Written on July 15th:
It’s another gray Thursday in Lima. But a fun day indeed. I met up with Bianca and Mike last night, and we all went with Rafael and Riki (two of my friends here) to another Chifa. This time, we ordered and decided to stay away from a lot of the traditional stuff. It was a grand meal for only 20 Soles ($6/$7) with at least enough left over for all of us to eat a fair amount again. After Chifa, we headed to the hostel and Bianca and Mike went to bed. Li arrived late last night, and after a quick check-in, it was time for sleep.
Today has been fantastic. A grand “desayuna americano” (American breakfast) in the morning.
We then ventured out to Larcomar, a touristy mall by the ocean. We decided to be a bit less touristy and only looked at stuff. We knew that other places in the area offered much better services for our budget. We found a nice café with cheap hot chocolate. While the owner was very aggressive in his attempts to have us buy lunch or some other meal, we decided to just drink our hot chocolate and chat for a bit. After my two failed attempts to buy a cell phone (I had left my passport at the hostel…), we decided to take a long walk along the waterfront in the direction of another neighborhood called “Barranco.” We only had a general idea of what direction Barranco was in, and thus we became wanderers in a foreign land. Though we didn’t have any set schedule for the day, so we could wander aimlessly for a while.
After an hour or so of walking, we decided to stop at a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant for lunch. Las Mesitas (Little Tables). A great bargain ($3-4 per person) and very decent food in my opinion. I tried some dish with a mixture of rice and beans and a fried egg on top! Bueno. We all headed back to the hostel after our adventures for we were feeling a bit tired. Nevertheless, Li and I ventured out to find the bus station (we brought our passports this time), and we got to see a lot more of the city on foot.
The night included a long walk around Barranco in search of a restaurant (we finally settled on a pizza/pasta place with a nice ambience), brief visits at two rather interesting bars (the first with free "pisco sours" that tasted like old juice and the second being a "surf bar" with one employee--who we believe to be the waiter, bartender, and owner--and with a group of high school kids smoking marijuana), and also waiting in a long line to go to a party organized by Victoria. Eventful but exhausting. Arequipa in the not too distant future!
