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Other entries in Lima

Cigars and Cocktails in Miraflores.

After a morning orientation walk with Jo (tour leader) I broke away from the group, jumping into a taxi with Diana, headed for the Miraflores district- the Knightsbridge of Peru. Arriving at Miraflores we're just amazed by the views of the Ocean and the beautiful modern buildings set in the shadows of the business district..... easily forgetting that this is actually a third world country. After a long hunt for the ideal wind breaker jacket and hand woven towels probably by Egyptian mummies for Diana, we stumbled across La Casa del Habano. And this is where good boy/girl goes bad, we ended up purchasing our first ever cigars..... and 'they said he/she came from a good family'! Next we'll probably be saying 'Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Good-looking Corpse'.... probably be saying that when I do the 'Mountain biking death road' in Bolivia!

We set about exploring this 'uber upper class' Miraflores district. Visiting the likes of probably Peru's only Starbucks and sipping lattes and Americano's on the boardwalk, moving on for a stroll around the financial district - visiting cuy arts & crafts for top quality and original gift ideas and many other interesting places, then arriving back at Miraflores late afternoon for a very late lunch at Tony Roma's. Though Tony Romas is nothing out the ordinary, the restaurant window seating area displayed the most spectacular panoramic views of the blood red sky at sunset. We finished our night at El Templo Bar, lighting up for our first ever cigars, with larger glasses of long island iced tea and multiple orgasm cocktails with the sounds of waves crashing against the beach below us and Lionel Richie's - 'All night Long' gently playing in the backgound.

Leaving El Templo and almost ending up in Hooters by accident, Diana's persuasion techniques came in again and we ended back at La Casa del Habano to make further purchases. Diana wanted to go for the Monte Christo (the hard stuff), but we're advised to go for the Partagas. After taking into consideration the cigar specialist advice we asked her 'how do you know which cigar is good, and do you smoke? Her response 'I don't smoke'!! She knew the lingo, but we did find the cigar smoking a relaxing experience and finished the night off, after a taxi death ride from hell, at our hotel bar where we're able to only afford a cheap glass of wine instead of a quality cognac to go with our Partagas cigar...... after blowing a weeks budget in one day at Miraflores.

Most of the next day was spent helping Jo with the weekly shopping list for the group, I was hoping for it to turn out like Dale Winton's Supermarket sweep.... but that's rather impossible with nine shopping trolleys, though it was great team work. In the evening the group went to Tony Roma's for dinner, I decided to visit L'eau Vive del Peru Restaurant. Arriving at the huge wood carved doors I rang the bell, to hear a sweet voice ask through the intercom 'are you here for dinner'.... once inside this magnificent colonial building I realised I was the only person dining in the huge nunnery.

After dinner had been served and the table cleared, the nuns came out and looked up to the picture of the Virgin Mary and sang Ave Maria in the most angelic voices. It was a serene experience to be 'serenaded' by nuns. We chatted for a while after, and when I left they walked me to the door and we shook hands, advising me to be very careful and ensure that I walk back to the hotel very quickly..... I did exactly that, pacing back to the hotel through dark and vacant streets, passing police officers decked out in riot gear and shields patroling the streets with guns and strong looking dobermans.

Mario Vargas Llosa calls Lima 'a city of sad people' and I suppose he should know. But it struck me as rather a cheerful, buzzy place, despite all the poverty. Even the boys selling postcards make good jokes: 'You are my brother, for you, 2dollar!' 'I am not your brother - how much?' 'one solés.' (About 16p.) My big fear in going to Lima was that I'd be forced to listen to pan-pipe music, but none of the people we saw was armed with pan-pipes. Nor was I forced to eat guinea pig, though I rather wish I had.

Tomorrow we leave Lima and make our way to Nasca at 5.30am!

Useful Information for Travelers:

Miraflores district. The district is full of cafés, pubs, restaurants and shops, which is a draw for a large part of the Lima population on Sundays. Parque Kennedy, Miraflores' central plaza, regularly has flea markets and art exhibitions. Larcomar, a shopping mall overlooking the Pacific coast, is located in Miraflores, and is very popular among tourists, young people and people of the medium-to-upper-class socioeconomic levels. They have restaurants, stores, a food court, ice cream shops, arcades, bowling alleys, nightclubs, bars, and the most modern cinema in all of Lima if not Peru. Visit La Casa Del habano www.lacasadelhabano.com.pe for the finest Cuban cigar experience. For the first time smoker I recommend starting with Hoy de Monterrey followed by Partagas and then Romeo et Julietta.... and top it off with a Monte Christo. Veritable treasures await the cigar-smoking connoisseur in their Humidor of hand rolled cigars.

The Calle de las Pizzas ("Pizza Street") in downtown Miraflores, a favourite among Lima's teenagers and young adults, has many pubs which every weekend are filled with people.

Cuy Arts & Crafts. Nueva Tienda, Larco 874, Miraflores. www.cuy-arts.com or www.cuyartsandcrafts.com. For best quality Alpaca clothing, traditional/contemporary folk art and t-shirts and accessories from Cuy Art.

Miraflores has also become a major hub for tourists to the Lima area, with a number of hotels in the area, including a couple of international hotel brands. Furthermore, there are several shops selling souvenirs and tourist products.

One of the best entertainment in Miraflores is surfing, its waves have been an attraction for surfing for many years. The first surfboards were ever seen for the first time in Miraflores. In the 1930's Carlos Dogny went to Hawaii and saw people surfing waves for the first time and loved it, tried himself, and went back to Peru with a board. He showed it to his friends, and they all loved it too. But they needed a place to practice this exciting new sport, and founded the prestigious Club Waikiki right at the beach in Miraflores.

L'eau - Vive Del Peru. Jr. Ucayali 370, Lima. Tel: 427 5612. This is an out-of-the-ordinary restaurant, run by a French order of nuns, and is well worth a visit. A meeting place for people of many different nationalities. Eating here is not just a treat, the business helps the nuns raise much-needed funds. The food served is mainly French and is surprisingly good; offerings range from soups and main courses to dessert. The wine list is excellent. If you're feeling obscenely rich in this impoverished country, you'll do a tiny bit of good and feel better by eating here.

In a colonial palace 2 blocks from the Plaza de Armas and across the street from one of Lima's most important mansions, Torre Tagle, it features several large dining rooms with high ceilings. The "a la carte" dining rooms are considerably elegant. At night you get a pious show free with dinner: The nuns sing "Ave Maria" promptly at 9:30pm. The French menu includes items such as prawn bisque, trout baked in cognac, and grilled meats; it also incorporates some international dishes from around the globe -- chiefly, the many countries from which the order's nuns come. It's not the finest meal in Lima, but then again where else in the world are you serenaded by friendly nuns....... nowhere!

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