Navigating Lima: Transport Travails

Lima is Peru’s capital and largest city. It’s the center of Peru’s economy and has a diverse range of neighborhoods, each with its own, distinct character. In Lima, those in love with the world of gastronomy can find their pursuit of flavors satisfied with one of the best restaurant scenes in the world. In Lima, you can enjoy stunning views of the Pacific at the top of plunging sand cliffs and walk the path of Peru’s past, present, and future.

Ask nearly any Peruvian regarding their thoughts on Lima and you’re more than likely to hear something along the lines of “There’s so much traffic there.”

Yes, Lima is congested. 

A good friend of mine lives in San Borja, a charming neighborhood in Lima located not far from the popular Miraflores. In terms of parks and greenery along the coastal regions of Peru, the most I’ve seen of it has been in Lima. San Borja is an excellent example, boasting parks where one can see people going for runs, training their dogs, doing wedding photo-shoots, and taking part in the plethora of public fitness classes that are offered. It’s a safe area with a large population of older working professionals and retirees.

My friend discussed with me, one day, the travails of navigating to visit a good friend of hers who lived on the other side of town. Want to take public transportation to get there? It takes a good three hours at least to travel from one side of Lima to the other, thus leaving such trips within the realm of weekend travel.

During my first full day in Peru, which was spent in Lima, I recall when I was riding the bus with my friend and we reached a particularly congested point. There must have been an accident or something as a fire truck blocked the road ahead, forcing our bus to turn the corner. The margin between the bus, the fire truck and a traffic light were so narrow that the top of our bus ended up scraping this traffic light, nearly bringing it along with us for the ride.

So yes, I can attest to the issue that is Lima’s traffic. While not directly related to Lima’s traffic situation, below I share some examples of how Lima has been the source of some of my most nerve-wracking experiences trying to navigate on my own around Peru as a clueless newcomer. I also share insights that I gained from these experiences. I hope those who are traveling to Peru for the first time will find these insights useful and, for those who aren’t? Well, I hope you find these stories amusing. Enjoy!

Making My Way to the Cruz del Sur Bus Station

My introduction to transportation in Peru was a private Mercedes-Benz which picked me up from Jorge Chavez International Airport to take me directly to the J.W. Marriott in Miraflores. No issues there, believe it or not. The ride was arranged by my dad, as he suggested this was the best way to introduce oneself to an unfamiliar city.

My first transportation travail came upon my second full day in Peru, when I had to take a bus up to Trujillo. As a newbie, I decided Uber was the best choice for me to make my way from Miraflores to the Cruz del Sur bus station. 

As far as I know, Lima is one of the few places in Peru that does have Uber. Trujillo, where I’ve spent the majority of my time, does not though grabbing a ride is pretty simple as there are tons of taxis and other public transport options within the city.

Anyway, I digress. I saw the name of the bus station and, assuming it was a bus terminal with multiple bus lines coming in and out, had the Uber drop me off at the place with this name. The Uber driver was friendly and talkative, testing out my poor Spanish and conversing with me, providing food recommendations and so forth. He dropped me off and wished me well. Excellent, this was going great so far. 

So, off I hobbled in the direction that he pointed me toward, with everything I had packed for my three-month stay in Peru, all of which was contained within one large suitcase, a backpack, and a purse.

As I ambled closer to the supposed bus station area, something seemed off. This was, most certainly, not the type of bus station I was looking for. In retrospect, I realize now that it was a station however it was for public transportation around the city on buses that have lanes of their own — pretty awesome in a place that does have so much traffic but not what I was looking for.

Realizing I’d made a mistake, I spoke to a woman who looked like a security guard or something of that nature, inquiring in my Spanish, horrifically riddled with my accent, “Dónde está Cruz del Sur?”, showing her my ticket for the bus.

She rattled off a quick answer in Spanish. This, of course, completely and totally went over my head. I conveyed to her that I didn’t understand and she was kind enough to Google translate her response, which was something along the lines of how I had to walk back from whence I came and then take a right then a left and walk several blocks.

I thanked her and began my journey in, what I hoped, was the direction to the bus station, lugging my bags along with me. I followed the initial route that she had suggested and then, after a few blocks, began to enter places if they even remotely resembled a bus station and questioned where Cruz del Sur was. I did this remembering all the while what my friend had said to me the day before, “Sometimes people make up directions if you ask them and they don’t know. They just want to seem like they do know.”

I entered at least a couple of different places, each person telling me to walk the same way. At least I was going in the right direction. 

Outside of one place, I was approached by a man, who had probably seen my frazzled appearance, and I asked him which way the bus station was as well. He pointed me in the direction and then asked if I needed a taxi ride to get there.

My initial, naive, response? What? You drive a taxi? Yeah, sure! 

While he took the suitcase I was lugging, I happed to glance up to see two men standing a distance away, shaking their heads. I turned around to see him bringing my bag to a red car that was, quite clearly, at least, not your typical taxi. I rushed over, took my bag, said ” no, no, thanks. I’ll walk, actually” and began my walking trek once again.

I’m proud to say that, after several blocks of lugging all of my stuff and frequent questioning, I eventually made it to the Cruz del Sur bus station. I made it there in plenty of time to catch my bus since I’d left significantly early, as advised by my good friend.

Lessons learned from this transport travail?

1. Bus stations are not necessarily listed clearly on bus tickets and do not necessarily have multiple bus lines running out of them. Cruz del Sur is one of the high-end bus companies in Peru and, often, has its own, individual stations at which its buses arrive and depart. Do your research when taking a bus and make sure that you know for sure where the station is. And, even if you are sure, leave early to make sure that, in the event any issues do arise, you have sufficient time to resolve them.
2. Don’t accept random taxi rides from strangers on the street. An obvious one? Yes. However, if you’re tired of lugging your suitcase several blocks and see such an opportunity for a taxi ride arise, it’s quite possible to get overexcited.
3. There are kind and helpful people in the world. Even with my limited Spanish, there were people who spoke with me and helped me out to find my way. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice some degree of caution and self-awareness however know that it’s possible to ask for directions from someone and actually receive a genuinely helpful response. This said, you may want to ask a few people just to be sure.

Late Night Travel from Jorge Chavez International

Amongst one of the first pieces of advice you’ll receive from someone regarding taking a taxi from Jorge Chavez International is DO NOT leave the premises of the airport and try to take a cab from there. Go with a certified company inside the airport. Reason being the airport is located in Callao, which is not the nicest neighborhood in Lima. Leave the premises of the airport and you stand chance to be victim to some kind of scam, especially if it’s late.

After several trips’ worth of experience traveling back and forth from the US to Peru, I can tell you that, when traveling with my boyfriend, we regularly take taxis outside of the premises of the airport. We do this as you can generally find much better rates outside rather than inside the airport. If you’re new to Peru, though, have limited Spanish-speaking abilities, or are just unfamiliar with navigating the area, it’s highly recommended that you find a ride with a certified company within the airport.

All this said, during my first time in Peru, one late Thursday night in July, I arrived for a weekend trip to Lima and decided to take an Uber over to my friend’s place in San Borja. Sounded simple enough. 

What went wrong, then? Well, let me tell you.

I ordered my Uber and it was there, waiting for me but when I exited the airport, it was quite chaotic outside. It can be like this at Jorge Chavez International. Multiple people inquiring “Taxi? Taxi?”. Flustered travelers searching for their rides. People ambling about. Traffic. Plenty of room for confusion.

Due to the many cars and bustling people, I couldn’t identify which vehicle was the Uber I’d ordered. To make matters worse, there was no license plate number listed on the Uber account of the driver. The struggle was real.

I canceled the order and tried again, only to come to several realizations, the first being that the lane I needed to focus on to find my driver was lane three. The second? That my linked debit card was not working. The final realization was that until the fee was paid from my canceled first order, Uber wasn’t going to allow me to make another. Conclusion — Uber was now out of the question.

Vastly irritated, I began messing around with my phone, trying to get Uber to work. At some point during this process, someone asked if I needed a taxi. I looked up, weary as I recalled my past Lima taxi inquiry and saw that the man was wearing a badge. I said yes, and cautiously followed him over to a taxi, neglecting to negotiate for price outright due to my frustration with Uber. 

Seeing that the vehicle was, indeed, a taxi I got in, repeated where I needed to go in San Borja to get to my friend’s house and questioned the price, to which he stated it would be $30. I inquired as to how many soles and the conclusion was that it would be whatever I found the conversion to be ( it was nearly 100). It was a complete and total rip-off yet I took it, as it was late and I just wanted to get to my friend’s place.

And so the drive began. I was mildly irritated about both the Uber and the price of the taxi yet relieved that I was finally on my way to my friend’s house. I had Google Maps out so I could follow our directions and chatted a bit with the driver, who spoke impeccable English. It wasn’t the nicest taxi yet, also, wasn’t the worst I’d seen either and so I felt fine. I also made it very clear that my friend was awaiting my arrival at her place, furthering my sense of security.

Now you’re reading and wondering, so what? The issue was just the Uber? What even?

No. The greater issue was when my taxi driver said he needed to make a stop for gas. We pulled over and he told me I needed to pay for it. I remember sitting in stunned silence for a moment before saying “Excuse me?” to which he said the same thing to which I responded with something along the lines of, “Absolutely not. I’m already paying more than what I should be to get to San Borja. You can pay for your own gas.”

This was followed by him telling me I needed to get out of the car, which freaked me out and which I refused to do until the gas attendant there said the same thing. I got out of the car and proceeded to refuse to look at him, watching the street there at this gas station, in an unfamiliar place, contemplating what I would do at this time of night if I were stranded and had to find some other means of transportation to my friend’s place. 

When we were back in the vehicle, I WhatsApped my friend about the situation, diligently watching my Google Maps to ensure that we were going in the right direction, and gave the driver an intense silent treatment.

This story ends happily with my arrival to my friend’s house, at which point I paid the 100 soles and over-thanked the driver for getting me there safely, emphasizing the safety aspect of my thank you in the meager hope that this would encourage him to not put his next customer through the same experience. I was greeted by my friend and then proceeded to spend an awesome weekend in Lima.

Lessons learned from this transport travail?

1. New to Lima and need to figure out how to get where you’re staying? Do look at arranging your travel at a booth set up inside the airport with a verified taxi company. There are also a number of hotels that offer airport pick-up and drop-off services.
2. Taking a taxi in Peru 101: always negotiate for the price before you’re inside the taxi. Once you’re sitting inside, you’ve lost your leverage. There are no meters in taxis in Peru so the price of a ride is always agreed upon between you and the driver before you get going to your destination. 
3. If your cab pulls over for gas, don’t pay for it in addition to what you’re already paying. Of course, this is situational but, come on, that’s not how a ride in a taxi is supposed to work.
4. Tell a questionable driver that someone’s expecting your arrival at your final destination. Even if there’s no-one who knows where you are, give that impression anyway. A simple safety check such as this can prove to be quite effective.