Tuesday June 4, 2013
After another successful meal at
Nova, our usual breakfast joint, the group congregated in front of Villa Rica (Villa Rica) and headed for the Parque de Exposicion. We arrived at El Museo de Metropoliana
de Lima (www.munlima.gob.pe/) and I checked my bag in and headed inside the relatively large
building. To my surprise the building seemed larger on the inside as I strolled
into a massive hall at least five stories high. The tour we were taking
consisted solely of videos in Spanish. Although I couldn’t understand most of
the language, the depictions drew a strong picture of the various plate
tectonics that are deep beneath the city of Lima. Each video required us to
walk to another room in order to proceed with the exhibit. Other videos dealt
with what I understood to be the creation and history of Lima. Each room and even
some hallways were decorated in corresponding time period or subject to augment
the experience. We ventured through a cave, sat in a theatre, and even experienced
an earthquake during of tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Lima.
Upon leaving the Metropolitan
Museum (Metropolitan Museum of Lima), we ventured deeper into the now familiar park to the museum of art.
This happened to be a real bummer. The Peruvian art was not currently on
display due to renovations. Although there was an exhibit on modern
photography, we decided to return later next week to hopefully see the Peruvian
art.
As a group we decided to stick together and do some exploring of this vast city known as Lima. We walked semi-aimlessly towards the cross on top of the mountain in the distance. When we arrived at a busy street headed straight for the mountain, we took our chances and boarded a microbus with a man yelling out various destinations. The bus took us towards the mountain and near the base, we got off and snapped a few photos. Despite my sense of security, my comrades felt that we did not belong in this side of town. Determined to reach the summit of the mountain, we broke into two groups: those wishing to go up the mountain and those wishing to venture elsewhere. After an exquisite investigation, Keri, Matt, Michael, and I found the solution to our troubled plans; a man holding a sign with a picture of a cross on a hill. After turning down what felt like a hundred offers for lunch, cell phone plans, and Machu Pichu post cards, we gladly paid the man to venture to Mirador de San Cristobal. We followed an old woman to a curb and were told to sit and await our bus. Forty-five minutes into the wait, we nearly pronounced the experience a scam. But low and behold our bus rounded the corner and we boarded what seemed to be a decent sized bus. Thirty crammed people later, we found out how big the bus really was. A tour guide spoke in monotone Spanish about what I assume to be the history of the what we were passing. We approached the slums at the base of the mountain and began the narrow accent along the steep cliff edge. We were asked to shut and lock our windows due to the extremely slender path and for other assumable reasons. At the summit of the mountain and the base of the colossal cross, many Christians sent their prayers to God by lighting a candle. The view overlooked a great part of Lima and allowed us a 360 degree view of the land.
This is one of the numerous views from Mirador de San Cristobal. Towards the back left side of the picture we saw a large array of buildings set in a geometric fashion. I have yet to figure out what the buildings were but we know it was a very big compound with a peculiar shape.
The Cross on top of the mountain was very large. It had lights hanging from it although due to the haziness of Lima, I have my doubts on how often it is visible from a distance. Although it may be difficult to see, the people at the bottom of the photograph are lighting candles and sending prayers to God.
The slums at the base of the mountain can be overwhelming to look at. Yet somehow people live in these blocks stacked upon one another.
Viva Peru!
~JH
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