Memoirs of a Loner Traveler: Lima, Peru

7 August 11:44 am Tokyo, Japan
I´ve been in this overpriced cafe before, with its high ceilings and echoing conversations. I´m drinking a $12 cup of latte! Who pays for such things? There´s a buzzing headache growing at the back of my head and my eyes are heavy and achy. Why did I leave my parents´ so early? Oh, right I didn´t want to prolong the parting with them for so long. Advil soon.

7 August 16:45 on LP 605
I think to myself, why am I doing this to myself? This is stupid, I don´t even know the language. It is, in fact, the exact same thing I did 5 summers ago, traveling alone to Italy. No knowledge of the language, and therefore not a clue what the sings meant or said in the airport.

If I can determine such a thing as the worst airport I´ve ever been to, it would be Los Angeles International. To begin with, it´s gianormous, making it really difficult to navigate through in a short period of time. Secondly, it´s set up according to flight companies, regardless of their international or domestic destinations. So, although Tom Bradley is an exclusively international terminal, the other 2 lengths of terminals aren´t exclusively domestic, which makes "Tom Bradley International Terminal" slightly pointless. Then of course there was a volunteer guy dressed like an airport services dude, who helped me navigate through the airport, and then said, "Now hold on a minute, I´ve got one question for you. You see, I´m a volunteer for this (pointing at this laminated ID badge) organization and we´re raising some money for kids. And I know you LOVE kids, so could you dig down in your heart, and donate some money? We take all currencies." My prompt reply was, "I´ve got no cash on me, I´m sorry."

This was, after all, post-2.5 hours lined up at customs, immigration, and connecting flight baggage check-in. It would be another 30 minutes before I had finally reached my boarding gate in Tom Bradley International. And the connecting flight baggage check'in thing was superbly sketchy. I swallowed hard into my guts watching my large pack getting sucked into a black square hole, its destination unknown, and the conveyor belt lapping every bag into it. I inquired about my bag to every LAN attendant that I laid eyes upon, but I can defintely see my bag not appearing on the conveyor belt in Lima, at 11pm. How fantastic.

17:00 on LP605
Turbulence!! I hate flying! Why am I going to Peru again?

0:30 Peru time, getting off LP605
Landed. Thank god. I´m free of airplanes for... eight hours.

I hopped onto a bus after getting off the plane, one of those that takes you to the terminal. On board, there were a group of American elderly people who were quite energetic after the 8 hour flight. "Are you all off on vacation?" I asked, and the answer I got was a little more than what I expected. "Oh no dear," one of the ladies said. "We´re Evangelists and we´re going up to Iquitos on an elderly health camp. Last year we went to Costa Rica. We´re volunteers and we talk to elderly people about health risks, like hepatitis and diabetes, and teach them how to take care of their health."

"Amazing, that´s really awesome. And you get to travel to so many places," I said.

"Yes, it is quite a fun and amazing experience for all of us. But the most important part of it is," the lady leant over towards me in a hush but with a bright grin, "we get to talk to them about Jesus. That´s the most important part. Because he´s coming very soon."

I didn´t really know what else to do but nodd and mumble, "Ohh." I still managed to keep a smile on my face. Unaffected by my awkward reply, the lady reached into her carry-on bag and pulled out a grey booklet. "It´s about the 10 commandments, you may want to read it, if you like."

"Oh, wow, thanks." I mean, what else was I supposed to say or do? So I took the booklet from her, she wished me great travels and a God Bless You, and I hopped off the bus. Only to realize, it was FREEZING. The good news was my bag that appeared on the conveyor belt after waiting 40 minutes empty-handed. Immigration and customs went smoothly as well, completed in under 20 minutes, what a record! I found Mario, the taxi guy from my hostel, holding up a sign with my last name scribbled on it, and we headed towards the hostel where I am now.

Lima is like suburban Taiwan. Lots of billboards, not many illuminated signs like in Tokyo, and even coming from Tokyo I felt that it was a very large city. We drove straight for a long time, until we veered right to turn onto the street on which my hostel was located. So in some respects, I suppose it was kind of like driving through a very urban version of Calgary. Granted, it was 2am by the time we got to the hostel, so my impressions are kind of limited. Perhaps this morning I will get a better view.

And it is still freezing. I slept for an hour and a half, and woke up shivering like I had just been retrieved from the Arctic Ocean. I tried to stay in my bed for at least another half an hour, but couldn´t, and decided to take a shower, warm up, and update my blog. In another hour and a half I am off on my plane to Cuzco, which is probably going to be as cold, if not colder, than Lima. Fantastic. You know, traveling across the equator in one summer is a bit of a pain, because you have to carry winter and summer clothes. And I didn´t really bring that many winter clothes.

Oh well.