TRANSPORTATION IN LIMA

As I said in one of my previous posts, you can always take a taxi from the street or call a taxi company. Most tourists usually hire a taxi service because they don't know how to get around and because they've heard Lima's dangerous. I personally think Lima isn't as dangerous as people make it out to be. You just have to be careful is all. Common sense goes a long way here. Miraflores, San Isidro (sahn-ee-SEE-droh), San Borja (sahn BORha), and Surco are generally safe but it's always best to keep an eye open just in case. If you go to any other district, then you definitely want to keep a look out for suspicious activity.

TAKING BUSES....

    WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?

• If you have never taken a bus in Peru then you're in for a real surprise. Buses here come in a variety of colors and sizes. In Peru, people refer to all buses as carros or "cars" in English. We have four different kinds of buses and sometimes they have different names. The really small ones are called combis (KOHM-bees). The medium-sized ones that are round-ish in the front like in the picture to the right are sometimes referred to as cousters (KOO-sters). The really big buses like in the picture are called omnibuses (OHM-nee-boos-siz). The ones that are slightly smaller than the omnibus but still rectangular shaped with no curves are micros (MEE-krows) but they're still much bigger than combis so I don't understand why they gave it that name. Don't worry about remembering the correct name for each type of bus. Just refer to them as carros and everyone will understand. It's pretty difficult having to get into a combi because they are ridiculously tiny! You literally have to hunch over to get into your seat if you're more than five feet tall. A great majority of the buses are old buses and they're usually in really bad condition. I don't think they do the maintenance on them like they should. You will see a lot of buses that  have that black smoke stuff come out of the exhaust, which is probably the main reason why Lima has a wonderful gray cloud looming over it and I can never see beautiful blue skies.

    ARE THEY COMFORTABLE?

• Buses in Lima can be extremely uncomfortable sometimes. Especially in the summer because of all the heat and smelly armpits. I literally have to hold my breath for as long as I can sometimes until the smelly man next to me gets off. No street buses have air conditioning. When a bus gets packed, it gets REALLY packed! To better explain myself, imagine being pressed up against strangers in an elevator that has a maximum capacity of 15 people. That's kind of what it's like here except in our imaginary elevator, the people have their faces pressed against the walls because we have twenty-five people on instead of fifteen. Buses which have those little cash machine things in them don't exist here. A cobrador (koh-brah-DORE), the person who charges you the bus fare and is usually standing at the bus door, will try to get as many people on as possible, because the more people they have on the bus, the more money they make. Don't panic because the buses aren't always packed. This mostly happens during rush hour which is early in the mornings from 7-9:30 or in the afternoons from 5-9.  The cobrador walks around the bus every few minutes to charge you the appropriate fare and give you your bus ticket. 

    HOW MUCH IS THE BUS FARE?

• To most places it's a sol, depending on the bus company, which is usually a 45 minute bus ride or more than 10 blocks. The cobradores will usually ask you "¿dónde?" which means "where?" and you just tell them your bus stop or the block number of the street you're going to. If you didn't give them enough money then they'll either tell you how much more you need to give them or just the total price. 

ARE THEY SAFE?

• No, not really. As I said before, most of them are old and they don't do maintenance on them like they should. What makes matters worse, is that bus drivers here actually compete with each other. They speed and cut each other off all the time just to get as many passengers as possible. They'll also zigzag through traffic, abruptly stop because of speeding, therefore making you go flying forward, bumping into people, stepping on their feet, etc. Not to mention almost crashing into each other or running over pedestrians all the time. A lot of people lose their lives everyday because of bus accidents. If you don't feel safe on a bus because the bus driver is driving like a maniac, then get off and take another one or a taxi. 

     WHAT'S THE "METROPOLITANO?"

•  The Metropolitano is a bus system created by the ex mayor of Lima, Luis Castañeda Lossio. It goes through via Expresa, which is a highway. This bus system was officially inaugurated last June and was free for a month. I believe the route takes you from the district called Chorrillos, which is in the south, to Comas, in the north. They have a regular bus and an express bus. The fare for the regular bus is S/1.50. I'm not sure how much it costs to get on the express bus. The regular bus stops at all bus stops whereas the express stops at about 5 stops or so. You need to have a bus card. The card doesn't cost you anything, but you have to put a minimum of 5 soles on the card if you're getting it for the first time. There are instructions in Spanish on how to get a card and how to put money on it. There's usually an employee there to help you if you're having trouble. 

• Once you have your card, all you have to do is swipe it so you can go through the turnstile and walk to the correct platform (sometimes there are two boarding platforms) and the correct side of the bus platform since you can take buses from either side depending on if you're going north or south. If you're not sure which side you have to take the bus from or which bus you have to take, just ask an employee. If you already have a card but no more money on it then all you have to do is re-charge it by using one of the machines on the side. I believe the buses run from 7a.m.-9 p.m. They can really save you a lot of time! If I take a regular bus from via Expresa in Surquillo (sur-KEE-yoh) to downtown Lima, it takes 45 minutes to over an hour, whereas the Metropolitano takes just under 15 minutes. The best part is that these buses come every five minutes or less. Taking them during rush hour can be a bit of a pain because they also get packed,  more than a hundred people can be on one of these buses at a time, but at least you don't usually have much of a wait.

 TAXIS...

• Street taxis also come in all shapes in sizes. You have to be careful about the taxis you get in. Rule of thumb for Peruvians is, if he has an untrustworthy face then don't get in. Just as buses in Lima, taxi drivers are also dangerous behind the wheel. The first time I rode in a Mexican taxi I felt I was gonna have a heart attack but after a while I got used to it. However, when I came to Peru in 2009, I realized my Beaner friends had nothing on us Peruvians. These people drive like they're in a NASCAR or Formula 1 competition. Ask the driver to slow down if you feel uncomfortable, although I doubt he'll be happy about it and probably argue. For more information about taxi rates, etc please look at my previous post for more information. 

THE ELECTRIC TRAIN...

• Ex president Garcia started this project back in the 1980s during his first term in office. He started it again a litter over a year and a half ago and didn't get to finish it before the end of his second term but he still inaugurated it before he left office lol. Once it's finish, people estimate sometime in October, the fare will be around 1.50. I'm not sure what the route is going to be like but I'll post something as soon as it's up and running.