lima
i don´t think peru could seem more different to cuba, or more different to what i´d imagine lima to be full-stop. the first two things that i notice are that there are adverts absolutely everywhere - on every building, car, window, post, person - and there is a huge amount of traffic.
after being delayed by 2 and a half hours in costa rica (enough time in which to buy a new camera, since mine perished in varadero), we were finally greeted by eduardo´s 'SALLY KITHENER' sign held aloft at juan chavez airport (the novelty of having our names on signs in this way is sadly wearing off more quickly than anticipated), and before (or, in fact, precisely when) we knew it, we found ourselves in a slow but constantly-moving sea of cars and minibuses, leaving next to no room for error, with horns blaring all the while.
the third thing i´ve noticed is that this part of lima - miraflores - is much for built-up and developed than i´d imagined. were it not for the odd drab cafe or beaten-up old car here and there, i´d think i was in a western european city.
the fourth and perhaps most refreshing realisation is that, in the 5 hours we´ve been here, we haven´t been pestered once. no offers for a taxi, no intimidating stares, no sleazy men, no begging for a peso, and no offers of 'real cuban cigars' at good price for you. i feel bad for not enjoying cuba as much as i´d hoped, but however grateful i am for the eye-opening experience, i was ready to leave. so ready, and yet so unprepared mentally for peru.
with admittedly little thought prior to arriving here, i´d thought of peru as being something of a step back in our trip in terms of there being a similar indigenous rural highland culture, which i´d already experienced in guatemala - not that i wasn´t willing to disprove this loose assumption to myself.
and already, here i am, realising that this part of peru is so much that guatemala is not, and that lima is on the coast and not at an elevation of some few thousands of feet (i´d apparently been paying more attention to cusco and arequipa in my limited preparatory readings), and that the feeling of the place is entirely different to what i´d anticipated.
on top of that, they have yellow cola here, which i intend to sample the moment i put down this pen.
after being delayed by 2 and a half hours in costa rica (enough time in which to buy a new camera, since mine perished in varadero), we were finally greeted by eduardo´s 'SALLY KITHENER' sign held aloft at juan chavez airport (the novelty of having our names on signs in this way is sadly wearing off more quickly than anticipated), and before (or, in fact, precisely when) we knew it, we found ourselves in a slow but constantly-moving sea of cars and minibuses, leaving next to no room for error, with horns blaring all the while.
the third thing i´ve noticed is that this part of lima - miraflores - is much for built-up and developed than i´d imagined. were it not for the odd drab cafe or beaten-up old car here and there, i´d think i was in a western european city.
the fourth and perhaps most refreshing realisation is that, in the 5 hours we´ve been here, we haven´t been pestered once. no offers for a taxi, no intimidating stares, no sleazy men, no begging for a peso, and no offers of 'real cuban cigars' at good price for you. i feel bad for not enjoying cuba as much as i´d hoped, but however grateful i am for the eye-opening experience, i was ready to leave. so ready, and yet so unprepared mentally for peru.
with admittedly little thought prior to arriving here, i´d thought of peru as being something of a step back in our trip in terms of there being a similar indigenous rural highland culture, which i´d already experienced in guatemala - not that i wasn´t willing to disprove this loose assumption to myself.
and already, here i am, realising that this part of peru is so much that guatemala is not, and that lima is on the coast and not at an elevation of some few thousands of feet (i´d apparently been paying more attention to cusco and arequipa in my limited preparatory readings), and that the feeling of the place is entirely different to what i´d anticipated.
on top of that, they have yellow cola here, which i intend to sample the moment i put down this pen.