I made it to Lima!

It was another 6 hour slog down the Pacific coast of Latin America to reach Lima, although luckily I had several Big Bang Theory episodes to get through.

Entering Lima was a breeze, but getting my transfer was rather surreal. Because Lima's international airport is actually situated in the drug-trafficking centre of Callao - one of the largest ports in the Western Hemisphere - its generally best to get an airport transfer rather than trust one of the taxi drivers loitering outside.

Antonio, my transfer driver, had actually parked in a shopping mall a 20minute walk away. On the hour drive into Central Lima from the airport we had a pretty interesting conversation in Spanish, whilst listening to the dying moments of the England-Colombia World Cup match - Colombia scoring to take it to a penalty shootout just before arriving at the hostel.

The drive from the airport was really interesting. Lima seems, unfinished. Purposely. It seems about half the buildings in Lima are deliberately only half-built. We seemed to pass about 20 trillion Chifas - Chinese restaurants, as well as huge factories and roads dedicated to dismantling cars.

After arriving at the hostel, and catching the penalty shootout of the England-Colombia game, I headed out to the centre of Lima.

Predictably I went in the complete wrong direction. Having picked up a cinnamon roll in the Plaza Real mall I eventually made my way to Plaza San Martin, and on to the real centre of Lima - the Plaza de Armas.

My plan was then to head up the Cerro San Cristobal, home to a Mirador/lookout, which looms over Lima and is supposed to give a spectacular view of this city of 10million people. The guidebook had stated that buses take tourists from the Plaza de Armas to the Cerro but when I asked the tourist police in Plaza de Armas where they were they said that the operation went private and you had to book in advance.

A bit annoyed, at a bus company making it more difficult to get somewhere so they can make more money, I decided to try a taxi. However, it then transpired just quite why the bus company made it so you had to book in advance. So they could get clearance from the drug traffickers that control the Rimac neighborhood between central Lima and the Cerro.

The taxi I hailed told me he simply couldn't take me up there because it was too dangerous. Rimac, like all of Lima's outer barrios (neighborhoods) is a hub of criminal activity - on a grey afternoon half an hour before it would go dark on my first day back in South America, I decided not to risk it...

So instead I went for a Chinese. And by that I mean, a massive plate of rice with bits of pork in it. By then it was dark and time to navigate Lima's bustling city centre streets and horrific traffic-clogged roads.

I'd forgotten just how chaotic South American cities got. Lima is a monster! My hostel, set in a beautiful colonial mansion, despite the best efforts of the Latino music loudly played in the subdued hostel bar has a general hubbub of car horns and sirens from the race track, sorry, highway, below.

The most interesting part is that the roads get so congested, instead of relying on the traffic lights, which have timers to count down how long pedestrians have to cross/cars have to go, they get traffic wardens with glow sticks to stand in the middle of the road to guide the traffic. The result is utter chaos, cars going absolutely everywhere at 200mph whilst traffic wardens dance ballet in the middle of the road with glow sticks!

Anyway, its an early night tonight as tomorrow I head to the sand dunes of Huacachina + I need to catch up on sleep after one of the longest and most hectic tuesdays ever!