lima: where fog, history, and ceviche collide
okay so i'm in this place called lima. it's huge, like way bigger than i expected. got here after a long flight and immediately felt like i'd stepped into a postcard that got left in the rain. it's sitting right by the pacific ocean but also in the middle of a desert? yeah, i don't get it either. the rivers chillón, rímac, and lurín are around here somewhere, but all i see is fog and concrete.
i just checked and it's...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. feels like 21.58°C but the humidity's at 83% so it's that sticky kind of warm where your shirt sticks to your back by noon. pressure's at 1012 whatever that means for fog, but honestly the garúa (that's their word for the persistent mist) is everywhere. it's like the city's perpetually exhaling.
so this place was founded in 1535 by some spanish guy named pizarro. he called it the "city of kings" which is hilarious because honestly it feels more like "city of chaos" sometimes. there was this massive earthquake in 1746 that leveled everything, so they rebuilt it with wide streets and fancy buildings. now the historic center's a unesco site with cathedrals and palaces and catacombs under san francisco monastery - which i haven't seen yet but heard the bones are arranged by size?
if you get bored, callao is just a short drive away. it's the port city that's basically glued to lima now. other districts blend into everything - vitarte's all industrial and gritty, barranco's got those colorful old houses by the cliffs, and miraflores is where all the hotels and restaurants are. honestly, the whole thing just sprawls forever like spilled ink.
someone told me that lima's got like 431 archaeological sites called huacas scattered around. huaca pucllana's in miraflores, this pre-inca adobe pyramid right next to office buildings. which is kind of amazing - you can be eating lunch and then wander across the street to see something that's 2,000 years old.
food here is... something else. everyone's going on about how lima's the culinary capital of south america. which is true? i guess? had ceviche - raw fish soaked in lime juice, actually pretty good. also tried lomo saltado, which is basically stir-fried beef with fries and rice. someone told me the best anticuchos (grilled skewers) are on the streets near larco museum, but haven't made it there yet. too busy dodging traffic and trying to not get run over by mototaxis.
population's like 10-11 million people. mostly mestizo, then a bunch of europeans, asians, and indigenous folks. everyone calls lima "el pulpo" (the octopus) because it's got tentacles everywhere. and it's true - you see influences from all over the world in the food and faces. but also huge gaps between rich and poor. some areas are fancy and safe, others... not so much.
the air quality's not great because of the fog and all the cars. unemployment's high and public transport's sketchy, especially if you're not in the nice districts. traffic's a nightmare and the water situation seems shaky since they rely on the rímac river for everything. but hey, at least there's that giant fountain complex downtown? someone said it's the biggest in the world.
so yeah. lima's a mess of contradictions - ancient ruins next to high rises, desert next to ocean, fancy restaurants next to street food. i'm tired already but also kinda fascinated. if you come, bring layers and good shoes. and maybe an umbrella. even if it doesn't rain, the fog's always there watching you.
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