It was up in the air whether I’d move to a private room because of how stuffy the dorm room I was staying is was but it was actually a good night sleep.

Amazingly, I was the first one out of bed at 8:30am.

Now, in hostel life, 8:30 is trending on the “getting up late” side of things.

For me, though, it was perfect because I had a very flexible day.

Today all I was going to do was explore the Centro part of Lima and join up with one of the walking tours at 10:00, 11:00, or 3:00.

So, yeah, it was a flexible day.

On the Lima Metrobus

By 9:15 I was out the door.

For the first time in ages on this trip, it was cloudy and a nice middling temperature of 16C.

Along with all there regular buses, Lima also has Linea 1 for their Metrobus.

It’s a bus that runs in it’s own dedicated line on the highway that connects the suburbs of Barranco and Miraflores to the Centro part of Lima.

Think of it as a subway on the ground except when the bus turns into downtown, then it’s just another bus stuck in traffic.

Anyway, this is by far the quickest way to get into town and I took the 15 minute to the bus stop to catch it.

I got to the stop and had to kind of place myself off to the side as I quickly scrolled through their website on my phone refreshing myself on how exactly I was supposed to take this thing.

With info in hand, I walked confidently to the lady behind the ticket window and asked for a s/5 ($1) card with s/10 ($3.50) loaded on to it.

And just like that I was on the Metrobus.   Oh, and the fare for each ride on the bus is only s/3.20 ($1).

A late breakfast

I arrived in Centro at 10am after a relatively quick 20 minute ride.

The original plan was to have a quick breakfast, walk around a bit, have lunch, and then catch the 3pm walking tour.

That was the plan…

After walking around Centro for awhile I realized the flaw in my plan.

Aside from what I’d see in the walking tour later, there really wasn’t alot to see on my own around the city center.

My timing was off and if I wanted to catch the later tour I’d have way too much time on my hands.

Alrighty then.   New plan…

I was gonna catch the 11am walking tour instead.

By now it was 10:30 and I was sitting down in a little non-touristy place on a side street to grab some breakfast.

Well, not really breakfast as I ordered Chaufa Pescado which is fried rice with fish.

And I waited.

And waited.

The time kept ticking.

I finally got my meal at just before 11:00.

Hmm, well, the walking tour meeting point was only about 5 minutes away but this was kind of cutting it close.

Luckily I knew which direction the tour was going so I figured I’d eat my meal and find the tour as it went along and join it a bit late.

The meal, by the way, was ridiculously big.   The plate of seafood fried rice could have easily feed two or three people.

I ate my meal and was out the door at 11:10.   Time to find the walking tour.

Free walking tour?

I started walking up the main street towards the meeting point until I found a large group of people.

I listened in to see if the guide was speaking English and he was so I just bled into the group.

Now, I’m actually pretty sure this wasn’t the tour group I had signed up for because the guide wasn’t wearing a bright vest with the tour group logo on it but, whatever, it was a tour group.

Who knows, I may have just crashed on of the paid tour groups instead.

The man leading the group had a very animated way of talking.

With a thick accent, he enunciated his words loudly and almost angrily.

Despite the forceful wording, he was actually a pretty funny guy and used a lot of gestures and charades to describe what he was talking about.

We saw quite a few buildings that were deemed as “public charity houses” along the way.

The previous owners of these buildings has passed on with no one as their heirs so the property went to the government which deemed them public charity housing.

In order to rent a place like this you have to be poor.

Of course that’s not what has happened at all as alot of the places are rented out to Americanized businesses which, according to our guide, was proof that corruption was alive and well.

Other interesting things…

The word Jiron you find on alot of street signs is their equivalent to avenue.   Jiron is meant to describe the act of walking and shopping.

Almost every city in Peru has a Plaza de Armas.   This is the main square of the city and “Armas” refers to arms or weaponry which is because public executions used to take place in these squares.

Lima was known as the city of kings.   The Spanish heard the name for the nearby Rimac river as “Lima” and thus the name of the city came to be.

After a couple of hours walking around the Centro area of Lima, our tour was over at 1:00.

Churro time!

Yup, I had a churro.

And it wasn’t gluten free.

Let me explain…

There is a famous little shop here in Centro called San Francisco Churros that people will line up for to get their hands on one.

It’s literally on the list of things to do when you search online for what to do in Lima.

Before the trip started, I told myself that despite being celiac, if the occasion occurs, I’d try something I really shouldn’t have just so I’d be able to experience that food item.

I had heard that line ups could get up to one hour to get a churro so I was prepared for that.

In the end, my line was only a dozen or so people and I had my hands on a churro within 10 minutes.

For s/3.50 ($1) I got a nice, hot churro filled with cream.

It was sooooo good.

Now, I was a good boy and only had 3 bites before I begrudgingly tossed the rest of my beloved churro.

Only a wee bit of gluten for this boy today.

After my little snack I wandered down towards Parque Mural stopping by the San Francisco Church on the way.

Not much to report there.   It was a park and it was a church.

You know what gets me excited though?

Why, more food, obviously…

A late lunch

At just before 3:00, I made my way to a highly rated restaurant called Peru Gourmet.

I sat outside on the patio and ordered a little duo meal of Rico Ceviche and Causa de Langostinos.

Ceviche, for those that don’t know, is basically raw fish marinated in citrus juice and seasonings.   By the way, I translated Rico to English and it means Delicious so, there’s that.

Causa is a common cold whipped potato dish here in Peru and Langostinos is shrimp.

That meal, along with Chicha Morada #11 came out to s/49 ($16) which is on the steeper end for food here in Peru but, again, so cheap compared to lunch back home.

When I was done my meal, I just happened to see in the dessert section that they had Picarones.

Picarones are like light fluffy donuts served with a honey sauce.

Now I had read that traditional Picarones are made with sweet potato flour instead of wheat however many people use normal flour instead.

But there in the description were the words I was looking for: sweet potato flour.

Well, hot damn, gotta get my hands on these Picarones they don’t I?

Oh my God!

Sooo good.   Light and fluffy with a hint of cinnamon and the fig honey sauce to dip them in was amazing.

Yeah, I’d have that again, for sure.

Soon after I was walking back to the Metrobus stop to catch it back to the hostel in Miraflores.

This time around it was packed full of people which makes sense since it was kind of rush hour here in Lima.

It’s funny how the traveler in you just kind of forgets about things like rush hour or people going to work.

I was in full-on pickpocket awareness mode and had my bag swung around my side covered all the entry pockets with my arm draped over it.

Ain’t nobody getting my stuff today!

To get to my hostel I can stroll through the neighboring Kennedy Park which is a really nice and peaceful area to walk in.

Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that there are a bunch of cats that actually live there.

Seriously, everywhere you look, there’s cats just prowling around.   There’s even little houses for them and dishes with food that have been left for them.

Let’s be honest.   It’s their park, they’re just letting us stroll through it.

A late dinner

I spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging at the hostel before my stomach was telling me it was time to head out again.

I had a few places marked on my map that were all kind of close to each other.   Some are dedicated gluten free, some are marked for breakfast, and others for desserts.

I decided I’d scope them all out to see what is and isn’t there so there’d be no surprises when I eventually decided to visit those places.

Of course I found another place that literally does not exist where it’s supposed to.   No signage.   Nothing.

I did, however, find a grocery store where I was able to snag a box of gluten free granola bars which is great for little snacks at a later time.

I walked around the area looking for somewhere to get Peruvian food but, man, that is actually a hard task in the center of the tourism neighborhood of Miraflores.

Not only are there dozens of plain out right Americanized restaurant chains like Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds, but even the non chain restaurants were all serving burgers, pizzas, and pastas.

It took a bit of walking away from the center part to finally find a little restaurant on a street corner that had a menu with Peruvian dishes on it.

For dinner tonight was Busteck a la Chorrillana which is a steak done Chorrillana style which is with a mix of onions, tomatoes, and carrots.   Served with potatoes and rice, the meal came out to s/37 ($12).

Twelve bucks for a steak dinner?   Yes, please.

By the time I was dinner and had walked back to the hostel it was almost 9pm and this little boy was tired.

Tomorrow I’m going on a bit of a weird day trip and that’s all I’m gonna say about it right now.

You’ll just have to tune in tomorrow…