Leaving Lima

I was all by myself today, everyone else was either home already or making their way home. I took my time getting ready and packing up in the morning, then after I had checked out of the hotel (they held by backpack for me) I caught a cab to the centre of Lima.

I got my driver to drop me off at Plaza San Martin so that I could walk up Jr. De La Union - a pedestrian shopping street. Even though it was already later in the morning, many of the shops were still closed. I was also surprised to see many of the same stores in different spots on the street. The road ends at the Plaza De Armas (the central plaza) which is surrounded by colonial palaces, cathedrals, and the government palace.

I wandered around taking some pictures of the balconies, then made my way to Covenento De San Francisco. After walking around the edges of the inside of the church (there was a service going on for some saint) I took a guided tour of the catacombs beneath the monastery. The catacombs were filled with skulls and femurs, all neatly sorted and arranged. Until the early 1800's, everyone from Lima was buried in this catacomb, and about 100 years ago, archaeologists sorted the remains - only the skulls and the femurs were still intact. Photography is prohibited, so I wasn't able to get any pictures. As I left the church, a procession came out the the church, banging drums and leading a dressed up saint around the courtyard. The church was covered in pigeons, and when the banging started, they all took off and started orbiting the square in front of the church - I'm surprised I walked out of there clean!

I went back to the main plaza around noon to watch the changing of the guard. Before it began, the police guarding the government palace closed off the road in front, moved everyone across the street, and donned their riot gear. (It made me wander what they were expecting!) After the band had marched out and played for about half an hour, other guards finally started marching around. It was a bit slow and difficult to watch through the fence, so I walked off to explore the surrounding streets after a while.

After lunch at McDonald's (I had to try it once before I left - every country tastes a bit different), I got another cab back to my hotel. The original plan was that I would meet up with V that afternoon and go see a park in Lima that has some impressive fountains, but because the lady at the front desk left and didn't tell her replacement about me, I missed V's phone call and didn't get the message until I was leaving for the airport. I was pretty tired of traveling and sightseeing by this point (I'm always done on my last day and just want to go home), I didn't mind spending the rest of the afternoon surfing the web, sending emails, etc. I didn't want to walk around by myself in the dark, so got supper at the airport - I figured that it was a good way to kill some time, too. The flight home was uneventful, I tried to sleep but couldn't (typical), and mom was at the airport waiting for me (dad was driving the car around instead of paying to park) ... actually, she was the only person waiting for anyone!

All in all, it was a great trip, and while I probably won't go back (I always want to go somewhere new), I definitely recommend it. It was interesting to drive from the desert, up into the high mountains, and fly into the amazon. The country has a lot of history and culture, and the food was great!