Fighting Fatigue on First Day in Lima, Peru

It has been hard to realize that this will be my lifestyle for the next few years, that I’m currently unemployed, that traveling and enjoying life is all I have to do. I’m not conscious of this most of the time.

My flight arrived at Lima at 4am. I met Jen, a girl from LA on the flight and helped her translate a little as she didn’t know if she had to pick up her luggage before her transfer flight to Cusco.

It didn’t hit me that I was in another country until I excited the airport and felt the warm, humid, and musty air. I took a cab for 70 soles (I think I got ripped off a bit) to Pariwana Backpacker’s Hostel in Miraflores neighborhood of Lima. Once there, they told me that I couldn’t check in until 1pm, but that I could use their facilities. By then I was totally exhausted, having slept about 3 hours in the previous 48 hours. With no energy to go out and sightsee, I tried to keep myself awake until I found a comfy couch in the hostel’s movie room. I must have slept for 4 hours there before waking up around 2pm. I checked in, and with renewed energy, I made my way to Central Lima. I visited Lima 9 years ago, but didn’t have a chance to visit downtown at the time.

As the sun went down, I made my way back to the hostel. I had taken the bus on the way to centro, but decided to take the Metropolitano Bus on the way back. You buy a card for 4.50 soles, and each ride costs 2 soles. All the buses were super crowded and I was only able to board the 4th one that came by.

The hostel is very nice. A very secure front door with a security guard, clean rooms and bathrooms, nice terrace to relax, restaurant, bar, movie room, and decent wifi internet. For only about $12 a night, it’s a great value. They even have electrical outlets inside the lockers.

I walked around the neighborhood in search dinner and found this place full of locals. I assumed it had to be good. After a decent chicken sandwich and an Inka Cola, I made my way back to the hostel where surprisingly they were showing a River Plate (my favorite from Argentina) match on TV. It turned out that one of the guys working at the hostel was from Argentina. I ended up watching the match with him.

Like my previous two trips staying in hostels, the first night is always a little strange, with me being unsure how on how to fit into the whole social dynamics of these places. But, like it has always happened in the past, I was sure that things will work out very soon. There was nothing to worry about.