Arrived in Lima

My first-class overnight bus trip from Piura to Lima was fantastic, well worth the extra dosh. It was 14 hours, but I managed to sleep most of the night. I had a huge plush comfy seat that folded out nearly flat to a bed. We got served dinner, I managed to watch a movie that was actually in English, with Spanish subtitles for a change (all other bus movies so far have just been dubbed into Spanish), & then I fell asleep. Before I knew it I was being served breakfast, & was just out of Lima.

First impressions of Lima aren't favourable, it's huge, busy & polluted. It took about half an hour of driving through the slums, very similar to the South African townships, before we reached the city centre. It's scary to think that nearly twice the population of New Zealand live here, & the poverty in some places seems quite extreme. Driving to my hostel in the taxi we passed loads of police in full riot gear & shields. I'm not sure if something is going on, or if it's just normal.

The taxi ride from the bus office to the hostel was certainly an 'experience'. The traffic was absolutely manic; think 3 official lanes that had morphed into 5, cars weaving in & out of lanes seemingly at will, lots of near misses, horns constantly tooting... My taxi was a beat-up old car that had several lights illuminated on the dash that I'm sure weren't supposed to be... Oh well, I got here safely in the end.

The hostel seems nice, it's in the Miraflores area which is the 'nice' part of town. I'm not sure I even want to venture into central Lima, it has a reputation for being quite dangerous. Miraflores has everything a traveller needs, including a great looking Indian market which has lots of souvenirs & handicrafts. I'm taking advantage of the free internet at my hostel at the moment while I wait till midday for my room to be free. Will arrives tomorrow night so I'll go out to the airport to meet him. We have all of Thursday in Lima, then on Friday we are flying to Cusco which I'm really looking forward to.