Day 3 - Lima

Sally is Peruvian and runs tours to the local market. We love a market so headed there in the morning. In the market you can get fruits from the 3 main areas of Peru, the mountains, the jungle and the coast. We got to try heaps of different types of fruits which were nice (for me, maybe not so much Simon). They have so many different types of banana here so we got to try the apple banana and a really tiny sweet banana. There was also another fruit which looked like an enormous green bean but inside there was this cotton candy type fruit, delicious. We also visited a herbalist which was quite interesting. In Peru, they use a lot of natural remedies for all of their ailments. You just go to the market, tell them what the problem is and then they give you a bunch of herbs which you take home and make a tea with. Sally and Corin swear by them. We also got to try some local snack of two different corn and a jungle snack made from yukka.

After our tour we headed back to La Lucha for round two. I seriously need to start eating better when we get to New Zealand (there is no way that will happen in LA). After lunch we did a walking tour of the Barranco district. It's around 15 minutes drive from Miraflores so the tour guide met us in Miraflores and then we had to get a collectivo (mini bus) to Barranco. What an experience that was! The traffic in Lima is bananas! You have 2 lanes but the cars are 4 deep! Fortunately we made it to Barranco without a serious accident and set off on our tour.

Barranco is the bohemian district of Lima so there is loads of graffiti which is cool. There were great views out over the ocean and lots of pretty buildings. We walked over the bridge of sights on which apparently you have to hold your breath the first time you ever walk over it and make a wish. That's all well and good but the bridge is quite long so I had to do a little jog past some other people towards the end!

After the tour we braved the bus back to Miraflores. There were no free seats this time so we had to stand which is a challenge in itself. For dinner Sally cooked us some traditional Peruvian food, ... It was similar to a chicken korma but served over potatoes with rice on the side. It was delicious! It was also great to have real home cooked Peruvian food. The recipe was apparently her grandmothers.

Very full from dinner we selt about packing our bags as our flight to LA is early in the morning.Read more