Peru - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 726

9

San Borja, a district southeast of the
centre, is one of the country's largest and
most important museums and has an
outstanding and very moving exhibition
about the devastation caused by the
Sendero Luminoso group, which
terrorized the country in the 1980s and
1990s (see p.712).
To get here , take the Metropolitano bus
from the centre or from Miraflores to the
huge intersecting Avenida Javier Prado.
hen take any bus east marked “todo
Javier Prado” and ask for the museum.

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD
The ever-popular La Mistura gastronomy
festival ( W mistura.pe) is held in
September on Campo de Marte
parkland. Created by Gastón Acurio
(see box, p.720), this five-day food fest
with more than two thousand stalls
showcases the best of Peru's food and
drink, from haute cuisine to street stalls,
and is not to be missed. Go in the week if
you can, to avoid the crowds.
For fans of Peru's rich food heritage,
the Casa de la Gastronomía Peruana
at Conde de Superunda 170 (Tues-Sun
9am-5pm; T 01 426 7264) is also worth
a visit. The museum charts the country's
different producing regions and the
fascinating range of influences it has
absorbed - from Japanese and
indigenous to European.

Miraflores
Miraflores , its streets lined with cafés and
flashy shops, is the major focus of Lima's
gastronomy and nightlife as far as affluent
locals and most tourists are concerned
- along with San Isidro, further north,
which has even more exclusive boutiques
and lounge bars. To get here from the
centre, either take the Metropolitano
at Jr. de la Unión and Avenida
Emancipación and get off at Puente
Ricardo Palma, or take take a combi
(line A; purple and white coloured) on
Avenida Tacna.
The attractive Parque Kennedy at the
end of Avenida Arequipa has a small
craft and antiques market every evening
(6-10pm). Avenida Larco, which runs
along the eastern side of the park,
leads to the ocean and to Larcomar
( W larcomar.com), a popular clifftop
mall with great sea views. From here
you can walk north along the Malecón
through the small parks and flower
gardens, as many others do at weekends.
At the Parque El Faro (the lighthouse
park) you can take tandem paraglides
(daily 10am-6pm; S150 for 10min;
T

Just south of the plaza at Paseo Colón
125 is the Museo de Arte Lima (MALI;
Tues-Sun 10am-8pm, Sat until 5pm;
S12; W mali.pe), housed in the former
International Exhibition Palace built in
1868 and designed by Eiffel. It contains
interesting collections of colonial art and
many fine crafts from pre-Columbian
times, and also hosts frequent temporary
exhibitions of modern photography and
other art forms, as well as lectures and
film screenings. MALI sits in the Parque
de la Exposición (daily 8am-10pm; free),
a pleasant green space with duck ponds
and some pretty bandstands.
Through the park is the Estadio
Nacional (National Stadium) and just
beyond that lies Lima's most eccentric
attraction, the Circuito Mágico del Agua ,
at Avenida Petit Thouars at the corner of
Jr. Madre de Dios (Wed-Sun & holidays
3-10.30pm; S4; W parquedelareserva
.com.pe). It's a park showcasing thirteen
different fountains, including one over
80m tall and one sprouting arches you
can walk under, all choreographed to pop
music and coloured lights.

01 726 8023) from the clifftop down
to the beach.

Barranco
Barranco , scattered with old mansions
as well as colourful smaller homes,
was the capital's seaside resort during
the nineteenth century and is now
a kind of limeño Left Bank, with young
artists and intellectuals taking over
many of the older properties. To get
here take any combi along the Diagonal

Museo de la Nación
he Museo de la Nación , at Avenida
Javier Prado Este 2465 (Tues-Sun
9am-5pm; free; T 01 476 9933,
E [e-mail]) in