Miraflores, Lima, Peru

I mention only this neighborhood because I am spending such a short amount of time in Lima. I had intended for possibly three days, but that has been cut down to 20 hours.

A big part of the problem was my travel to get here. I was awake in Porto do Galinhas (where I was diving) at 6:30am (4:30am Peru time) on Tuesday. A bus left for the airport in Recife at 8am (6am). My flight to Sao Paulo left at 11am (9am) and arrived at 3pm (1pm). My flight from Sao Paulo left at 7:30pm (5:30pm) and was supposed to land in Lima at 12am (10pm). However, inclement weather forced us to the alternate airport in Pisco. We were told that we would have to wait just a little bit until the weather cleared in Lima, and given that I was on an international flight we were not allowed to get off the plane until Lima. 11 FREAKING HOURS LATER!!! 11am (9am), we finally got the green light to head to Lima, and we finally hit the gate at 12pm (10am). This takes the cake as the worst flight ever. There is nothing more frustrating than sitting in a plane for so long wondering when you can get out of that prison.

So, what did I make out of my 18 hours with a head cold in Lima. I think my expectations were really, really low after hearing all sorts of people trash it (my favorite was the guy who named it “Scorch”), but my little view of Lima, through the clearly biased Miraflores lens, was of nice people who are working hard. Sure they ask the gringo if he wants to buy some goods, but they don’t pester, or get angry, or follow, or generally make people uncomfortable. The most common response I heard to my grumpy & tired “no (with obligatory hand wave)” was “ok, buenos dias.”

I am looking forward to some mountain air to sooth my soul.

I don’t really even know why I am attaching pictures to this one.

Sent from a bar where I am wondering if this Pisco Sour is good for my head cold.