Lima

Thur 1st to Sat 3rd December

We have been in Peru for a week now and during that time we have seen lots of poor people scratching a living from the desert.

Most, work for very low wages and the housing is basic, often no more than reed walls and roof that they buy as panels, like we would fencing.

Presidential Palace

Riding into the centre of Lima, and seeing the opulence of the old city and eating in restaurants full of well dressed sophisticated diners who wouldn't be out of place anywhere, was a bit of a surprise considering what we had seen for the past week. The difference between rich and poor is supposed to be greatest in Colombia but to us it seems even greater here.

Basilica Cathedral of Lima in Plaza Mayor.

Saint Dominic Priory dating back to the sixteenth century (and our guide).

Terry in the Priory

Up in the bell tower of the adjacent church. It was very tempting to give it just a little ring

View of Lima's suburbs.

Watching the World go by or is it the girls.

Indian market

Roger has been propositioned a couple of times on the streets of Lima. This time by the girl on the left.

... when did you last see somebody sharpening knifes on the street?

The city's Policia

Plaza San Martin

Saturday we decided to visit the Huaca Pucllana another large adobe and clay pyramid in the Miraflores area of Lima that was an important ceremonial and administrative centre for the Lima Culture between 200 Ad and 700 AD.

Lima was a break from watching the harsh realities of life for the majority of Peruvians. Here it is like being at home with middle class kids rollerblading, alongside joggers, cyclists and people just going for a stroll in the park.

Christmas decorations are appearing all over the place but it feels a little surreal to us as it is not on the agenda and we don't even know where we will be at the moment.

Roger who has been with us since Cali, has 'Spot', a satellite location system that records his position every 10 minutes. He may be with us for a while yet so feel free to look at the link and see where we are at any given time. You can even link it to Google Earth and zoom in to get a view of the area! Fortunately you don't get to see us sunbathing or drinking beer.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glld=0J603i1dza004BiTiq2xM3dBam9d2Q9iv

Tomorrow we head for Huatachina a real oasis near Ica