Blogs from Miraflores, Lima, Lima, Peru, South America - page 50

Day 1 on the tour to south america!!! flight wasn't too bad for 16 hours or so! no delays at least. although i did almost slap a woman in the face on the plane! it was completely accidental....don't know what i was dreaming about but i woke up with my arm shooting across the aisle! got to the hostel no problems...ant tell you much about the city as it was dark when i arrived and i cant really see me going out tonight. just a few beers at the hostel bar me thinks. well, its not much od an opener but i know mum will appreciate it to know i got here safe and sound!! Ben kisses where appropriate... read more

I know it is a weird title to have for this blog but it is sort of an interesting story. Every five to 10 years, Peru wants to know how many people are living here so they literally do a door-to-door census. Peru picked a date (October 21st, 2007) and required everyone to stay in their homes for 10 hours from 8am to 6pm. People are also required to stay sober during this time. I went surfing at 5:30am with our friend Dave and returned to our apartment just before the deadline of 8am. I thought it was sort of funny when I saw several people going out to surf as we were getting out of the water. Were they going to follow the government's rules? It did not turn out to be that strange of ... read more

After another wonderful breakfast and meager but honest conversacion with my beautiful host family, I begin a typical walk through Miraflores, Lima, to espanol school. This walk takes approximately 30 to 40 minutes depending on which lefts and rights I decide to take and provides me a healthy dose of toxic exhaust, tightly packed but beautiful homes enshrined in electric fences and a plethora of security guards dotted thoughout the city. The streets and sidewalks are swept daily, and the public grounds and parks are kept in immaculate condition. I am truly in the nicest neigborhood in a city of 8 million, and I am witnessing what happens when you have an extreme gap between rich and poor. A liikely scenario for the US in the future as our gap widens. There are parts or Miraflores ... read more

As anticipated, our move across the border from Ecuador to Peru did not result in any major observable change in surroundings or the environment. We had not heard hugely flattering reports of Lima (certainly vis a vis Arequipa and Cusco), mainly in terms of its standard of living and crime rate. Now just as we may have been unfair on Ecuador at times, due the relatively small sample we saw, maybe we are being overly fair with Lima, for the same reason, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Mind you, we did stay in a great part of town, Miraflores, and in a nice hotel, and our main exposure to the actual city was just the touristy downtown area, so we didn’t get to see any of the “shantytowns” warned about in the brochures. Miraflores is ... read more

So our journey comes to an end. We had a great day and night in Valipraiso, Chile. The owner of the hostal there showed us all the places to see there if we only had one day. Valipraiso is famous for´all of it´s ascensors, or elevators, that help the locals travel from the lower downtown area up the steep hill to the neighbourhoods on the cerres, or hills. They are old but still in working condition so we rode up one. We also went to LA Sebastiana, a museum of a house that was built but a Spanish man and designed by a famous Chilean poet, Pablo Naruda. The house was designed to make you feel like you are in a boat when inside. IT had amazing views of the PAcific Ocean. VAlipraiso is also famous ... read more