We were woken at 4am to leave our Puno hotel to fly to Lima. I think our room looked like this.
We arrived in Lima and had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant across the road from the Central Park in Miraflores - highly recommended.
Our hotel was in Miraflores - a modern, bustling section of the city. Moneychangers were on every block. We were warned that it was risky to change large sums of money on the street - counterfeiting was common, and one could be robbed after changing the money. People in the street did not look very concerned, however, and we felt safer than in many other cities.
The Parque del Amor celebrating a popular pastime in Lima
The city is perched on a high bluff overlooking the ocean. We were advised not to take the footpath to the beach - too high a chance of being robbed.
Church overlooking the Central Park in Miraflores
Every night dances are held in the park
The dances are very popular
What people do in Lima...
...often leads to this
Buses in Lima are privately owned and numerous. They have barkers at the doors calling out the routes - I somehow missed a photograph of them :-(
Next day we met up with the main group of our trip - about 20 total. Johnny, our extremely competent tour leader, briefs the group.
Johnny escorted us to lunch in a local restaurant...
Lunch
The waiters were numerous and fast
Monument erected to commemorate a Shining Path bombing.
The city parks were busy and very tightly policed
In the afternoon we visted the National Museum of Anthropology, Archaeology, and History. Very interesting.
Ancient pottery took on interesting forms
Very interesting
Some were surprisingly modern and sophisticated...
...Very sophisticated
Museum door
After the Museum we headed off to the city center, visiting the Plaza de Armas surrounded by important buildings
Long arms help for self-portraiture