Starting off in Lima

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(Author:M,Editor:J)

We spent our last night in Montreal very wisely: saw friends, watched a last hockey game, played poker, finished packing and chilled with Yoda. Needless to say we did not sleep at all, as that was the only way to ensure that we would not miss our 8:30 a.m. flight.

Downing our Starbucks coffees on a big red two storey tourist bus

To my great astonishment, the entire trip to Lima went by without a single problem. In a few words, it was: board plane, pass out, land in Orlando, board smaller plane, try to pass out but flight not long enough, land in Houston, board a bigger plane, watch movie, pass out, wake up, land in Lima. I must have repeated to Jan about 10 times that if our luggage arrived with us in Lima, I would be the happiest little traveler in the world. And so I was. :)

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From the very first moments we spent in Lima, we decided to go full-on with an authentic Peruvian experience: our hostel was clearly in a Crescent-street-type part of town, our first meal was at McDonald’s (it was 2 a.m., everything was closed, even Burger King!), we were facebooking wirelessly from our hostel room, and by the next morning, we were downing our Starbucks coffees on a big red two storey tourist bus. Wow, nothing like the pure joy of getting away from the familiar and being completely lost in another country. :)

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The part of Lima we’re in, called Miraflores, is safe, rich and very westernized. The city itself is huge, home to over 9 million inhabitants, and holds the unfortunate record for having the largest slums in the world. The famous hill of San Cristobal, with its very poor but extremely colorful housing, is just one of the many hills on the periphery of Lima. Compared to our beloved city of Montreal, Lima is terribly polluted, mostly due to the poor quality of gas used and the large number of old cars. After spending 3 hours atop our tourist bus, we were both exhausted (get it?), had started coughing, and felt a thin film of dirt all over our bodies. The pollution is probably very mundane compared to the likes of Mexico City, Mumbai, or even Cotonou, but we had grown used to the relatively good air quality in our home town. The warm weather clearly exacerbates the problem, and we have not seen much direct sun since our arrival. The pollution is a big contributing factor in the keeping the sky completely covered in grey clouds.

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By the evening, continuing on our theme of wanting to keep it real Peru style, we played a poker tourney that was organized at our hostel. We unfortunately didn’t win, but as could have been easily predicted by anyone who’s ever played with us, I made it way further than Jan. That’s how we roll. ;)

The people of Peru, so far, have been extremely generous with their smiles and kindness. Many of them wave to us and always seem ecstatic when we wave back. They seem genuinely happy to have human contact, be it amongst themselves or with tourists. Couples, some young and some older, are seen walking around hand in hand, whispering sweet words into each others ears, and frequently stopping on park benches or by the beach for extensive PDA (public display of affection). It’s quite cute, and makes for a relaxed atmosphere with lots of cuddling and latin amor. We have mostly seen the richer part of town, so saying that everyone is happy and smiling would be a grotesque exaggeration, but even people who seem less fortunate in terms of material possessions appear to find happiness or at least many reasons to smile. Street vendors have not been pushy, but rather chose to smile back when we politely say ‘No, gracias’.

Now for the language part… I’m sure you guys would love to see how retarded we sound all the time! Peruvians don’t seem to speak English, even in very touristy places. This is quite cool, as they don’t owe it to the tourists in any way, and it forces us to practice, but it also makes for some funny and awkward moments! We basically speak like 5-year-olds hehe. Just a few minutes ago, Jan asked for ‘lemonade with frozen’ (instead of ‘with ice’). Puzzled by the smirk on the waitress’ face, it took us another 5 minutes to realize what we had asked for. Regardless, we get by pretty well, Jan being much better and I being worse, and we’re definitely learning constantly.

Today was spent walking around the beach, with its terribly dirty water but decent sand. We also went to the bus station to book our bus ride to La Paz and got a nasty dose of exhaust fumes in our lungs. Tomorrow morning, we embark on a 28 hour journey that will take us through the south of Peru and the north western part of Bolivia. The bus is a ‘luxury’ bus, complete with reclining chairs, bathrooms, kitchen and of course air conditioning. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the landscapes along the way and reading up on Bolivia, which we will call home for at least the next few months. We just hope it’s not going to turn out like those famous bus rides in West Africa… (see 'From Burkina to Benin' and 'Goodbye Ouaga! Take care!' from our previous trip)