Lima

Before arriving in Lima I was told by pretty much anyone who had ever been to Lima that it’s not a pretty city and not much worth going to. Well after being here for less than 24 hours I think I’ll have to agree with them. The city has this grey sky that hangs over you sucking the life out of everything. Not to mention the lack of interesting architecture, haphazardly constructed buildings, wide streets and the general lack of color in most buildings. But the saving grace is that Marcel and I are staying with his cousin Fernando and his girlfriend Joysee.



They have been generous enough to let us stay with them during our 27-hour layover on our way to Los Angeles. It’s amazing how big a contrast there is from the poor areas to the better-kept areas. Even in the center of town where the presidential palace and cathedral are located you can see some very well preserved buildings, then you go around the corner and find streets and buildings in serious disrepair. Not to mention that as we strolled along this area no less than 7 people told us not to go any further because we would be robbed and that we should turn around and get back to the main plaza.







Well you don’t have to tell us more than seven times before we listen and decided we should head over to Miraflores, the part of town where the wealthy Peruvians and foreign tourists have also fled to. The streets are cleaner and fast food chains are abundant, from Starbucks to KFC.





Since Miraflores is on the coast we headed toward the ocean and were greeted with a spectacular view. From our vantage point the earth dropped down about 100 meters (~300ft) to a road that hugs the coast then a not so attractive beach. Because the ocean floor drops off quickly and the currents bring water from the south it leaves the waters much colder than you would expect for being as close to the equator. But we did see some brave (crazy) people surfing. Apparently there is good surf here.



Now we are just a few hours away from heading back on the plane and making the final leg of our journey home. I’m sure there is more charm to Lima than our little foray has allowed us to see. At the main plaza area we saw that there are plans to improve the public transportation system by building a section of underground bus way, a quasi-subway. The plans looked cool and it would be very interesting to see if this will help with the congestion and pollution. So maybe I’ll come back here again….maybe.