South American musings and observations.

Initially published 26 July.

CARS and their drivers

Driving is chaotic.  Lanes, if painted are ignored.  Horns are tooted regularly but not in anger.  More to just say "l'm here".  Because of the amount of traffic speeds are slow however if there is some clear road they don't mess about.

Highways have toll booths every one or two hundred kilometres. Therefore the inter city roads are in good condition.

Very few people own cars.  The vehicles in the cities are mostly taxis, van buses and bigger buses of varying sizes.  I haven't seen any senior citizens behind a wheel.  If you are slow, doddery or hesitant you wouldn't survive.

There are quite a few modern private cars about.  Mostly Asian companies. Hyundai was quite prevalent in Peru.  Toyota and Nissan are everywhere.  Some Kia in Bolivia.  I've seen one BMW. An x5 SUV.

Very few pedestrian crossings but as long as yo stay predictable when crossing the vehicles will give way, just!

Amazingly we haven't seen any accidents. Not even a little scrape.

MONEY

Peru has Sol.  One NZD equals about 2.5 Sol.

Bolivia has Boliviano. One NZD equals about 5 Bob

ATMs give out either the local currency or US dollars.

Money changers are found on street corners in Peru.

They offer a better rate for US dollars than the banks.  It turns out that locals need the dollars to buy from overseas and that's how the money changers make their money.  So the cheapest way to visit South America is to have a travel card with USD on it and or USD cash.  Any card withdrawals should be made in USD not in the local currency to avoid exorbitant fees.

There are also money exchanges in shops and even in some restaurants.  All are good.  However yesterday a money changer lowered his rate on me when I produced $20 bills.  The highest rate is for 50 and 100 dollar bills.

THE ANDEAN PEOPLE (Quechua and Aymara)

We haven't seen any anger or frustration.  The people seem very accepting. I wonder what their goals and aspirations are or if they have any.  There is very little hustle and bustle. Everything is taken at a slow pace.  However that could be necessary due to the high altitudes the Andean people live at.

Subsistence living is the way of life of the majority.

In Peru our guides talked about corruption a lot.  It is not such an issue for our Bolivian guide.

There must be an underlying presence of crime.  We have been often told not to go into certain suburbs, particularly in Lima.  Shops have roller doors and big padlocks when closed and some have iron bars when open with a small opening to conduct business through.  Houses have no "frontages" to the street.  They have high walls and solid locked doorways for both people and cars.  Places like supermarkets have armed security guards although their presence is low key.  In Peru we've seen armed police with riot shields in every city and trucks with water cannons.  We saw one of these in La Paz too but haven't seen any riot police.

Phone coverage is excellent and must be cheap as everybody has a mobile.  They may not have water or electricity but they will have a phone.

There is no obesity.  I have seen a couple of overweight older women and a couple of older men with big stomachs but that's about it.

They eat meat and starch and drink fresh juices.

Young children seem well grounded and seem very accepting.  No nagging to get things.  No cross words from parents.  It appears that they live in their mothers arms or on their mothers backs for the first two years which must have something to do with it.

ACCOMMODATION 

We've been staying in 3 star hotels and hostels.

Generally there is no heating and we have had several cold rooms.

We booked twin share knowing that double beds would not be big enough.

However something has been lost in translation as our guides paperwork says matrimonial which automatically means double bed.  Our guides soon get to know that we won't do double beds.

Showers are a lottery.  Some  are fabulous.  Some have no pressure and some have insufficient hot water.

Beds have been comfortable although Lindsey's one in Sucre wasn't great.  I've heard some couples complaining about their soft double beds.

DOMESTIC ANIMALS

The only cats we have seen were in Lima.  They were in a fenced off park (not cat proof), apparently wild, but dry food and water were in containers at the base of trees in the park.

Dogs are everywhere.  Most don't seem to have owners.  Most are docile and don't bark.  They poop everywhere.  The pavements are covered in it.

SMOKING

There are very few smokers in evidence.  Maybe it's a communal thing at home.

In Sucre we saw one young man on a skate board with a smoke and one young woman on a park bench.  The first "youths" we've seen smoking in nearly four weeks.