Lima Peru

So, just a couple of quick notes on my first couple of days here.  I didn´t realise how much a disliked Egypt and how much it had influenced my thoughts of going to a third world country again until I arrived in Lima, Peru.  To say I am relieved about NOT reliving my Egyptian experience is not saying enough.. so I just want to list a couple of  measures to paint the picture.

1. In Egypt, taxis getting your attention with their car horns was akin to having your skulls crushed by baseball bats whilst here in Lima, they achieve the same results with a gentle poke in the arm kind of tooting
2. I can cross the roads here and have attempted and succeeded on several attempts all day (I won´t mention that one bus though... nor the red light he ran... nor my rude words...) whereas in Egypt, not on your life unless I was being piggy-backed by a local.
3. Respect, respect, respect. As a woman travelling solo, being treated with respect by the men here in Lima and not like a chattel to be accosted, yelled at and abused if you didn´t accept any of their offers (like in Egypt), is a wonderful thing.  
4. Finally, not being fleeced. There doesn´t seem to be a local price and a rip-off tourist price like in Egypt.  If there is, it can´t be too much of a mark-up because I haven´t felt it.

Yay, my faith has been restored in travelling to exotic places again.  Thank you Peru, I own you heaps.

So, Miraflores is lovely.  Its a newer part of Lima; ritzy, coastal and just plain pretty.  Massive cliffs down to ocean and in the distance a huge crucifix and Jesus statue that they light up at night.  Funnily enough, being a massive Catholic population, there are condom ads everywhere... Hooray!  Intelligence and common-sense prevails.

I´ve even heard Crowded House played in restaurants here... I´ll not get into the who owns C.H. argument, but it was nice to hear a familiar tune whilst eating dinner by the coast.

The lovely older style houses are dotted around the place amongst new builds and high-rise.  Unfortunately, there are plenty of casinos dotted around the place too; large and small.  Pity!

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Am totally loving this trip so far and I haven´t really been anywhere. I think it's the shear relief of being free to walk around the place and not stress about who I´m about to offend (see list above).

If in Lima, Miraflores is a definite destination.  Pretty and clean (oh, did I mention doggy dos everywhere but not like in Paris... oh and there are tonnes of cats that seem to live in a central park area... they all looked pretty healthy though so that was a bit weird!).

Chao for now.. or should I say... Damn it, I´ve forgotten how to say bye in Spanish already!!!

¿Como se dice.. see ya later?