the armpit of Peru

These are the phrases that people used to describe Lima when I told them I was going there: armpit, hellhole, "nothing nice." Does this look like a hellhole to you? In all the trash-talking, it had completely bypassed me that Lima is on the Pacific Ocean. I hadn't even brought a swimsuit with me.



The beach in Miraflores is my kind of armpit. A beautiful, verdant park stretches along the top of the cliff, where paragliders take off and float on the warm breezes. Our hostel--about 50 meters from the beach--was full of surfers. To be fair, Miraflores is a swankier part of town, about a 20-minute cab ride from the town's center, which is considerably more armpit-like. A cab driver told us that Lima was nice...except for, you know, these dozen neighborhoods. Then he asked me what my favorite soccer team was.

I loved Peru.