month birthday (Google tells me it is a “thing” in Peru).

We saw some amazing houses … incredible architecture, stunning colours, elaborate gated communities. We passed a small Cathedral … the Catedral del Buen Pastor (Cathedral of the Good Shepherd). Sadly it wasn’t open to the public but it was a beautiful building sadly dwarfed by a towering crane in the building lot next to it. It looks like a number of the older places are being converted to apartments.

We then came across an archeological site right within the district of Miraflores. I had seen it on the map but hadn’t realised it was that close to us … or the scale of it! Smack bang in the middle of this district is the remains of a clay and adobe stepped pyramid that dates back to the early Peruvian Culture of 200-700AD. We didn’t go in as you cannot wander the site on your own … but must participate in a guided tour. Given the time … we would have to wait for an English tour and it would then take an hour … we just circumnavigated the site peering through the fence and taking pictures through the posts. They are still continuing with the excavation and you can see areas that have not been uncovered yet.

We then began our wander back to our hotel, passing by a massive roundabout that has 5 roads entering it with a large monument to the angel of Lima. You can cross to the roundabout via underpasses that take you down and under the road. Underneath the monument and roundabout is a car park!

We took a second underpass that popped us back up at Parroquia Santa Maria Reina, a Catholic Church built in the 1950s. Mass had just ended and so we were able to go in to have a look at this lovely building before they locked the doors. I am not a religious person but I do think it is sad that churches are locked up and not available for the people anymore. Too much vandalism and thefts I imagine.

And then we slowly wandered back to our hotel, stopping at what we thought was a small supermarket along the way to stock up on some food that might be safe for our tender stomachs … dry biscuits, bread rolls, water. The supermarket came as a surprise though … it was massive. So clean and neat. We wandered the aisles looking at what was on offer, selecting a few items before heading back to our hotel. A bite to eat, a bit of washing, a sleep for Ian.

Some of the flowers of San Isidro and Miraflores. 

After a rest and a chance to write some blog ... we headed out the door to meet up with our afternoon activity ... one that had originally been booked for tomorrow afternoon when we realised we could manage to get out and about today. [If you are struggling to keep up ... I totally understand!]. The tour would take us to the catacombs, the main City square and an evening water show. We headed out at the allocated time ... 4.00pm ... and we waited and waited and waited. At 4.30 we messaged the provider and they said "what tour" ... and then a series of apologetic, begging and eventually grovelling messages.

So 4.53pm ... we are now sitting in the hotel lounge.  The staff at the hotel have just helped us to purchase tickets for the water show. We will book an Uber to take us to Central Lima ... and make the rest up as we go!

Our Uber drive was great ... we were dealing with some late afternoon traffic but we were safely deposited just one block from the Plaza Mayor de Lima  ... the main square in the Centro Historico district.  Two of our cancelled tours would have involved going to the Square and you cannot go to Lima and not visit the Square.

The words to describe it are flowery ... it is remarkable, glorious, beautiful, incredible! The Basilica Catedral del Lima is a massive baroque style Roman Catholic Cathedral (75-80% of the population of Peru is Catholic). Its construction began in 1535 and was completed in 1797. It is the oldest and largest church in Peru.

It is now a museum and visitors are provided a map and access to an audio guide that takes them around the Basilica. There are 13 chapels around the main nave and a central altar that is mindblowing. I have taken so many photos but I don't think they will do it justice.

Some of the chapels have catacombs beneath them ... so if you don't like photos of deceased people ... scroll on when you see those photos!

We left the Basilica and wandered around the square  ... stopping to look at the government buildings, the park, the fountain.  So many intricate buildings.

We grabbed something to eat  ... sticking to something small and salty as our stomachs (Ian's is tracking at about 40% healthy) ... so we ate some nuggets and fries at Mecca's (yes ... they are all the same). 

We then tried to book an Uber to take us to the Water Show. We waited for one Uber for about 20 minutes watching it go nowhere on the map, cancelled that one and tried for another  ... again it never turned up, finally walked a few blocks away from the historic centre and tried for another.  By this stage we had given up on the water show and decided to head back to the hotel.

In total we waited for about 50 minutes for an Uber to get us home ... and then we got stuck in the traffic.  Lima traffic has to be the worst we have ever seen! Worse than Delhi, Beijing or Bali!

We are absolutely exhausted and feeling very drained. Hopefully we can sleep tonight. Tomorrow is another day!