Lima to Arequipa

After a thankfully uneventful day and a half in Lima, for I was staying in an area of the city full of cheap bars and even more cheap hotels that catered to very short stays, as in one night max or maybe even just an hour or two, and in addition, I had arrived the morning of January 1, so I was on guard for some trouble to be hanging around the streets or spilling out of one of the sketchy bars. But perhaps I had arrived just late enough that the partiers, johns, prostitues, and wastoids had partied too much and weren't any trouble at all. There were a few times that looked like possible trouble but I gave those places and people a wide berth, put on the most neutral/don't fuck with me look I can manage, walked tall and proud and avoided any altercations. But the hotels are fascinating, dozens on the main drag and little streets around advertising special privacy, "tantric chairs", jazuzzi, hotubs and anything that might seem like a good add on to your night or hour of fun.

I had taken an overnight flight on the 31st from Toronto to Lima and landed at about 7 am. Activating full CAB* mode I found my way to the local bus station, a 5 minute walk from the airport. There were lots of helpful city and transportation workers that guided me to the right bus to take and how the system works - 5 soles (about $2 CAD), pay on the bus, and the drivers have change, cool - I found the right bus, discovered over the few kilometeres ride to my stop that there were way more people on the road then made sense for January 1, and that the cops were still working; I witnessed the arrest of a man on the road a few cars in front of the bus I was on, and since the person arrested was in a car, this created a big, messy traffic situation for a bit as no one would give ground to drivers needing to cut in to get around the now driverless car. If anyone thinks drivers are assholes in whatever city you live in, I can pretty much guarentee you, they are worse in Lima.

Anyway, the bus left me a couple of blocks from my hotel which was about a block away from the main drag of trouble. I only chose this area because I was taking a bus to Arequipa the next day and wanted to stay close to this bus station. But when reading reviews of various hotels in the area, a noticed a few comments about the area being sketchy so I knew what was what..."But I don't know what is what...What the fuck..." (sorry, couldn't resist the little Fatboy Slim diversion. If you don't know the song or the album, I highly recommend checking it out. The song is Star 69 [explicit], and the album is the fucking classic, Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars).

I had caught a nasty cold two days before leaving Toronto and was still feeling shitty after my short time in Lima but good enough for the 18 hour ride in a very comfortable bus, nothing remotely like what we ever see in Canada (our buses suck here, at least in Ontario and Quebec. I arrived this morning and am just getting myself sorted out and feeling a wee bit better.

Hasta pronto amigos!

* Cheap Ass Backpacker - CABRead more