Lima

Lima is the capital of Peru and, in colonial days, was the centre of a vast viceroyalty that extended from Ecuador to Chile. It doesn´t seem like much today, but is still the seat of power and government in Peru. In fact, Plaza Mayor (the main square in front of the Palace) is so often used for demonstrations that Policia and assault vehcles are permanently stationed there with assault vehicles which we were told they do not hesitate to use.

Lima was also the headquarters for the Spanish Inquisition for two centuries, and a free tour of the Museo de La Inquisicion enabled us to explore the basement where prisoners were tortured.
The San Francisco monastery and church is one of Lima´s best preserved early colonial churches, and most famous for its antique library and underground catacombs where approximately 70 thousand burials took place. Today, some of the remaining bones and skulls have been artistically arranged in concentric circles. Quite macabre, really. There were nice displays of religious art, and we particularly liked a Peruvian version of the Last Supper which showed cuy (guinea pig) served to the 12 apostles by young Peruvian children, and even had an image of the Devil whispering in Judas´ ear! Unfortunately, no photos allowed here either, although I took one of stairs leading to the catacombs from the Church above.

On our last night in Lima, we took a cab to Miraflores for dinner with our group. It´s one of the more affluent suburbs, but signs displayed around Lacomar Shopping Centre along the beach seemed to indicate it wasn´t the safest (i.e. "please do not bring your pets or guns"?!). This proved true as Andrew, who decided to stay on in Miraflores to party, was robbed at gunpoint by his taxi driver. Andrew had only 12 soles with him (the equivalent of AUD$4) and lost this as well as his el cheapo plastic watch. They frisked him too, but didn´t have much luck as Andrew had left all his valuables back at our hotel, so they expressed their anger by tearing up his tour itinerary and hotel card. Fortunately, Andrew was 'rescued' by a Peruvian samaritan who drove him most of the way back to the city, then paid a cab driver to take him the rest of the way. Now that we´ve had two group members robbed in as many weeks, we´re beginning to wonder if we´ll make it through the rest of our trip unmolested.