Lima, busy busy Lima
Trip Start
Sep 30, 2006
1
18
55
Trip End
May 24, 2007
Lima, Peru
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Leaving the shit hole that is Ecuador :-( I return to a country that is much safer and happy than that which I left in early November.
The Sanchez family have been kind enough to have me in their home. Snrs Sanchez and Ysabel, Sandra & Jorge make for fine hosts as does their wonderfully large and modern home.
My first 3 weeks here have been spent admiring the sights of Lima. Last year I was only here for 2 days, hardly appropriate for a city of 8 million people.
I will attempt to describe a little of what it is like here:
The first impression is that there are a million taxis. You never have to wait more than about 40 seconds for a taxi. They honk their horns wanting your patronage. If you need a taxi you can negotiate a price for your destination. For those in Adelaide, a trip from say the CBD to Glenelg is about AUS$1.50 to $2.50, depending on your negotiation skills and the time of day. The taxis arenīt brilliant but they get the job done.
Last year I made a comment about the taxi drivers being shocking and frighteningly dangerous. I have to retract that and replace it with perhaps they are amongst the worldīs best drivers. I mean where else can one have so many 2 inch near misses but not actually hit the other car. Where else can 6 lanes merge into 2 or 3 and no-one needing a tow-truck as a result. Where else can you drive without paying attention to the line markings on the road but not scrape the car or bus next to you. So, in effect I now admire them a little for their collective efforts to protect the paying customer. It canīt all be luck. There has to be some skill involved. I still get scared but my pants remain clean now:-)
I have visited numerous areas of Lima and I must say that I donīt feel all that scared even though some of the areas we drive through even the taxi drivers tell you to lock your door as we pass through. I am yet to witness anything untoward. I hope it remains that way:-)
The CBD area is quite hectic and beautiful. There are numerous buildings 200-400 years old, steeped in Spanish history. The CBD is also quite clean. The bus into the CBD AUS$0.40 is a steal!
Lima has an obvious lack of trees, grass and birds (the 3 obvious items I notice and miss the most for a city). It basically never rains here (despite it coastal location), it rains here only about 4 times per year and generally, collectively it receives only about 8-12mmīs in total! Hence the lack of natural grass and trees and subsequently the birds.
The road network is quite hectic for most of the day but the main roads are generally new and impressive. As for the side roads you can play dodge the pot-hole. As for Limaīs 3 million speed humps all I can say is the shock absorber business must be booming:-)
There are probably around 2 million dwellings here, most of which appear half finished. Most houses are square or rectangular with the highest floor always with steel poking out in the event that the family wishes to build upward one day (when they get the money to do so). Basically 3 of every 4 houses are waiting for additions one day, one year, one decade to join the popular 3-5 storey dwellings.
The Sanchez family live in 3 apartments in a 5 storey building (including wonderful views from the rooftop). Their house is finished.
I have to run now. I will add some Lima photos as soon as I can and attach it to this update. Sorry for the long delay between updates. Tomorrow, 30 November (back-dated remember) we are off to Huancayo (south east of Lima) for a few days.
Ciao por ahora.
Stay happy everyone:-)
Gazz
Feliz Navidad:-)
