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LIMA

Lima, Peru's capital was once reputed to be the most beautiful city in Spanish America. Lima today retains much of its charm, despite its rather shapeless expanse of modern suburbs and dusty shantytowns that run for miles in each direction along the Panamerican Highway. Long established as Peru's seat of government, the city is home to more than eight million people, over half of who live in relative poverty without decent water supplies, sewage or electricity. There is still a certain elegance to the old colonial center, and the city hosts a string of excellent museums.

Attractions include the Museo de Arte, which exhibits colonial furniture and pre-Columbian artifacts as well as 400 years of Peruvian art, the Museo Nacional de Antropología y Arquelogía, noted for its excellent exhibits of prehistoric Peru, Museo de Oro and the modern Museo de La Nacion. The Rafael Larco Herrera Museum contains more than four hundred thousand excellently preserved ceramics, and the famous erotic figurines. Churches such as San Francisco (famous for its catacombs) and Santo Domingo (circa 1540) provide a welcome despite from the outside clamor. Lima's many markets overflow with consumer goods and handicrafts. There are also plazas, lovely colonial buildings and a zoo.

Inexpensive accommodation can be found in the city center. The suburbs of Barranco and Miraflores have a number of fancy restaurants and live music venues and is very popular with backpackers. In Miraflores you also find the city's best stores, restaurants and nightspots.