After four days walking the Santa Cruz trek in Cordillera Blanca, I returned to Huaraz and tried to book a bus ticket to Equador. I discovered that there’s only one bus to Quito and it leaves every Wednesday, which is great, as it was Wednesday. The problem is it leaves from Lima 8 hours away. With no possibility of catching it, I decided to head back to Peru’s capital for a couple of days.

Last time I was in Lima, I stayed in the suburb of Miraflores and found it very touristy. This time I decided to see the real Lima, so I booked a hostel in Centro – downtown. When I arrived, I marvelled at the streets, roundabouts, parks and tall buildings. It’s not a mass of skyscrapers concentrated in one central place like Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro, the buildings are more spread out.

I dropped my bags off at the hostel and went out to have a look. It was after dark in the city, but at 8pm on a thursday there are still large numbers of people walking around. I headed along the road and across a park with – surprise surprise – a fountain! They are very common in Peru. (Pictures were taken the next day).

Something else that’s very common in Peru are the Public Displays of Affection. There are always couples everywhere cuddling and canoodling. They can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. You do get used to it.

I kept walking and found a shopping mall with a food court. The peruvians love their ‘Chifa’ – Chinese food so I decided to get some. After dinner, I went for a long walk though the streets. Lima Centro is full of amazing architecture and building design. I walked several blocks to San Martin Plaza. The plaza is a beautiful square with fountain in the centre and is entirely surrounded by well maintained, architecturally beautiful buildings.

Along one side of the plaza is an open air shopping mall. None of dirty markets of the other cities, this is a street with plentiful clothing and food stores. At the end of the street is another plaza, with another fountain more beautiful than the others, and is also entirely surrounding by well maintained, architecturally beautiful buildings.

Lima Centro is definitely a place for lovers of awesome buildings, and is something about cities I do enjoy.

But a couple of days in Lima was enough me and I began planning my way north, first to the beachside town of Mancora, and then on to Equidor.

The World Wanderer