Our first introduction to Lima was in the Plaza de Armes (Main Square) in downtown Lima, where we were greeted by the usual contingent of water cannon trucks, riot police with tear gas and the biggest Rottweillers you have ever seen with Hannibal Lector masks! Chris asked one of the policeman if there was a problem today and he replied that it was just normal! Most of what is on offer in Lima is around the Plaza and includes the Cathedral, which houses the dismembered body of Pizarro (the founder of Lima). We also visited the very interesting Museum of the Inquisition (on the site of the original court of the Inquisition, which was destroyed in an earthquake in the 1700's) which detailed the Spanish Inquisition from 1570 to 1820 and showed some pretty horrific torture arrangements. We were also able to see the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace. Decorated in very colourful blue and red uniforms the changing of the guard was primarily a tourist event, as there was neither a guard on duty before or after the proceedings. It did however, give the Presidential band an opportunity to play the odd Art Garfunkel song - it's good to know that we still do it better in England! We were also able to tour the San Francisco Monastery, which is still used as a home for some Monks today. The most interesting things here was that originally the site was the public cemetery for Lima and it wasnt until the 1600's that they built the monastery above it becasue the Spanish belived that if people were buried below a church they would have an easier passage to God. The upshot of this is that there are 25,000 bodies in the Catacombs. On death the bodies were soaked in lime in open graves until the bodies decomposed and then the bones were moved to a general open grave, which could be as deep as 10m. You can see these on the pictures as parts of the catacombs are open to the public. The change in weather has been quite dramatic since we crossed the Andes. Although it is Spring here, the temperature is around 15 degrees, less than half of what we experienced in the Amazon. As we go further South it will remain very cool for the next couple of months now until we hit New Zealand.