Lima and the South Coast of Peru.

I really enjoyed the S Coast of Peru, there was something worth seeing in every place i stopped and i would recommend the route.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Travelling between the towns is very easy- there are lots of bus companies (ranging from luxury tourist buses to the more local style, driven by crazy men who all seem to have an aversion to actually looking where they are going), which travel the short distances, regularly.

A new hostel in the centre of the bustling Miraflores district. It is popular with young backpackers. The bathrooms are shared, but they are kept clean by the friendly and helpful staff (who speak English). There are dorms or private rooms avaliable: these are simple but pleasant. The Flying Dog has a good hostel atmosphere with a lounge for socializing, watching TV, or using the internet. I especially liked that you can use the kitchen facilities (cuts down on eating out costs); breakfast is provided.

I would highly recommend a visit to the San Francisco Monastery and Catacombs. After paying a small entrance fee, you must join a guided tour which takes you around the impressive seventeenth century monastery. There are beautiful tile mosaics in the Spanish style, and the rooms still contain many of the original religious artifacts. There is a huge dome at the beginning of the tour which will have you wondering about the architectural genius. My favourite room was the library, which had hundreds of important old books and a beautiful wooden carved staircase as a central feature to the room.

The tour ends in the catacombs, where the monks were buried. You can still see the skulls and bones (there were thousands of people buried there); these have since been sorted out and arranged in patterns for easier viewing.

Most travellers to Peru will, at some point, pass through the capital, Lima. As with most South American cities, Lima does not fail to leave an impression- you either love it or hate it, but will unlikely leave feeling indifferent. I went to Lima not because i wanted to, but because i had to in order to follow my chosen route. I went expecting to hate it, but was pleasantly surprised, and the most memorable part of it for me was how friendly and helpful people were when they saw that i was a young female travelling alone. I will never forget my last day, when i was leaving for Pisco. I think my bus left at 5 pm, and although i had left plenty of time, i ended up sitting in traffic when i should, by that time, have been at the bus terminal. My taxi driver told me it would be quicker to walk, so i started off in the direction i thought was correct. I asked a policeman for directions, and he told me it was a dangerous area to walk through alone with all my bags. The next thing i knew, i was being escorted to the bus station in a big police car by 4 Peruvian police with guns! Who knows what my fellow (local) passengers thought when they saw me arrive! (i got there in time!)

If you do find yourself in Lima, make the most of your time-the city has a lot to offer, and you never know. You may even end up enjoying it!