Day in Lima

Great start to the day with a quick jog along the seafront. I had hoped that after a week living at high altitude that I would suddenly be super fit and set a few personal best times.

Alas no, I struggled along behind Darren breathing deeply but getting nowhere fast. I needed the frequent stops for photos, and all thoughts of speed records gone forever.

Great views of the coast on a quiet Sunday morning, and we came across a lovely Chinese garden along the way.

Back at the hotel to recover and then out for a bus tour of the city. The traffic is terrible and the drivers crazy, with horns blaring and drivers squeezing into impossible gaps.

The main city square is impressive and houses the bishop, the president and the mayor of Lima. Peru gained it's independence after the Spanish left in 1821 and the Peruvians started building in any style except Spanish, so there are some lovely French style mansions, amongst others.

This is the presidential palace, with Mickey and Minnie mouse walking past it. We watched the changing of the palace guard from a distance and it was nothing like in London where crowds gather to watch.

No one seemed interested so it was just us and a few other tourists and I don't think that Mickey or Minnie even gave it a second glance.

Onwards to a huge convent which still houses about 40 monks. In Peru monks live in convents and nuns in monasteries. Our guide didn't say why, just that they do. However, it was a very impressive place.

I won't say that it was peaceful as over the courtyard wall a huge outdoor party was taking place, and we could hear the loud music and cheers from the crowds.

Our final stop was an amazing place called the Larco Museum. 

We haven't been to one yet, but Peru has many pyramids that are around 1,400 years old and built of adobe. Lima is the second driest capital city in the world after Cairo and gets hardly any rainfall.

This point is crucial because adobe bricks are basically made of mud and they would have disintegrated in a wetter climate. 

The old royal families of Peru were buried at the top of the pyramids, along with many treasures that were discovered in the early 1900s by Mr Larco.

Personally I think that the nose decoration is a bit over the top.

In total he found over 48,000 artifacts and they are all stacked up on shelves in the museum. That sounds very worrying to me as on average they have a huge earthquake every 100 years, so I am imagining a massive pile of broken pots, but I guess they know what they are doing.

Star of the show is a massive solid gold headdress, giant earrings and necklace, and breast plate weighing over two kilos.