Day 44. Friday, 11th October, 2024. From Sunset Hotel in Chancay to Hotel San Agustin Riviera in Lima.

Leaving Chancay

We woke to a damp and miserable morning. A heavy sea mist. The washing I had left out over night, annoyingly, was still very wet. Such a nuisance having to pack up wet clothes in Poki.

The problem in Lima we discovered was a transport strike. According to the news on the TV, which I watched in the shared kitchen, the situation was still not normal. There were a lot of police and military personnel in evidence, but it looked calm, so we decided we would go into the city. I booked a hotel I had found in iOverlander, with satisfactory parking, and we we off early at 09.00.

Leaving Chancay the road into Lima followed the coast high on a cliff. It would have been a great view, if the sea mist hadn’t turned to dense fog. We crawled into the city behind a continuous row of trucks. There were police and military, some with riot shields everywhere. No sign of any trouble though. They were chatting among themselves or on their phones and seemed somewhat superfluous.

The driving here is worse than anywhere else we have experienced in South America. Jostling to get in front. Overtaking on the inside verges. Excessively using the horn. Even so, the journey into the city was reasonably painless.

Lima is a vast, sprawling city of 11 million people. The second largest city in South America. It was established by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535. Pizarro traced a grid of 13 streets by 9 to form 117 city blocks on the site of an existing indigenous settlement beside the southern bank of the Rimac river.

Lima

We found the hotel, thanks to Google maps but we couldn’t get to it. There was a barrier running down the centre of the road so we couldn’t turn left. We eventually found a way, but it was quite a performance. It was not long after 11.00, so we thought too early to check in. I went to ask if we could park in the car park, go and do some sightseeing and come back and check in later. The lovely receptionist, who spoke excellent English, said the room was ready so we could check in straight away.

Once we had parked Poki and sorted ourselves out, we ventured out to walk to the historical centre. First impressions of the city were not impressive. It seemed dirty, scruffy and didn’t feel terribly safe. Not helped by the overcast weather though. It brightened up once we started walking and became more pleasant. Pedestrianised shopping streets leading to the old centre.

The Cathedral

The main square, the Plaza de Armas, which houses many fine buildings, including the Cathedral and the Government Palace, is magnificent. Sadly it was fenced off to pedestrians and surrounded by police. Over the years, many buildings have been damaged by earthquakes and have had to be rebuilt.

The Government Palace.

As we were feeling hungry, we decided we would have some lunch. The area around our hotel is lacking in restaurants and we wouldn’t feel comfortable walking around there at night. So, finding a smart restaurant we decided to splash out on a nice lunch. A Peruvian speciality, sea bass ceviche. To accompany it I had to try a pisco sour, the famous cocktail.

Pisco is a clear white-grape alcohol which is Peru’s national drink. A pisco sour consists of pisco, lemon juice, egg white and sugar syrup. It is whipped and served with a dash of Angostura bitters

It packs quite a punch, 40%, and sightseeing after this was conducted in an alcoholic haze.

We had asked our waiter why the square was fenced off. He said it was because Peru was playing Uruguay at football today. Strange reason, we thought. I also asked one of the policemen guarding the barriers. He just said it should open in about an hour, so we never did discover why it was closed.

Feeling in need of something sweet, we looked for ice cream, but couldn’t find any. Instead we finished up in a cafe having chocolate gateau and coffee for me and a sort of custard/jelly concoction for Dennis.

Finding our way back to our hotel we finished the day off with dinner in Poki and with Dennis watching the Peru v Uruguay match on TV.  

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