[See image gallery at lukeawaynow.com]
I feel a little bad taking the piss a bit with this post – especially as this tour was actually free. But on the actual tour, it actually became clear that our actual guide, who was new and actually probably a bit nervous, said actually every other word – and I’m not actually joking. Seriously, she chucked it in at some points where it didn’t even make sense “well we can actually see the actual cathedral, where actually, the Spanish actually wanted to make an huge impression actually. Next we’re going to look at the actually palace”. It was like a very polite form of tourettes, so I do feel a bit mean mocking her like this, but at the end of the day she didn’t have tourettes and it was really distracting. That being said she was very good apart from that and the tour flowed well and was entertaining (even the actually thing got entertaining by the end) and informative.
The tour is completely free and runs three days a week from 12.30pm. It’s operated by a company called Lucid Lima and all the details can be found on their website here. It took just under two hours to cover everything and whilst it’s a walking tour, all the points of interest are located within about a square mile in the centre of Lima – so you don’t actually have to walk very far. It’s a really good way to get your bearings in the centre of town and it was fascinating to learn about some of the city’s long and sometimes very violent history. It played a pivotal role in Spains conquest of South America and has been a hugely important city on the continent ever since. A lot of what we were being told tied up with some of what I’d learned at Macchu Piccu too and it was interesting to hear a bit more about that period.
If you’re in Lima, short on cash and have a spare afternoon, this tour should be right at the top of your to do list… or even if you do have some money in your pocket, actually.
[See image gallery at lukeawaynow.com]