And what was the important thing I had to do before I headed to Lima? I had to go and stand in a shop for an hour, show two people all my documents, sign a dozen pages and get fingerprinted a couple of times and then pay 1 sole (25 cents) and do it all in Spanish. And then I was registered as a Movistar customer, and I had a Peruvian sim card and a local phone number. I then had to go and find a phone kiosk shop place and buy some credit, which I think I did and now I have internet.

I have two phones. My newish iphone 13 and my old iphone SE. I put the sim card in my old phone which I use as the navigation for my bike when I am riding in bigger cities. I don’t want to use my good phone because the vibrations of the bike can damage the camera. I can use offline google maps but it’s much better using the live version which I can now do with data on my phone. I can also hotspot off it if needed. My main phone has an airalo esim and so I almost always have internet on that one but it could work out expensive if I used it for things like google maps. So with Lima punched into my phone I was able to pack my gear and ride out of the foyer of the Magic Hotel and hit the Pan American and find out if it’s true about Lima drivers being the worst drivers in South America.

It said 190kms and 4.5 hours to Lima but I’m guessing a lot of that will be city traffic at the end. I’m actually finding the coast a bit more attractive now and I don’t know if it is, or I’ve just been desensitised. I dropped into a couple of little coastal town and drove along a couple of beachfronts. They tend to be more temporary setups that get flogged during summer and weekends and are empty or closed for the rest of the time. But one thing I have noticed is that I’m having to drive through more fog and it’s getting harder to take coastal photos because of it.

So I chatted with my mate and he said it was the Humboldt Current from Antarctica again and that in the winter months from June to September Lima experiences a phenomenon known as the garúa fog. This means 3 months of overcast skies and fog which apparently gives the city a mystical feel. Ha. What crap. It makes it cold and damp. In general, Lima has a desert climate so it has mild temperatures all year and very little rain. About 200mm. I can’t complain as it’s common in September and I’m here in September.

With my phone set up to guide the way I started hitting traffic about 25kms away from my destination. With a population of 10,000,000 people, I guess that sounds right. I had booked in at the Hotel Maria Luisa in the trendy suburb of Miraflores which was double the price I normally pay for a hotel but I was treating Lima as a holiday from travelling and happy to splurge fifty bucks (AUD).  The traffic started getting heavy and lots of big trucks and buses in the mix. I don’t think they were bad drivers but they were definitely aggressive. But I’m skinny and quick and I found myself playing high speed tetras and actually enjoying it. Most drivers were pleasant enough about letting you lane split but it was a different story at intersections if they could cut you off then they would. It was a game of chicken and everyone played. So I could imagine most other drivers from more developed countries would struggle a bit with those rules. Even as a pedestrian you have to be very diligent.

I made it to my hotel and was happy with my choice. Just like the picture and in a great location and a whole carpark for my bike. I was on the fourth floor of eight floors and although it had a token elevator I enjoyed the stairs. The staff were all lovely and the breakfast was not only great but was a buffet style with lots of yummy stuff. And they also had healthy stuff as well. So every morning I had breakfast just before the 10:00am cut off and filled myself up and grabbed a slice of cake to take back to my room. And that kept me full until I went out hunting for dinner in the evening. It was up on the 8^th floor so the extra exercise wore off the cake calories.

Because I was on holidays I just laid around and slept a lot. My room had blackout curtains and was quiet. And I kept extending my stay another night and another night. I did my laundry in the hand basin like a good traveller and to my daughters disgust I just used the hotel shampoo instead of washing powder. Why not. The humidity (caused by the Humboldt Current and the mystical fog) slowed down the drying process and so I found a pedestal fan and shoved that in the bathroom with my clothes all night to try and dry them a bit quicker. It worked. It’s quite funny but despite paying double for my room I was still within budget because I only needed one meal and there was plenty of options for that.

I met a nice guy who owned a little Pizza shop around the corner. He spoke perfect English and it was nice to chat to him. I ended up having pizzas twice. I also had Indian one night at a tiny, tiny restaurant and a lovely Japanese meal another night. I also ate chicharrón again. I sampled lots of local beers and did so while catching up on some life admin and a couple of blogs. I also applied for my Chilean visa after doing a lot of research and feeling quite disheartened about the whole thing. It can take months, and I want to go there next month but I don’t have a set date which could cause problems. We’ll see. After a few hours of gathering information that they wanted and getting a passport photo it’s all done and has been sent. It’s the only visa I need.

One nice piece of timing was that the Lima Hash House Harriers is a functioning group in the city and they run every second Saturday. And not only did that match my time schedule but it was also happing just around the corner from my hotel. So on Saturday arvo I rocked up to Hash, in my normal clothes, because it was too cold for my hash singlet and shorts and I have nothing else in my wardrobe. I was met by a very welcoming group of 24 people. Mostly Spanish speaking locals but an American woman and a couple of Peruvians who’d spent time in the States.  There was a mix of ages, and it turned out that besides not speaking English, they also couldn’t run. And didn’t drink much. A bit different to Broome Hash.

For those that don’t know, Hash is an International running group which was started by expats in the thirties in Malasia and is known as a drinking group with a running problem. They are all over the world but sadly becoming a bit less popular due to potential litigation because of the dodgy runs and from political correctness. I’ve ran in quite a few countries over the years but due to an issue with corruption in Colombia and covid, the groups in South America have thinned out and run less frequently. Most hashes run once a week and in Asia some places they have so many people they run three times a week.

So this Hash group were great walkers and we walked about 10kms around the city. We stopped off and checked out a few ruins and buildings. Had a couple of mouthfuls of beer at a corner store and ended up filling a nice little restaurant at the end. All up it was a 6 hour effort and I had a great time and spoke a lot of Spanish. A great bunch. As hashers usually are. I’m also throwing in a photo of the roof of the cab on the garbage truck that was passing the hotel. And a traffic light busker who was quite talented and timed his acts well.

I also did a lot of walking on my own while I was in Lima. I was actually in Lima 9 years ago when my daughters and I passed through here on our way to hike up to Machu Pichu. I can’t remember it at all. ( I just sent a text and discovered that we never left the airport so I’m not losing it yet) Although it’s right on the coast it’s a couple of hundred metres above sea level and has those ugly looking mud coloured cliffs like much of the northern coast has. Except in Lima they have covered them with black netting and some vegetation. It looks quite reasonable.

It does have a main highway and a pedestrian walkway along the ocean edge so I did get to share a nice walk with a few thousand cars. It is mainly smooth rocks and pebbles on the beach and not walkable. Apparently, surfing is pretty big here and there were a lot of surfers out in what looked like pretty cold water. Not that I surf but the waves did look good. There were only a couple of spots where you could get from the ocean up onto the top where the city was. I walked them both. Great exercise. There is a nice walk along the top as well with great views through the mystic fog. And a few interesting statues.

While I was in Lima I also tried once again to get a yellow fever injection but with the same success as Colombia and Ecuador. I’m too old. This is going to cause me problems. The next country that I’m going to is Bolivia and they sometimes ask for it. Although they couldn’t give me the injection they were able to give me an exemption letter which may be fine. For $10 I thought it is worth a try. It took 24hours and looks professional.

I also decided it was time to address another problem I have had since crossing from Colombia into Ecuador. While getting my bike inspected at the border I saw a bit of wire or a nail sticking out of my back tyre. A combination of ignoring it, forgetting about it and waiting for the right time meant I’ve ignored it for a month and a few thousand kilometres. The tyre hasn’t lost any pressure. I finally pulled it out here in Lima and so far so good.

I think I’ve been here long enough and it’s time to head south. There is a canyon inland from the coast that I saw on social media and of course that means I have to visit it. It means I have to go south two hours and then inland four hours. And then back four hours on the same road to get back to the coast. Not doable in one day and it’s at 2600m so I don’t really want that much altitude in one go. I’m thinking I’ll do two hours south then two hours east until about 1500m and then find somewhere to stay the night. And then next day it’s only a two hour ride in and then four hours back to the coast. It’s called Canon de Uchco.

8624kms