July 25-28th 2015
I’m back to old stomping grounds in Lima where I spent a wonderful four days with Elin and Olivia back in February, this time I’m with Rob and Bethan, but the plans are just about the same, enjoy some of the amenities of the big city, resupply on a few key broken electronics, and have some modern day fun. We see a movie among other things, and indulge in some fast food. But beyond that there’s some definite highlights, the first among them is el Gran Circo de Russia (The Russian circus) which we first heard about back in Aguas Calientes. One thing I will say about Lima, is that the city feels much more vibrant and alive in the summer (January to March) then it does this time in the winter.
After a brief visit to the lovely Cat infested parquet Kennedy in Miraflores, Lima’s principle tourist district, we head a few blocks down to the Maria Angola convention centre, which strikes me as a very odd venue for a circus, since it’s in the middle of town, and most definitely not a tent of any kind. Still we step inside flashing our 57 soles tickets and heading into the convention centre which has been at least partially transformed to look like a circus. We’re up on the third balcony where a collection of wooden risers and plastic chairs have been set up and soon enough the show begins.
What follows is roughly two of hours of both the weird and wonderful. It’s certainly whimsical and at times very impressive, though also decidedly below what I imagine to be cirque de Soleil level.
Still the show is well put together and very entertaining, full of intricate lighting cues, dazzling sound, and lots of first class circus performers. And lots of laughable audience performer physical banter moments.
The circus done, we grab some frozen yogurt from pinkberry and we head back to Barranco, my favourite neighbourhood in Lima, where we get some delicious American style burgers at twist before calling it a night and heading to mamajuana hostel, a place with so much potential but a lack of organization and cleaning makes it a very cautious recommendation.. That said they do provide you with a busportal.pe discount code, saving us two percent on buses in Peru from here on out. Busportal.pe makes booking most buses easy and is without fees, of course the cheapest local companies aren’t on there. The discount code is mamajuana.
Two days later we again find ourselves in Parque Kennedy where I meet two people off of Mercado Libre, basically the kijiji, craigslist, or gumtree of South America. I leave the park with an Ipod and e-reader added to my over supplied technological arsenal, but these things are one of the comforts that makes me still enjoy travelling for so long. Sometimes we all need down days and technology makes those more enjoyable. For example I’m currently sitting in no man’s land between Ecuador and Peru because of a visa mix up, and I’m certainly glad to have my computer.
At any rate, after some amazing Turkish kebabs at a small restaurant adjacent to parquet Kennedy we decide to walk back to Barranco and find ourselves at Larcomar the very posh shopping centre for Lima’s elite. After some frozen yogurt we spot a bowling alley but the wait is too long for us so we head to the nearby arcade instead. From there thing get out of hand quickly.
Between skee ball, whac a mole, Mario kart and so many more games we end up putting 150 soles on a card and going wild. That said it’s hours of fun and not without it’s monetary rewards either, as we get enough token credits to walk away with a game of monopoly and a game of scrabble. Plus my last second overtaking of Rob in Mario kart is beyond priceless. That and the looks of some of the local kids when we decide it’s time to go and give them our card with 20 soles left on it and a few hundred tokens too. They go wild and bring a smile to all of our faces as we wander out and head back to barranco for a spirited game of monopoly, which I manage to win.
The next morning is a hard goodbye to Rob and Bethan who are headed to Tarapoto in Northern Peru, while I’m headed to Iquitos on a plane to the heart of the Amazon, using the last of my father’s birthday gift to fund the flight. Thanks Dad.
Rob, Bethan and I say goodbye unsure if we’ll see each other again before I manage to get to Wales in a few years, but we’re both sure we’re going on to lots more adventures so we part in good spirits.
