After our long and relatively comfortable bus journey we arrived in the Peruvian capital Lima at 8am. Lima is massive with a population of around 8m people and some of the most congested roads we have seen. The first day was spent exploring the upmarket district of Miraflores where we walked around the centre, visited the seafront and its parks and went for a look around the shopping centre (for a phrasebook, not just window shopping). Miraflores was very reminiscent of a European city with lots of small parks, cafes and of course McDonalds, burger king etc. There were a lot of foreigners staying in the area (mostly americans) which was by far the most touristy we had seen so far.

We spent the second day in Central Lima visiting the cathedral, congress hall, chinatown and the river. This part of the city was much more colonial than Miraflores with the cathedral stunning inside with a massive amount of golden ornaments, amazing tile mosaics and intricate carved mahogany. We met a local man called Pedro who gave us a short tour of the city and an insight to life in Lima and the history of the city. In the evening we visited a market in the central park of Miraflores where Ashley bought a handbag from a local craftswoman to replace the one stolen in Ecuador.

Our third day in Lima was spent camera shopping and wandering around Miraflores some more before checking into a hotel to meet our Inca Trail Group who we would be spending the next week with.