14/05/17-15/05/2017 Lima

14/05/2017-15/05/2017 Lima

We have spent the last two days exploring Lima. Lima is fairly similar to lots of other capital cities… it is very busy, very noisy and very diverse. Like many other capitals, the driving is something else, road markings, traffic lights and indicators mean nothing, and wing mirrors are merely there to add some extra width to your vehicle. The same cannot be said for car horns though, which are pretty much a constant sound.

We spent our time in Lima wondering round, taking in the sites. We visited the old central district, which included looking around the cathedral and watching the changing of the guard at the presidential palace. During this, the national guard played songs including 'Hey Jude' and the soundtrack from Gladiator, something I think needs to be incorporated into the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

For lunch we ventured into the Barranco district of Lima, which has a much more hippy and laid back feel to it. We decided to be adventurous and try one of Peru's traditional dishes, cerviche. This is raw seafood marinated in leche de tigre (tigers milk) – a citrus based marinade that cures the seafood. Although initially neither of us were entirely convinced we were both pleasantly surprised (and it was better than the other traditional food on the menu “passionate Guinea pig”).

To finish up our day, we did a bar crawl along the beach bars. The beaches in Lima are not picturesque and more of a concrete jungle, but the drinks were good and the weather was sunny.Read more