.Lima is an hour and a half bus ride from the port and we climbed on. Miraflores is the best know and nicest part of the Lima so the bus took us there to the Inca Market. We were met with obnoxious taxi drivers demanding our business. A nice guide from Azamara helped us out and we negotiated a ride to the Historical District where we met our local guide, Lorena.
It was difficult for her to do her usual tour because the area was so crowded with people coming in for the festivities. (See below) We saw some out of the way museums, churches etc but the best things were an incredible caramel filled churro and a pisco sour! She also found a hair salon and Dalna got the works! Haircut, pedi, mani for less than $34!! They loved her, of course, wanted photos when we picked her up.
I copied this succinct history of Lima (better written than I could do):
Even though people had been living in the area for thousands of years and developed the countryside into a green oasis with extensive fields and fruit plantations, Lima celebrates its birthday on January 18, the day the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro founded the colonial city in 1535.
After taking Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire, Pizarro was looking for a suitable place to establish "his" city. In the desert stripe between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes in the fertile valley of the Rimac River (and two other rivers nearby that provided fresh water) he found that place. The location offered easy access to coastal fishing grounds, a good infrastructure, and it was close to the natural harbor of Callao.
What soon would become the "City of Kings" or just Lima, was back then home to about 150,000 indigenous people in a region called Cuismanco and governed by the ruler Taulichusco.
On the 18th of January 1535, however, the Spaniards took over and founded Lima basing the design and layout of the new capital on cities in Spain (especially Seville) completely destroying the indigenous settlement. Pizarro's Palace, for example, later called Palace of the Viceroys of Peru and today Presidential Palace was built on the site of the home of the former ruler Taulichusco; a former religious temple was stripped down to its foundation and Lima’s Cathedral built on top of it; and the indigenous population was forced to slave labor, building the capital.
From then on Lima had its difficulties surviving uprisings, natural disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis, tough economic times, (civil) war, the Independence, terrorism and the influx of thousands of migrants. Today the Peruvian capital with its more or less 10 million people is a melting pot of different cultures and the financial, economic and cultural center of Peru.
Today we are staying on the ship and maybe getting some ironing done, resting, being on "vacation". Some guests have left and others will board this afternoon so want to take advantage of some of the facilities.
We depart this afternoon for Easter Island. Five days at sea coming up.
Stay tuned.
PS. I'm having trouble uploading a few photos here so will post on FB.
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