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Here’s a movie about Lima. This movie will give you a quick impression of the destination. The movie is produced for IFLYtheworld.com by bluepig.nl.

IFLY tips

Inca Market (2 hrs)

Go to buy your local stuff and souvenirs at Merkat Indio (Inca Market) in the neighbourhood of Miraflores. It’s a huge market with all kinds of stuff. Inca masks, souvenirs, llama dolls, clothing, paintings, silver and of course alpaca products. You will even find funny ceramic planes in colours of all major airlines at the market.
Some shops have a sign telling you they have fixed prices but a market is not a market without bargaining. You can shop your heart out, at least if you like your house a bit messy...
Just take a taxi and tell the driver to bring you to Merkat Indio (pronounce: Indiu). There’s no need to ask the driver to wait for you, as it is easy to get another taxi after you finished your shopping.

Barranco (2 hrs)

Barranco is another very nice neighbourhood. During pre-Hispanic times, this was a resting place for the old Lima aristocracy. It is a romantic, bohemian place, full of traditions. There are many restaurants located around ‘Puente de los suspiros’, bridge of sighs.
One of the oldest and most famous restaurants is ‘Songoro Cosongo’ next to the bridge. The restaurant offers wonderful drinks, including all variations of the local ‘Pisco’, and traditional local Peruvian food.
You can spend a nice time for lunch or dinner including a nice walk in the neighbourhood, and if you’re really lucky there’s the annual Pisco festival!

Pachacamac (½ day)

One of the oldest religious centres of South America is the Temple of Pachacamac. It’s about 20 km south of Lima and it’s an archaeological site with several ruins of temples. There’s a temple from pre-Inca era and one from Inca time. It is a beautiful complex, which shows you an enormous piece of history. And, it’s said that visitors get positive energy from the temple.
There are several tourist operators, which can bring you there from Lima. Mostly they pick you up from your hotel and bring you back afterwards. A tour costs about US$ 39 per person. It’s best to go in the afternoon, as the groups are mostly smaller in the afternoon. After the tour is a recommendation to ask the driver to drop you off at Barranco or Parque de las aquas.

Parce de las Aquas (2 hrs)

The actual name of this wonderful park in colonial Lima is Parque de la Reserva, but the park’s nickname is Parque de las aquas, as it has a wonderful lightshow with it’s amazing fountains every night. The park has thirteen beautiful fountains including a tunnel fountain and a fountain that forces the water up to 80 meters high.
The entrance fee to the park is 4 Soles and the light and laser shows are every night at 7.15, 8.15, 9.15 and 10.15 pm. Absolutely fun to see, but beware of pickpockets.

San Francisco Convent (1 hr)

For sure one of the most beautiful, but on the other hand sinister attractions of colonial Lima is the San Francisco Convent (Convento San Francisco). In this monument, you can appreciate the marvellous baroque temple, a huge 17th century library, but most of all the famous and mysterious catacombs, which used to be the cemetery of the city until the foundation of the Republic.
You can visit these catacombs. You will see bones and skulls of approximately 25.000 Peruvians, absolutely sinister and breathtaking. It’s not allowed to take pictures or videos inside.
It’s located at Jr Ancash, just around the corner of Plaza Mayor. The entrance is 4 Soles and you get a tour in English or Spanish.

Plaza Mayor and change of guard at government palace (1 hr)

The heart of colonial Lima is Plaza Mayor (main square) or Plaza de Armas as it is called as well. This grand plaza features many important architectural monuments like Government Palace and Cathedral of Lima.
It’s wonderful to start a walk through the historic heart of Lima here. Every afternoon before noon there’s the change of the guards at the Government Palace. It’s a nice folkloristic military ceremony to see.

Due to a weird local law it’s prohibited for airline crew to bring goods into the country like laptops, cameras, video cams, iPhones and other devices with internet options. This Lima-special is thanks to our ‘brave’ crew member who found a legal way to smuggle the cams into the country!


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Language of the world

Of course you like to speak a few words of the local language onboard the plane or at your destination. Here you find some simple basics of the main language spoken in Lima.