My last station in Peru was Lima. Lima is the capital of the South American state of Peru and by far the largest city in the country. In the administrative area of the city, the province of Lima, live 8.6 million people. It is an important traffic junction as well as the most important economic and cultural center of Peru with numerous universities, colleges, museums and architectural monuments. The old town of Lima was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991.

Enjoying the Peruvian metal scene

I especially arrived in Lima on the weekend because one of my favorite metal bands called Kataklysm was playing there. It was one of the best concerts of my trip, because I met a lot of cool new people and the atmosphere turned out to be really great! The concert took place in the center of the city which is considered to be more dangerous especially at night. As it is for a Latin American city, the city is suffering from a high crime rate. The Peruvian metalheads I met there advised me to be careful on the way home.

The next morning I noticed that I had a few beers too many! Two days later I met up with the very well-read Venezuelan girl who was also at this concert and we explored the art district Barranco.

Later on I visited two metal more concerts where I met my local mate Juan again. In one of them, the American death metal band Angelcorpse played, but the sound was much too loud and muddy (sounds actually better in video). The other concert, where many local bands played, I liked much better.

Infected insect bites - hospital for the 3rd time!

During the first week in Lima I was mainly accomodated in Miraflores, a posh quarter of Lima, where most of the tourists are accommodated. And because I can't get enough of insect bites, I was bitten by fleas again about 30 times in the shitty "Dragonfly Hostel"! The bites got infected again. Again to the hospital. Antibiotics again. And check. It had become routine. But my insurance paid for the nearly 70$ cost. During the waiting time I could enjoy a nice view to the ocean and the many tennis courts below.

Change of plans

This new infections made me change my plans. Originally I had planned to take a boat trip across the Amazon and return to Brazil from there. But because I ran out of time and the jungle is full of insects, I decided not to go. Now I had to return to Brazil by plane and this inner-South American flight ended up costing only slightly less than my transatlantic flight back to Europe. Unbelievable!

Moreover I decided to relax in Lima for the last 3 weeks of my trip and rent only single rooms. I liked the city better than I thought. After Mexico City it became the city where I spend most of the time in my trip. Besides, I could continue to practice Spanish and the prices were lower than in Brazil.

Meeting old and new friends

In Lima I also met some people again who I had met before on my trip. There I met up with my Peruvian friend who I got to know 5 years ago in Budapest and who showed me a bit of her city. I met a Korean man and an American woman again that I had met before in Asuncion respectively in Cuzco. The American girl compared Lima with Californian cities because of the similarity of the coast shape.

I also met my local buddy Danny with whom I visited a club. However, we didn't have the most fun in these clubs, because most clubs only play reggaeton. I can only tolerate this music when I have drunk enough alcohol. But I couldn't drink alcohol at all because of the antibiotics I still had to take. Besides, if you see a beautiful woman in one of the clubs who doesn't dance, you usually have to assume that she is a prostitute. The Miraflores district has plenty of women for sale.

Relaxing my last days in Latinamerica in Lima

I met many more people, attended language exchanges, read my book during the day or walked along the beautiful ocean promenade with its beautifully tended flower gardens. You can see many people trying out paragliding here. I also had quite good weather for the time that I had visited Lima. Usually the weather is very cloudy and the Limenos, as the inhabitants are called, don't get to see the sun very often! However, during my time there it was the other way around, lucky me! Unlike Mexico City, Sao Paulo or Bogotá, the other mega cities of Latinamerica, Lima lies near the ocean which gives the city a much more relaxing atmosphere.

Another day I visited the Saint Francis Monastery where you can see something unusual: below the church there are catacombs which were used as a cemetery in the colonial period until the 19th century. It is estimated that up to 25,000 people were buried here. Today, the bones are partly displayed in an ossuary.

For the last week in Lima I had rented a better apartment in Lima and could look from the terrace onto the Pacific Ocean. At the promenade I took a walk with the Rottweiler of the tenant from time to time which had quite a lot of power.

Enjoying local specialities on my last day

On my last day in Peru I enjoyed some exotic fruits, which I had to do without again in my home country. For example, I ate the incredibly sweet chirimoya, a fruit from the Amazon. Generally speaking, Peruvian cuisine is one of the most positive exceptions in the Latin American continent. My last dinner was the Peruvian national dish "Ceviche", a fish dish with onion and lemon flavour - very tasty!

Summary of my stay in Peru

I am glad to have visited Peru after all. First I wanted to save it for another trip. Even visiting Machu Picchu alone was worth it! A sublime feeling came over me when I saw the famous Machu Picchu for the first time. I got to know many cool people and I can say: the Peruvians are a nice people. Like the Bolivians, they have kept much of their tradition, although they have commercialized everything a little bit more to get more money from the tourists. Nevertheless Peru is still a cheap travel destination. I also liked the Peruvian food very much and in Latin America it is probably only surpassed by the Mexican cuisine. Lima also positively surprised me very much and I could easily imagine living there for a while. I'm looking forward to coming back to Peru sometime and see the Amazon region or do some trekking in the Andes.