Week 249 · Miraflores · La Candelaria · Bolívar Square · Lima & Bogota
Lima &
A quick business trip to Lima and, due to the flight timing, an overnight layover in Bogota on the way back. I got to the hotel at 2am in Lima on the way out with meetings the following two days, leaving Lima at 5pm to Bogota. Odd to be looking at the sun setting over the Pacific east of Washington DC.
While in Lima I did get out for a couple of hours for dinner and retraced the same route we did in 2012 in Miraflores area of Lima on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. I then walked into the city and through various narrow streets with restaurants before taking the Uber back. I had 3 Uber incidents — none the drivers' fault and still better than taxis. And if I could text faster in Spanish could have solved two of the problems faster.
Miraflores is Lima's upscale coastal district, sitting on dramatic cliffs approximately 70 metres above the Pacific Ocean. The cliffs (malecón) stretch for several kilometres and connect to a series of parks, restaurants, and viewpoints. Lima is one of the largest desert cities in the world — built on a coastal desert that receives virtually no rainfall — and sits on the same longitude as the US East Coast, which is why the Pacific sunset appears to be "east of Washington DC" from the perspective of a traveller arriving from North America. Miraflores is home to the Huaca Pucllana, a pre-Inca ceremonial pyramid still being excavated within the middle of the suburb. Lima's dining scene is consistently ranked among the best in Latin America — Central and Maido regularly appear in the world's top 10 restaurant lists.
For Bogota I arrived at 8pm and left at 7am the following morning. With the tight timeframe and security issues I arranged a tour. Even though Colombia is safer over the past couple of years (now the same STEP rating as Mexico City), I was being cautious. Ended up being the right move — everywhere my guide took me was safe, but they also pointed out streets not to go down (pickpocketing in these areas of town, not violent crime or kidnapping).
Plan was to go to Monserrate which overlooks the city at 10,000 ft (Bogota is at 8,600 ft) and then to La Candelaria, the city's historic neighbourhood from the 1500s. My guide explained that Colombia has improved dramatically in the past two years and that previously they had never travelled outside of Bogota for fear of crime.
Leaving at 5am the next morning, stood in line for a couple of hours at immigration and had 15 minutes to make my flight (and a 30-minute walk) and started to jog. My hip locked up. Between the pain and being out of shape at 8,600 ft, I ended up using my rolling suitcase like a walker. Luckily the flight left late and I made it.
We arrived at Monserrate about 10 minutes after a million other people arrived with their families and were waiting in line for the ski lift to the top. Since we were limited on time we skipped going to the top and proceeded to La Candelaria.
We skipped the other famous square as it was sketchy at night and headed to a series of restaurants and street art on Calle del Embudo. The safety has improved — it would not have been safe to walk here two years ago and now families are here at night.
"My hip locked up. Between the pain and being out of shape at 8,600 ft, I used my rolling suitcase like a walker. Luckily the flight left late and I made it."