Live From Lima

Well, I’m back in the EEUU — Estados Unidos — at least for the summer. It was getting too damn cold for me in Lima. Plus I had to take care of a few things here in the US. I’ll probably be heading back to Peru in August or September. Of course everything depends on work and what projects I’m working on at the time. So we’ll see.

One thing I already miss about Lima is the fantastic food. And the beautiful peruanas of course. And the fun nightlife. And the crazy taxi/combi drivers. And the…

Well, I’m going to go look for cheap flights to Lima…

This is great. Unlike the author I actually have driven in Lima and, well, let’s just say it was one of the scariest experiences of my life and will almost certainly never happen again. There are millions of taxis in this city and the vast majority are driven by lunatics. I’m not kidding. Some Peruvian university students took a survey of Lima taxi drivers recently and found that something like 80% of them can be categorized as psychopathic. Why? Because they said that they have little or no remorse about hitting a person with their car. And I know for a fact that they have no remorse at all about charging gringos 3 time as much as a ride is worth!

Update: OK, I’ve been notified by a concerned Peruvian that “only” 40% of the taxi drivers in the above-mentioned survey were classified as psychopathic. Now I feel much better…

Travis Smith: Taxis in Lima, Peru

I love eating menus. No, not laminated paper menus you get at restaraunts. In Peru, a “menu” is a set selection of appetizers (entradas) and entrees (segundos) that you can choose from, almost always offered at lunchtime by hundreds of restaurants around Lima. There is usually a list of about 4 or 5 appetizers and 5-8 entrees and you choose one selection from each list. Often, a fresh soup is offered as well. The whole delicious meal generally costs between $2 and $4 US. Great Peruvian food at a price that can’t be beat!

The best menus I’ve found in Miraflores are on Calle Berlin. The entire street is filled with small menu restaurants that offer just about every type of Peruvian food you could want. You can find me at one of these places just about every afternoon. There is also a great place called Sofi’s on Diez Canseco near Larco Ave. If you’re in Lima and you wan’t a great-tasting, low-cost meal of fresh Peruvian food get yourself to a menu restaurant right away!

In my never-ending search for good coffee in Lima I have stumbled upon another place to get a high-quality cup of the brown stuff. It’s called ‘Bavaria’ and it’s located right next to Parque Kennedy in Miraflores, on Oscar Benevides. Great cappuccinos and cafe con leches! The reason I just found it now is because the place recently reopened after being closed for about a year.

Well, it’s been more than a month since my last posting. Why? Two reasons:

1. I’m lazy.
2. I have so many work-related web projects that pretty much everything I deem “non-essential” has been put on the back-burner.

Anyway, for a quick update, here’s what’s happened in the past month or so…

1. I visited Cuzco and Machu Picchu: Absolutely amazing places, especially Machu Picchu! I recommend everyone go there at least once before they die. Photos coming…. eventually….

2. 2 of my good friends from Atlanta came to visit: The most fun I’ve had in Peru so far. There’s nothing like hanging out with your ‘real’ buddies in a Latin American country, especially when someone (in this case me) already knows where the fun stuff is. My one friend was having so much fun he extended his trip by a week!

3. I got an antibiotic-resistant strep throat infection: Possibly the worst 5 or 6 days of the trip. My second damn strep infection… but this time no relief after beginning antibiotics. 104 degree fever for about 4 days. Finally realized what was going on, sent girlfriend to farmacia to buy different antibiotics, and I was feeling better by nightime. Again, my biggest complaint about Peru: at any given time, 50% of the people around you are sick with something contagious… and there’s a very good chance you’re going to get it!

So that’s it. Oh, one more thing… I’m leaving in a week! Yes, after more than 6 months, I’m finally getting the heck out of Peru for a little while. I may be back as soon as July though because I want to be here for the 28 de Julio Independence Day celebrations. I’m going back to the US for a little while to deal with business and family issues. But the fact that the weather sucks now that it’s winter down here is another motivating factor!