Waken up around 8:30am, luckily, I brought my little fleece blanket, I can definitely use it at night. Although the bed is harder than what I am used to, I am ok with it, good for my back I suppose. The strange pillows gave me headache though. I went to the bathroom to take a shower, after 15 people must have used the shower before me, all the hot water was already gone. The water is cold even I turned only "hot water" switch. I finished it really quickly, must be one of the quickest showers I have ever taken. The hostel provides breakfast in the morning: un cafe con leche y pan (coffee with milk and bread with butter). I chatted with the same girl I talked to the first day, she is going to para-gliding today, and then will leave to Argentina tomorrow. There was also another guy at the table. He is from Chicago! Or he works in Chicago anyway, he's originally from Denver. I was like, you are kidding, I just came from Chicago as well, suddenly I felt like I know him for years. So we chatted a little bit, he is leaving to Cuzco today. Anyway, neither of them has taken the bus here in Lima, so they don't have any advice for me. (At least I don't feel so bad about not having the ball to catch a bus yesterday, it seems like not many travelers use the bus here.) However, the guy told me that the bus like vehicles I saw yesterday was actually the colectivo (the cheap taxi), they looks more like a minibus to me, be honest, I would never have called that a taxi. Anyway, it's good to get that clarifed.
ASked the staff at the front desk about the bus, how I may be able to distinguish which and which. This girl does not speak much english either, she just pointed out (on paper, with spanish and a few english words) that I should look for a bus with No. 73A, which in fact stop across from the hostel. Ok. that's easy. I stepped out and there it was, it was actually just coming at the corner. So we waved, the girl was by my side too, but I noticed there is no 73 in the front, just an A and Spanish words telling the places or something. But no time to ask, just jumped on the bus and off I go. It cost only 1.2 soles, like 40 cent in USD. I was looking at the street signs, trying to remember the bus route, suddenly it dawned on me that I didn't ask her how to get back. I figured that maybe I just walked across to the other sides, I would be get to find the same bus. Except that the vehicles on the road are quite choatic. It's not easy as you think. I also noticed that this is actually a "bus" bus I was taking, no colectivo. It does have bus stops, with the sign "Paradero", although like most Asian, South American also don't really follow the rules of the roads, the bus stops wherever people wants to get on or get off really. Still, it's good, I thought, I'm finding more signs. I was quite confident that I should be able to get back. (Let's see about that! Right?)
Something else happened on the bus, at some points, when the bus stopped, there were a bunch of sellers outside the windows selling stuffs. This man carried me a bunch of stationary, crossword books, and a lot string of wallets. How's neat?! Another woman holding a dishes of donut or something selling from cars to cars. At some points, the ticket guy (they are usually in pair, the bus driver and the ticket guy on a bus) let a man get the bus, selling stuffs or performing (singing, playing guitar) for money. Anything goes, I tell you. On my way to Centro, this guy was selling a sewing easy thingy, for putting a string into the hole of needle. It was made with some cheap plastic, quite colorful, like a toy. There were actually people buying it. Interesting. And on my way back, there was this guy playing guitar and singing too. He actually did really good, I tempted to give him some money, but probably he saw me holding a map on my hand, and didn't even bother to ask me for money. Good, so I saved a buck. (More about my return journey in a bit.)
Happy that I got to Centro Lima finally on bus, like I have accomplished my silly little goal of the day. I started to walk around the place, first went to main plaza areas, filled with policemen with guns blocking all sites. I was thinking what the hell is going on. The plaza was kind of quiet actually. Later in the afternoon, the police started to leave. Something must be up earlier. Anyway, I must have walked 4 hours or more, I went inside the main Cathedral, needed to pay 10 Soles to get in, equivalent to 3.5 US dollars. Took a good number of pictures in there. Had lunch at one of the restaurants near the plaza. Today's the appetizer - some kind of creamy potato with a quarter of an egg on top - not that good, but the 2nd course - a steamy stir-fly kind of chicken with tomoto and onion - which is a good pick. Again there was a woman with a karaoke machine on roller, singing for money. She was singing like a dead fish. Sorry. Definitely no money. By 4:30pm, I knew I better try to find a bus home, or it would get dark soon. I walked back to where I got off earlier, crossed to the other sides. Colectivos, buses flying by, I didn't see any 73 or A, but saw one colectivo with Miraflores on the front sign, so I waved, it stopped, I asked, "Miraflores?", he signaled me to get on, so I was in a sardine packed minibus, standing in the back, not sure if I was doing the right thing to get on. But I trusted my gut this time. It ought to bring me somewhere nearby the areas, if the guy let me in. And it did. Thanks god. Stopped by a Starbucks, had a latte. They don't have cream or milk on the side stand for you, you actually need to order a latte in order to have milk in your coffee. Whatever. Back to hostel. My 2nd day ended.
Dinner was a bit cheapy tonight, I bought a piece of chicken drumstick (leg), pulled out the meat, and sandwich it in a bun, with some banana chips. Speaking of that, I am getting kind of hungry now. But it's too late to eat anything, I better head to bed. Tomorrow, my last sightseeing day in Lima, not sure what I gonna do yet... probably head to another district to check things out. But I must return earlier, and start packing. Friday, needed to leave really early, like departing to the airport at 6:30am. So, I probably need to wake up at 5:45am.
Photos here: Day 2
Footnote: Overall, I feel better today than yesterday. Found a little satisfaction about taking the bus, but the language is still very difficult for me, it's definitely more difficult than I anticipated. Suddenly I realized how much I have relyed on english for years. I wonder if I have difficulty with the capital of Peru, then what about the few rural areas I am planning to visit, how am I gonna communicate with people and get around areas? And those long buses...18 hours. What am I gonna do? Driving me crazy to think about it now. But this is only the 2nd day, maybe it is too soon to say. Hopefully the Spanish lessons will help survive the next 2 months.
