Peru - Day 2 (Part 1)

Lima is a dirty nasty city. Well, at least the part of it I saw in the few hours I was there was dirty and nasty. The area by the airport is extremely poor, and it's probably not the greatest reflection on the area. Most of the building are constructed with cinder blocks and homemade cement, and if there are any city code issues for buildings, you would never guess it.

The traffic is crazy. At 1 am there was a healthy mix of pedestrians, cars (most of which were a horribly cheap little car called a Daewoo Tico), rickshaws, and whatever else you can name that could be used as transportation. I even saw a man walking an ox along the street.

When leaving the airport, you have the option of paying about $27 for a licensed taxi, or taking one of the unlicensed ones (all driving Daewoo Ticos) outside the airport. The licensed one is worth every penny and I wouldn't even remotely suggest doing otherwise.

We arrived at the Sheraton Lima, and within 30 seconds of checking in at the desk, both of us were overcome by fumes that were burning our noses and lungs. They were cleaning part of the lobby with some vile concoction (it wouldn't surprise me if it was hydrochloric acid). Obviously OSHA doesn't have much influence here.

7 am arose and it was time to wake up and enjoy the site of a beautiful sunny Lima: