If Only We Had Known…

The title of our first blog entry says a lot. Especially considering that we had not even been in Peru for 24 hours by the time all those realizations struck us.

After a long and tiring but otherwise good flight, we arrived in Lima. Given the time difference and the fact that we had gotten up at 4:30 AM to catch our flight from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, we were very tired and eager to get to our hostel for a good night’s sleep. Back in Amsterdam we had already checked the distance between our hostel and the airport as well as a suitable route. Hence, we were confident that we could cycle the mere 250 meters from the airport to our hostel. Boy oh boy, how wrong we were…

It is hard to say when the mood really began to drop. Was it when we had to assemble our bicycles outside in the surprisingly cold and windy pick-up area of the airport? Was it when we fruitlessly waited for the driver from our hostel for 30 minutes before we realized we were standing at the wrong entrance, then another 30 minutes before we managed to single one another out? Or was it the moment of realization when the police told us there is physically simply no way to leave the airport by foot or bicycle only 5 minutes after we had sent away our driver with part of our heaviest luggage? Or was it the subsequent waiting in the cold for 40 minutes waiting for the driver to come back to pick us and our bicycles up after we had been awake for more than 22 hours and our circadian rhythms told us it was 2 o’clock at night instead of half past seven in the evening? If we are being honest the mood dropped at every single one of those points but didn’t hit rock bottom until we were cold and tired, waiting for Alejandro, our hostel driver. At the hostel, we were greeted by our truly warm, kind, and hospitable hosts. The lady of the house was so excited that people had rocked up at her hostel with bicycles and numerous bags. While we were carrying our bags and bicycles out of the trunk, she was taking pictures and filming us. We don’t know whether it was as proof to convince her friends and family that people were crazy enough to cycle up into the mountains of Peru with heavy luggage for three months or herself. The rooms of the hostel were clean and the beds very comfortable. That night we were so tired that we directly went to bed at the hostel without dinner and fell asleep within a matter of minutes.

The next day was prep-day. We had to buy some groceries (we even found soy milk!), fuel, cash, SIM cards, and decide on a route. We left our luggage (save valuables) in the hostel and cycled our first kilometers through the insanely busy streets of Lima. While the groceries and all other points were successful, we did realize a few things quite quickly but just ever so slightly too late: Firstly, most banks charged very high fees to withdraw cash, secondly there is a daily limit of 800 soles per credit card per day which cannot be exceeded, and thirdly that to our surprise the market was more expensive than an actual supermarket.

Apart from that, our little trip into town led to another important realization: Hell would have to freeze over before we would cycle the 50 km that it would take to get us out of the dirty and loud city of Lima. With the state of their traffic that would have likely been a suicide mission. But even if the traffic alone wasn’t reason enough to NOT cycle out of Lima, the aggressive street dogs most certainly were. On our way back from our errands, we took the route to the hostel which Alejandro had taken as well the previous day only to be followed by a particularly crazy bunch of street dogs on our last few meters to the hostel. It was quite scary having them run so closely after us, barking loudly and biting into thin air only inches away from our ankles. My dad and I were cycling at the front closely followed by Göran when the sound of swearing mixed into the relentless yapping of the dogs. It turned out one of the dogs had bit him and tore part of his pants while doing so. We were quite shocked but luckily at the hostel. We quickly lifted our bikes up the stairs and shut the door – safety at last. We washed and disinfected Göran’s wounds and were very happy once again that we were all vaccinated against rabies.

That evening we went to eat at a ‘Chifa’. Those are Peru’s versions of a Chinese restaurant which means that, just like in Europe, the food there is greasy but tasty while not resembling actual Chinese food in any way, shape or form. We went to a Chifa because it is one of the only places where they have two vegetarian options: fried rice with vegetables and a vegetable omelette. We asked the waitress if there would really not be any meat or chicken (yes, in Peru chicken is not considered meat) in the vegetable option. She confirmed that there wasn’t so we ordered and happily waited for our food. 10 min later she returned with vegetables fried rice which contained large pieces of fried chicken…

So to conclude, within the first 24 hours of being in Lima, we would have changed the following things if only we had known:

• We wouldn’t have sent away our driver to cycle to the hostel but actually driven with him instead, even if it had taken two runs to fit all our luggage, us and our bicycles

• We would have looked for a Banco de la Nación right away to withdraw cash there, instead of paying tens of euros worth of withdrawal fees

• We would have taken a credit card per person instead of two

• We would have done all our groceries at the supermarket right away instead of going to the market

• We would have taken another route back to the hostel to avoid the aggressive street dogs

• We wouldn’t have ordered the vegetarian meal if we had known it still included chicken pieces despite asking whether it contained meat or chicken, after which the lady clearly confirmed it was only rice and vegetables

• We would have taken the other way home to the hostel if we had known about the vicious dogs