Lima Hotels
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Whistle stop express
Entry 25 of 42 | show all | print this entry |
Arequipa was a wonderful high-altitude bolthole, with ceviche that would make a grown man weep and a real live volcano in it's back yard. But travellers we temporarily are, so a-travelling we must go. As I mentioned in my last update, we'd decided against going to Ica or Nazca owing to the earthquake, and instead figured we'd take a bus directly to Lima to wander around a big city for a couple of days, re-acclimatising to civilisation, Starbucks and McDonalds.
Our bus was a double decker, and we had booked seats right at the front. Never again let me tell you. It sounds like a grand plan, being able to see where you're going and with the wide panoramic windows we could enjoy the view, but it's as though you're sitting in an elevated drivers seat without a steering wheel, and as the bus careens around corners and cars I clung to the edge of my seat, absolutely terrified. As I have now realised, when it comes to South American buses, ignorance is bliss.
The only good thing about sitting where we were was the view it afforded us as we came upon the towns most affected by the earthquake. In some of the towns we passed, almost every building was reduced to rubble and there were tents squashed into every open space. The main road was ruined with cracks and gaps running all over the asphalt. One section we passed looked as though 30m of one side of the tarmac had just dropped into a 2m deep. The most upsetting thing though were all the people sitting by the side of the road. We passed what I guess was a food station, with hundreds of people queuing to get into an aid tent at 6am. As we slowed down going through another village, crowds of people started banging on the sides of the bus shouting for water and food. By the time we got to the next town, the bus stewards had put together all of the food and water on the bus and we stopped and handed it to a group of men who ran towards the bus.
After another two hours we came into Lima, the capital of Peru and one big, smoggy, overcrowded city. I'd love to tell you of all the wonderful sights we saw and the fabulous things we did, but getting into a city in the company of two women, I found the list of must see's and do's ran something like this:
- mall shopping. This cultural void was greeted by Marge with more enthusiasm than Macchu Picchu.
- buying some fancy clothes to make the travellers feel less like 'travellers' (ie knackers)
- eating a Big Mac (first time we'd seen a golden arch in 3 months). Mmm, that special sauce...
- getting a manicure/pedicure. I feel it prudent to point out that my nails remained unpainted.
- going to the movies. Twice. (One of which was Die Hard 4 with Gillian Duffin sitting 8 rows behind Marge and I. Which was just as well really as her screams and yelps through the movie frightened us more than enough where we were sitting. Any closer and my heart would have stopped.)
- Enjoying a Starbucks double tall latte.
Lima, I love you.
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| 25. | Whistle stop express - Lima, Peru Sep 01, 2007 |
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