TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Drivers in Lima, Peru, Latin America, like to suddenly brake their cars while driving. Seems like they also like to get involved in a honking competition with other drivers in the downtown.
"People in Lima like to rush. So they often brake in a sudden," said Oscar Alfaro, a taxi driver in Lima, Oscar Alfaro, when we were at Calle Ignacio Merino 160 Street, San Isdiro.
There is a story about anofficer of the Indonesian Embassy in Lima almost got hit by a car when crossing the streets in the city.
According to Oscar, people in Lima use a ‘block’ to express distance from one place to another. There were many taxi parking around San Isdiro to wait for.
Differently from Jakarta, taxi in Lima don’t use argometer. The price is set through bargaining process. For example, from Lacomar, a shopping center in Lima, to San Isdiro cost around 18 soles – or about Rp72,000. The taxi driver initially offered 25 soles or almost Rp100,000.
Various types of taxi, from the good to bad-looking ones can be found. Yellow taxi becomes travelers’ favorite because the service is good and the driversare mostly proficient in English. Peru was a Spanish colony and its people speak Spanish in their daily life.
Public transportation in Lima are similar to those found in other developing countries. There are many types of vehicles in similar conditions to public transportation in Jakarta. Old buseswith dingy paintspassing by racing with other public transportionsthat looks likepoorly-maintained bajaj in Jakarta. The difference is that there are not many motorcycles in Lima as in Jakarta.
Lima is an approximately 23,000-kilometer-square large. There are about 8.5 million people living in the city. Lima is also one ofUNESCO’s World Heritage Site.
A number of the city’s icons have been named as the valuable world heritage such as Plaza de Armas and Plaza San Martin. Plaza de Armas is located in Lima’s heart where many buildings with unique architecture left by Spanish collonial are standing still.
SHINTA MAHARANI (LIMA, PERU)
