Home to one third of the country's population, a fact made most obvious by the deafening blare of car horns, we arrived in Lima early morning with low expectations. The most interesting fact we discovered was that despite it's high humidity and permanent state of overcast, it is the second driest world capital city after Cairo - good job Sophie made sure we had our raincoats with us for most of our stay, just in case!

Miraflores is a friendly and modernised neighbourhood with easy access to a pleasant coastal walk to Barranco . First day included a visit to the ruins of Huaca Pucllana, an adobe pyramid of the Lima culture from AD400. Moving forward 1600 years, we then found an Irish pub called 'Hoolihans' to watch England v Montenegro, complete with enthusiastic Spanish commentary. Finished the day with a bite to eat in Barranco.

Caught the 'Metro' (really just frequent buses travelling down a bus lane) into central Lima, which initially seemed very loud and gritty. However, we were pleasantly surprised when we came across the Plaza de Armas and San Martin, which had some nice colonial buildings and pretty flowers.

The highlight of Lima was definitely the fountain park, best seen at night and very popular. Consisted of about 16 differently styled fountains and included an impressive laser fountain show.

Onward day bus to Pisco - 4 hours.