Battle of the Bands

Just a bit about Lima - flat, sprawling and perched on the Pacific Ocean coast, it has the feel of a city going places. There is obviously a quite affluent part of Lima - good houses and cars and a cosmopolitan feel. It seldom rains, but has constant mists, called garua. Houses and streets don't have drainage, so it could be difficult if they do ever have significant rain. Water comes from a river originating in the Andes, so there is no shortage of water, despite the lack of rain.

The coast has 60 foot high cliffs of unconsolidated river sediments, a testament to the significant uplift occuring. Unfortunately, these cliffs are getting built on. This could be quite grim in an earthquake. There is also reclaimation of the coastal area below the cliffs, with large amounts of building rubble being dumped into the sea. Unfortunately, lots of garbage also gets dumped along with the rubble, so the sea was a roiling mess of plastic.

Sadly, it looks like the building rubble is coming from extensive demolition of housing around the airport. I hope there's some greater plan, as it must be difficult for the people evicted from their homes.

We did a fairly ho-hum tour of Lima on the day after we arrived for the first time (we actually end up in Lima 4 times during the trip). In the main square, which was quite spectacular (fountain with copulating critters all over it - WTF?), and had the President's House on one side, police and security began to congregate, giving us a hint that there might be something going on. Next thing, two heraldic trumpeters on either side of the main entrance to the President's House began playing. I spotted a band lurking in the shadows. After the fanfare, out came the band, strutting around the courtyard enthusiastically playing a jolly tune (possibly the Peruvian national anthem - I heard it a number of times during the trip), and lined up just inside the perimeter fence to continue playing. I love a good band. The security were equally entertaining. The head honcho was grinning and winking at the crowd - no Queen's Guard stoicism here. Unfortunately the tour nazis made us leave before the playing had finished.

We moved a short distance up to the Church of St Francis Asissi, and.............more band music! It was St Francis day or something, so there were bands, a special church service and much frivolity. We did a tour of the church and catacombs, and at various times were able to listen to the glorious chanting of the priests and the equally glorious pipe-organ playing. Even in the catacombs you could hear it every now and then, which added an eerie dimension to the tour.

When we emerged after the tour, the effigies of St Francis and two other bods were brought out of the church. By this time, there was another band playing and people dancing - including quite old ladies, who were having a great time. Sadly, we were dragged off again to be dropped at either a restaurant or a market. Boo hiss. I would've rather stayed to watch the festivities.

As we drove back through Lima, there were protests going on. Some students and academics were protesting against privitisation of education. There were mounted police and big armoured vehicles and lots of police. I don't think the police were too worried, as we saw them being fed by sreet vendors and laughing along with the protessters.

I like Lima.