The Locals of Lima

  Lima, Peru
Wednesday, December 31, 2008

I took several overnight buses when I lived in Ecuador all those years ago and I remember them well... broken seats, unpleasant smells, kung-foo videos playing, drivers watching the video instead of the road, and, very often, 3 passengers squeezed onto a seat for 2... so I wasnīt really looking forward to the 27 hour trip from Guayaquil to Lima!  What a surprise I got... transport has changed in the past 15 years, it seems!  A comfortable double decker coach with a single seat which reclined almost to horizontal, a footstool, veggie food, air-con, curtains on the windows, refreshments... the only thing that hadnīt changed was the dire films on show, but, with ear plugs, this was a minor detail!

We left a hot, sticky Guayaquil at 11 am and drove for hours through the dull scenery of endless banana plantations.  For some reason my mind kept conjuring up images of the evil 8 legged specimens lurking therein and in the end I had to close the curtains and watch the mildly less scary kung foo film.  So it was a delight to wake up the following morning (Jackie Chanīs exclamations being the alarm call, as the next dvd began...) and draw back the fabric... mountains!  A dry, brown, dusty, sandy landscape with mist drifting across the base of the black rocky mountains beyond... ahhh, desert... yes please!  Occasionally the view to the right gave way to a steep drop down to the ocean with dramatic headlands visible in the distance... I obviously hadnīt studied the guidebook very well as I had not expected such a scenic journey.

Before I knew it the Chinese dudes on screen were all fought out and we had arrived in Lima, where the charming Errol from Hostal Roma was waiting to meet me... for only the second time in my life I was met by someone with my name on a piece of paper - it doesnīt take much to make me feel important!  

Lima sprawl viewed from Cerro San Cristobal

Sue with Cerro San Cristobal

I had heard from so many people how Lima was not a pleasant city... smog, violence, traffic pollution, dirt, noise... sounds like most cities really.  I was advised to avoid the centre and opt for Miraflores, a swisher, safer suburb near the water, which seems to be the choice of most backpāckers ... so I decided I would definitely not go there... I couldnīt face an attack of the gap year kids, especially with New Year approaching!  And so here I am in central Lima, which turns out to be not at all as I expected.  It has none of the chic sophistication of Buenos Aires, my last capital, but it has a warm charm of its own.  There is so much character in the streets, as I dicovered that first afternoon, from the gorgeous, if decaying, old buildings with their carved wooden balconies and brightly painted walls, to the stately Plazas through which families and starry-eyed young couples were wandering, eating ice creams on a sunny  Sunday afternoon, while a military band stood on the steps of the cathedral incongruously playing Jingle Bells.  The sky was blue with a good view over across the river up to the pueblos on the hillsides, and up above that the peak of Cerro San Cristobal with its large cross. Other than the row of police leaning on the wall with their riot shields and the tanklike vehicle parked in the square outside Government House, there was a definite holiday feel in the air.  

me in Plaza de Armas

carved wooden balcony

Best of all is the local people who are exceptionaly friendly for city dwellers.  When I dropped my underwater box in to a camera shop, the assistants descended on me to ask what the photos were of , where I was from and where I was travelling... then I visited the tourist office for bus info and sat while a girl in there looked up all kinds of extra bus times and prices and options...  calling into a random opticians shop for directions when lost (map upside down yet again...), the seņora came outside and escorted me to the corner to point out my desired road... the girls in the laundry where I treated my skirt and t shirt to a good going over (instead of the handwash they get from me) wanted to know all about the clothes in fashion in back home, (not that I have any idea) ... in a restaurant at lunch today, the woman who sat beside me was all chat and eager to hear all about the Galapagos, then gave me a big new year hug as she returned to her office... and all of them smile a lot...  itīs all very unusual for such a big city. 

Archbishop{s balcony

And then there was the computer... oh, God, I canīt face explaining the trials Iīve had with my wee laptop in the last couple of weeks, Iīm trying to blank it out of my memory.  But I finally found someone to press a couple of buttons and fix it... and for dodgy guys in a dodgy shop in a dodgy backstreet they were fabulous!  Task accomplished, we spent a good hour discussing costs... it was a very extended haggle but one of the most good-natured Iīve ever been involved in and if they ripped me off, well it was worth it for the entertainment (not to mention having my laptop working again.)

Lima is full of internet cafes all of which contain ancient machines which work very slowly and donīt achieve a lot even at that pace.  So, my laptop now works but I seem unable to connect it in an internet cafe... so I am back to sticking a flashdrive into a dubious machine and hoping it doesnīt get another virus, as before, which will again damage my laptop...round and round in circles... so I tried to load my Galapagos pics to the blog and the old computers available canīt manage so advanced a task... sigh... and people believe computers make life easier...!

And now Iīm going for a cerveza fria in the wee cafe near my hotel to while away the couple of hours before Sue arrives at the airport for the start of  īSue and Lisaīs Excellent Adventureī!  

Oh, and Happy 2009 everyone!  

P.S.  Itīs now the following day and I am about to head for the airport again... poor Sueīs flight was delayed by 16 hours in Miami... she was not impressed...