6/11/15
I am a city person. I was born in a mega city, raised in another mega city, and then worked in many places in U.S. For some reason, I feel really at home in a big city. I can navigate the streets, know to pretend I am tough, and can always find a good restroom in a mall (hey, that is a very important skill, especially in South America). I love the nature, but I am also a fan of humans living in cities.
Before I start on Lima, I have to mention I also visited a place call the San Jose mansion in Chicha. It is a mansion built in the 16th century, that has been converted into a hotel. Rebuilt after an earthquake,it retained the facades and the church, square, fountain of the original design. While the location is remote, it holds impressive history of the local area. According to our guide, the Spaniards imported a lot of African slaves from Angola (locals did not like working for the Spaniards). The slaves were made to walk from the port to the house and worked in planatations, mines and in the house. When slavery was abolished in 1874, instead of being a good citizen and follow the order; the owner of the house decided to build a 10km tunnel from the port to the house. In order to prevent slaves from escaping, he also turned the tunnels into a maze, with segments of low overheads, steps, varying width and depth to confuse the slaves. There were also rooms for punishment: whipping, hanging, etc. in the tunnel. Now, visitors can wander through some of the tunnels and feel the ambience. The walls are blackened by candles, and you can see rocks and tie bars that were used to chain the slaves. It was a errie feeling, and make a little worse when you realize the family never lost this place: they somehow manages to hold onto it until now. That means the owners were never made to face up to their actions.
I arrived Lima late at night and went to sleep immediately. Waking up, I arranged my tour of the Amazon, got bus tickets to Mencora, and spent the morning running errands. In the afternoon, I walked around the city of Lima. As everyone has mentioned, Lima is a huge city, and like all cities of the world nowadays, feel very similar. There are the usual shops, museums, bars. I felt almost back in Untied States when I visited Larcomar: a giant shopping mall set in the cliff facing the ocean (yes, Lima is a beach town after all). I see the usual stores such as Banana Republic, Chilli’s, and even a Pinkberry! (I guess everyone like a good froyo?)
I had the famous cerviche for dinner. In retrospect, I should just order it as an appetizer and not a meal. The amount of acid is currently not sitting that well in my stomach. I am also waiting for a good friend whom I have not seen in quite a while to arrive- to his hotel room. He is allowing me to bunk with him in a 3 stars hotel- the most luxurious lodging I have stayed in this far.
Being back in a city (and a very big one at that), I am still convinced human being should concentrate and live in cities, while maintaining the other parts as natural reserves. An author once said (no, I can’t quite remember whom), we are akin to cancerous cells living on a host- the earth. In that case, we all have a duty to minimize damage and stay contained. Too much growth can kill the host, and we will all perish with it. A pretty grim analogy, but I always find people reapond better to dire circumstances. As with the abolishing of slavery, I think we will make the right choices and decision andale the world a better place. It was only a few hundreds years ago that some thought of other races as non-human being, and treated them like animals. We all know now all races are equal, and we were all from Africa (come on, you wanna argue with genetics?). One day, I hope we will realize not only are all races equal, but all creatures and life forms have a right to exist on this earth and beyond.
(Imagine: 1000 slaves for one household! Thankfully someone invents machines to replace humans. I am waiting for the day when machines will finally overtake human and start the dooms day machine- skynet. Terminator!!)
Chen's Travel Blog 