Peru: Miscellaneous

I’ve got more to say about my trip in Peru, and it’s MY BLOG DANGIT so here are some random musings!

Lima Drivers = The Worst
We spent some time in Peru’s capital city of Lima. I thought I had seen bad traffic and drivers before, but I’m sorry, Lima has the worst. drivers. ever.

There’s generally an etiquette when you and the car coming from the opposing direction are both turning left, where you turn at the same time in front of each other and high-five on the way by. But here, I try to turn left and they keep going straight at me. Meanwhile, cars behind try to go around to the right, and then we’re all just kind of stuck. So after much frustrated hand puppets and gesturing, we did our 18-point turns to freedom.

Bedtime Stories At Hostel Not Advised
We stayed in a hostel with a woman who told us a story about surviving a freaking plane crash in the Amazon! Seriously. The plane exploded after take-off and crashed into the rainforest. 84 people died, including one of her good friends. She was one of the flight attendants, and one of just 13 people who survived the crash. She had gone through just one day of Amazon survival training and made it through the night worrying about crocodiles until they were rescued. Didn’t fact check this one, her voice, eyes, and sincerity were enough.

Going Solo @ Museo de Arte Contemporaneo
I went to a museum alone which I love because I get to do what I want.

A Note On Stray Dogs in Lima
They look like they’re pretty well taken care of.

Stinky Sea Lions

You probably can’t really tell, but that weird rock formation is actually thousands (approx 6,000) of sea lions.

Food Notes!

• The food is unhealthy, oily and full of carbs. They have vegetables (see photo below), they just apparently don’t serve them.
• There was some sweet purple popcorn and cakes that looked good but… weren’t.
• We ordered quinoa and it came as a sweet drink. WHAT?! Must be some mistake.  They never had what I was used to.
• Breakfast and lunch, it’s all the same food.
• Peru ceviche is the best.
• Chifa = chinese food. Not very good, but very cheap, and the portions are huge.  Never go to Chifa when you’re not that hungry.  Also, ordered something called aeropuerto because I like airports.
• Avocado on bread (with an occasional egg I had to order separately ) was my favorite thing to eat.
  

Classic lack of vegetables even though they grow them here.

Proof that they sell vegetables (even though there isn’t any in their food).

Ceviche.  Best thing ever!  Ben says I eat it like I was starved once.

General Notes

We felt safe the whole time. There was only one brief moment where we didn’t when some guy asked where we were from and, without looking at each other, Ben and I simultaneously responded “Canada!”

The dancing in music videos isn’t sexual like in ours. It’s almost childlike.

Ben and I played a game each night where we said 3 things we were grateful for and 3 things we would change about the day.   One of mine was to buy one of the hats I saw the women wearing…

See one here.

I wanted to blend in so badly! We saw women wearing these cool hats everywhere but couldn’t seem to find them for purchase anywhere. Most of the women in the market had them on.  And at the bank.  There were CRAZY long lines for the bank that extended around the block — at every bank, even in small towns — and all the women in line were wearing tall hats. We thought buying one off of someone’s head probably wasn’t very respectful.

Finally I found one, and as soon as I purchased it and put it on, all the ladies in the market kept telling me how pretty I was. And no, of course I don’t have the pics to prove it.

A charming, mountain town… with hats!

Notice the hats.  And avocados!

4 Quick Facts! (Sorta)

1. The Peruvian currency is called the “sol,” which when pluralized to soles, does not sound like “souls,” but “so-lays.” So I was offering people 7 Souls for things, and getting weird looks, but feeling rather devilish. 
2. “Hot springs” are apparently weird, dingy “private” rooms that feel super dirty and smell like surfers and aren’t relaxing at all. But, I did get to laugh until I cried, so there’s that.
   
3. Peru has the largest speed bumps in the world (that I’ve ever seen). They even paint them black to sneak up on you.  They got us good.  Or bad.  I bit my tongue multiple times. 

   Here’s a ‘fun’ driving game for you if you ever visit Northern Peru: Both driver and passenger try to watch out for the speed bumps. When you see one, yell BUMP! as loud as you can. If the driver hits it too hard and causes a jarring impact, the passenger gets to get pissed off and ask “Do you want me to drive?”(We actually even saw a music video while we were there in which the girl was hitchhiking in front of a speed bump because the drivers have to slow down so much for them, so it’s a bit of an in-joke for Peruvians too.)

4. Peru has over 20 out of the 34 climates in the world, and very varied landscapes, with the Amazon Rainforest, Andes Mountains, Sand Dunes on rugged beaches, and more.

Beach straight out of a Tim Burton movie with handmade canoes for fishing in the Pacific Ocean.

These sand dunes look like they were painted, but they’re totally real.

Went really out of our way for this view so I had to include it.

And that’s my rather random round-up (hey alliteration!) from the rest of my trip in Peru. I’ve heard Peru called the Thailand of South America (I think because it’s the place that most people start on each respective continent but really, I have no idea.  Peru was the first country I visited in South America.).  It had a bit of everything for me, from natural beauty to city slums to epic quests for hats and vegetables.  I loved it, but still prefer quinoa the way I’m used to.

Hats off (because I lost mine),
‘mi