Lima - An Afternoon of Exploration

Today has been a really slow paced day to give everyone a chance to rest from spending the last week in the Amazon River area. We took our laundry to be done, got some change from the bank, and had an orientation meeting with Juan, who will be our tour leader for the rest of our time in Peru. Four more people joined our group for the remainder of the trip. 

We went to a restaurant for our orientation meal. They had a buffet set up with a huge selection of original Peruvian dishes. There were way too many for me to name. A few of my favorites were Ceviche (octopus salad), Carapulca (a beef stew), Aji De Gallina (creamy chicken), and for dessert a mixture of purple corn pudding and rice pudding.

After lunch we had a brief visit at the National Museum of Archaeology where we learned a little about the progression of various tribes over the last 3,500 years.

Did learn that one of the dessert tribes used to use the dry air for mummification.

We then went to the old city center. The buildings showed the typical Spanish and French architecture.

Traffic was horrible.

We went to the Monastery of San Francisco which was built in the 1600's and is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. There are around 40 monks that love there today. The church has a huge maze of catacombs underneath where it is estimated between 20 and 25,000 bodies were buried. We weren't allowed to take any photos inside.

We then walked around the city center where the presidential palace is located.

Royal guards at the palace.

Some other buildings located in the old city center.

Old train station.

There were girls and women dressed in the old traditional style selling various items.

We went back to the hotel so we could pack and get ready for travels the next day to Cusco in the mountains.