Lima: A Tale of Three Cities

Day 1 in Lima. A hectic couple of weeks criss-crossing the US meeting family and friends. The US turned out to be a nice ‘holiday’ between Chile and Peru…Missed out on the World Cup in the Caribbean – but on hindsight, that turned out to be a good thing – what with India’s abysmal performance.

My hostal here is in a posh neighbourhood of Lima – San Isidro. Took a taxi to old Lima this morning - and Lima’s reputation seems to precede it. Everyone scares you here “its better we call you a taxi or else take the yellow ones – they’re safe”. And all the hostals advertise “safe location” on the internet. Old Lima is a maze of narrow streets built around a number of grand plazas. Its run-down, there’s dust everywhere and there’s the (familiar) stench of urine. The buildings look like they’re about to fall – and you turn a corner and see this huge plaza with magnificent buildings and imposing statues. A strong sense of Indian cities. Saw the changing of the guards at the Presidential palace – pomp and ceremony and the usual gawking crowds. But there was also the menacing presence of armoured cars manned by soldiers with automatics. But all said and done, Lima is a sociable city – a lot of people got talking to me – despite the language barrier. A man sitting next to me on a bench at the Plaza de Armas, taxi drivers. And the theme continued to be India…the plaza man turned out to be a student at the local Yoga institute (didn’t know Lima had one!) and the cabbies seemed to be fascinated by the bindi and arranged marriages!

Went in the evening to Miraflores –a shopping district with glitzy malls filled with happy Limenos and expats. So Lima is really 3 towns; Old Lima with its fading colonial grandeur coupled with the feel of small-town India; San Isidro – business district and super rich residential area where you find massive piles hidden behind huge fnces and security guards and ritzy, glitzy Miraflores…