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February 2019
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Four Days in Lima

Miraflores

Earlier this month it was time to take a break from the cold and dark that is wintertime in Berlin – For reasons that are a bit unclear, even to me, I split my vacation in two, spending the first part in Lima, Peru, and the second part in South Carolina.

The Lima part of my vacation was super interesting – I should have planned far more time in Lima and although my hotel was in Miraflores, a super neighborhood, and even upgraded me to a suite, it was probably not the right choice for me. But enough about that, let’s focus on the positives:

Museo Larco

First, the Museo Larco was absolutely, positively, outstanding: what an amazing collection of artifacts, especially the ceramics. The two handled jars were beautiful. While it doesn’t quite measure up to the bling of Bogota’s Gold Museum, it holds its own.

Museo Larco

Second, the Circuito Magico Del Agua was fun: a park filled with fountains, with colorful lights at night, and a light show when dark – quite fun. Quite crowded – hard to capture on camera. Due to the timing of flights to/from the States, I ended up doing this on my last evening in Lima, when I had more than 12 hours to kill between check-out at the hotel and my flight to Houston.

Circuito Magico Del Agua

Circuito Magico Del Agua

Circuito Magico Del Agua

I use Haku Tours for my trip to the fountain park and to, thirdly, see a shanty town – I misplayed the shanty town because I perceived that I was short of money, and I was slightly, so I didn’t buy gifts for children in daycare. Regardless, the tour of the shanty town was illuminating. Miraflores is a rich part of town and can afford to water its lawns, grow very pretty flowers, and make the area green. However, most of the population lives in poorer parts of town and the city is, at its core, a desert, so greenery is quite limited. Realizing the difference between the area where my hotel was located and where the vast majority of Liam’s residents live was a bit shattering – but also expectation adjusting in a good way.

Miraflores

Saturday, my first day in Lima, while adjusting to the time difference, I wandered along the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean – going from the Faro La Marina (the Miraflores Lighthouse), through the Parque del Amor and on to Larcomar, which has a shopping mall hidden underneath it. This was an extraordinarily beautiful part of town – which ultimately mislead me regarding the beauty of the entire city (as I’ve already noted).

Faro La Marina

Probably the most pointless (and excessively expensive) thing I did was the Lovely Night Food Tour, which sort of covered the Miraflores and Barranco districts. As I was the only person who signed up for the tour, I was given the option to cancel it or to pay extra and do it as a private tour. In retrospect, I should have canceled it and gotten my money refunded, then gone out for a nice dinner near my hotel on my own. However, in the 3-5 minutes I had to decided, it seemed like a good idea.

Overall, I wish I had more time in Lima and more time to explore Peru. So while my feeling is that I’ve done Bogotá and have no need to return, Lima needs more time.

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