Lima surprised me. It shocked me. I am in love with this city, but at the same time I want to escape.
Sometimes I feel that I had enough of travelling: cannot stand being alert all the time, worrying about my belongings, what bus shall I take so I arrive safe, what taxi would not hi-jack me, in what hostel I can sleep without being cold, woken up in the middle of the night by drunk roommies, how I can use toilet without being dusgusted by its look...
Coming to Lima was like coming home: another big European city full of expensive shops, supermarkets with European food, fancy restaurants and white people who are not gringos.
First thing I did was to go shopping as I ruined my trekking trousers and lost all my towels, so they needed replacement. I must admit going to Larcomac was such a relief: there was everything - Oasis, Warehouse, Nine West, Gap, Hush Puppies, MAC... I have not seen this shops since Europe, even Santiago does not have such a choice.
I walked around the things I cannot buy and felt happy (damn shopoholic).
Lima is a huge megapolis with around 10 mln people, huge avenues cross the city in all directions. I have stayed in the poshest barrio of Milaflores, where (almost) all expats and rich live.
It is full of supermarkets, sometimes there are two within one block. They are not Tescos, they are Waitroses! With all fancy products one cannot buy in any other country of South America that I have visited. I even found decent cottage cheese (reminds me how much I miss good dairy products)!
Historical city center is small and not particulary interesting, except San Francisco monastery and its catacombs that was first Lima's cemetery (and no photos!!!!).
Musical water show is spectacular, especially if one did not see anything like this for months.
I have not seen such a huge socia gap in any other country I visited. It is tremendous. If in Bolivia I saw poor and rich, still the country well-being is more equally distributed (ok, I have not been to Zona-Sur where rich drugdillers live in La Paz, but I am sure they do not have as big Waitroses around).
People in the countryside here live in basic 4 walls-roof-no windows hut, while Lima is full of skyscrapers facing the Ocean and huge cars. This difference is so obvious and so exaggerated that I could not fully enjoy 'living in civilization'. This city is too much, every fancy car, every exaggeration makes me understand how terrorist organizations appeared (I've become a bit of socialist here).
Ironically, terrorists-socialists blew up campensinos mostly.
Shopphing luxury
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There are hipsters in Peru. I assume.
![]()
Changing the guards
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Sometimes I feel that I had enough of travelling: cannot stand being alert all the time, worrying about my belongings, what bus shall I take so I arrive safe, what taxi would not hi-jack me, in what hostel I can sleep without being cold, woken up in the middle of the night by drunk roommies, how I can use toilet without being dusgusted by its look...
Coming to Lima was like coming home: another big European city full of expensive shops, supermarkets with European food, fancy restaurants and white people who are not gringos.
First thing I did was to go shopping as I ruined my trekking trousers and lost all my towels, so they needed replacement. I must admit going to Larcomac was such a relief: there was everything - Oasis, Warehouse, Nine West, Gap, Hush Puppies, MAC... I have not seen this shops since Europe, even Santiago does not have such a choice.
I walked around the things I cannot buy and felt happy (damn shopoholic).
Lima is a huge megapolis with around 10 mln people, huge avenues cross the city in all directions. I have stayed in the poshest barrio of Milaflores, where (almost) all expats and rich live.
It is full of supermarkets, sometimes there are two within one block. They are not Tescos, they are Waitroses! With all fancy products one cannot buy in any other country of South America that I have visited. I even found decent cottage cheese (reminds me how much I miss good dairy products)!
Historical city center is small and not particulary interesting, except San Francisco monastery and its catacombs that was first Lima's cemetery (and no photos!!!!).
Musical water show is spectacular, especially if one did not see anything like this for months.
I have not seen such a huge socia gap in any other country I visited. It is tremendous. If in Bolivia I saw poor and rich, still the country well-being is more equally distributed (ok, I have not been to Zona-Sur where rich drugdillers live in La Paz, but I am sure they do not have as big Waitroses around).
People in the countryside here live in basic 4 walls-roof-no windows hut, while Lima is full of skyscrapers facing the Ocean and huge cars. This difference is so obvious and so exaggerated that I could not fully enjoy 'living in civilization'. This city is too much, every fancy car, every exaggeration makes me understand how terrorist organizations appeared (I've become a bit of socialist here).
Ironically, terrorists-socialists blew up campensinos mostly.
Shopphing luxury
There are hipsters in Peru. I assume.
Changing the guards
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