A beautiful day in Lima, Peru.

Lima is our favorite big city so far. But before we get to the capital of Peru, our transport from Guayaquil is worth writing home about. We sat by a diplomat and a business man, both helped us out in their own way. The diplomat suggested places to stay, places to go and things to eat. We have followed a lot of what she told us and have found some real gems here in the city. The business man, Bert Herrera, talked to Justin for a while about the whole trip. As we were unloading all our stuff, he handed us a 20 and said, "Get breakfast on me tomorrow, be safe." How cool is that? That was actually the exact price of the taxi to our hostal, and breakfast was included where were staying, so it seemed like it was meant to be.

Lima, Peru (from San Cristobal's Hill)

First we took a bus for about 2 bucks to take some pictures from El Cerro de San Cristóbal. There was a huge cross up there with lights you can see at night, it was cool to see the whole city from up there.  The sun was out and the skies were blue, but the pollution made our pictures a little faded. We thought we should put one up anyways to show how huge the city is. 

Derek staring down a guard at "El Palacio de Gobierno"

Speaking spanish has been a huge advantage through out the trip. Derek has been doing his best speaking "Portuñol" every chance he gets. An aged Peruvian lady walked by him and saw his red hair and yelled something to the effect of "You are so gringo!" while petting his head. We have been trying to talk to everyone, and it has been a great experience learning what the locals know about all their own sites to see. 

Palacio de Gobierno (Plaza de Armas)

The Palacio was enormous. They had a march precession right in front, but they closed off the courtyard before and we couldn't get a great picture behind the fence. The guards were just like the ones you see in Europe. Super stiff. They were real though, their eyes were blinking. 

In front of "La Catedral de Lima"

Two girls from Poland took our picture in front of this huge catholic church. This cathedral has tons of history. Just in the last 20 years or so, they discovered the body of Francisco Pizarro, The Spanish conquistador that conquered the Incas.  Kind of a bummer he did that but, the box his bones were was pretty interesting. It was lined with old english saying that this was his real body and what he had done during his lifetime, all in old Spanish.

Main altar of the cathedral 

Parade in the plaza 

An awesome parade started right outside the cathedral, they were nice enough to pose for the camera every time they passed. The costumes were great and they all seemed to enjoy the opportunity to march representing their own culture.

Some kids wanted to pose

Huaca Pucllana (ancient Lima native ruins)

These ruins are right in the middle of the city. It's basically a "pyramid" that has no tunnels or anything, but was the center of an ancient pueblo that would often do human sacrifices at the top. It was mostly women and children for those who are interested. The walls used to be painted yellow, representing fertility and femininity. The blocks are stacked up with spaces in between each other to be able to better withstand earthquakes. These guys knew what was up, in fact, Lima has had some issues with earthquakes in the last 30 years and these ruins weren't affected at all.

Ceviche (Peruvian fish dish)

Not the best picture, but we felt like tonight's meal was the best. Justin did not partake because he dies immediately if he eats fish (exaggeration) and he really missed out. This plate was a Ceviche con pescado y pulpo. Fish and octopus. It was super good, the best so far. Dustin and Porter both agree that the Ceviche from Peru is better than Mexico. (No offense)

But that about rounds up our Lima experience. It was a short trip, but tomorrow we're gonna hit the coast a bit and then head for one of the highlights of our trip, MACHU PICCU. A family accepted our request to stay at their house from couchsurfing.com so we may be able to post one more thing before we leave on our hike, but if not... remember... there is un mundo más allá.