Lima at Last

On the descent into Lima the plane followed the setting sun. The coastline is beautiful from above. I look forward to seeing it from sea level. By the time we had taxied to the gate it was dark (just a few minutes after 6PM).


From the airport I boarded the shuttle bus with a single other passenger. The ride was quite harrowing, with the driver shoving the smelly old diesel bus through gaps that appeared too small for a Mini, narrowly avoiding suicidal taxicabs and pedestrians by mere inches. Shops, office buildings, restaurants, and casinos slid slowly by as we barely missed getting into a new accident every block. Each casino was themed with a different variant of "America". One giant casino was like a grotesque parady of Planet Hollywood. Another, named simply "New York" sported a three-story tall replica of the Statue of Liberty.


We got stuck in a traffic jam. By "jam", I mean that we didn´t move for almost 10 minutes, and niether did any of the cars around or behind us. Blaring electric lights illuminated the smoke-filled air, and opening the window of the bus I found that this part of the city smelled worse than the diesel fumes, so I slid the window closed promptly. Once we got moving again, everybody was anxious to get off the main drag and find a better side street, so there was gridlock for a few minutes. After much honking of horns and near collisions, our bus driver got lost immediately, and began leaning his head out the window to ask every policeman and valet for directions. Eventually, after winding our way through streets far too small for a bus, we got back on track.


I took the shuttle to the Hotel Ariosto in Miraflores, Lima, where I will be spending my last night before heading into the jungle in a few weeks. The Ariosto is a beautiful hotel, but they had no vacancy tonight, and I don´t think I would have wanted to pay the non-discounted rate in any case. I wished them farewell, and I will be back in a few weeks to enjoy my pre-paid luxury room.


I consulted my guide books, and after a short walk and not more than five minutes later, I had a room at La Castellana. This hotel is in a lovely old estate house, and although the room is small it is quite charming. This is one of the nicer hotel rooms I will be staying in during my trip, and I didn´t mind spending almost $50 US for the location and the comfort.


Miraflores is upscale and cosmopolitan, reminding me of Santa Monica 15 years ago. Here I now sit, at the overpriced El Tigre restaurant (still cheap to me), eating ceviche, and listening to live Peruvian music. I might as well be on the Third Street Promenade, except both the food and music are much better. It feels familiar, much like how the French Quarter seemed familiar my first night there, because I had been to Disneyland´s "French Quarter" so many times. No matter. I´m certain that my preconceptions will be shattered soon.


I finish up my meal, and it is the best I´ve had in a while. I don´t know if it is because I´m in a foreign country, or because I´ve eaten nothing but airplane and airport food for the last 24 hours, but every bite tastes fantasic.


Back to my room, to try and sleep as much as I can to avoid jetlag. Tomorrow I will explore Miraflores and Lima Central, or maybe go to the beach.