dante i havent been there but there is no pedestal greater than the countries youve been to.

girls in spanish countries are actually into tanned spanish speaking guys. its a lot harder to land chicks but the quality of chicks are out of this world. I love asians but the argentinians brazilians and from wherever else they come form... in mexico are sizzling hot. but I cant send a dick pick and get a hot girl over right away. need chat game. i ws getting the hottest girls off thai friendly. i just cant get much in mexico tho the girls are a total smokeshow.

the aboriginals arent that good looking in any of these countries. and if there are guys from other spanish countries...then they are hotter than I am...and ive seen your pics ...you will do better in thailand. the competition is tougher in spanish countries, i think

Completely disagree with the post above. 90% of the girls are overweight and not attractive, for all latin american countries, Chile/Argentina have the best %. Really cant see competition being tough as most of the guys are deadbeats, yea youll get the occasional guy whos got himself on the right path and is better looking than you, but that will definitely occur less often than in the Western world.

Its probably not as easy to get laid than in Thailand/SEA, but then again where is.

I've booked a place on airbnb in Barranco for my first three nights in Lima...my understanding is that it might be a little more interesting & little less expensive than Miraflores, while also quite safe. Thought the bar/music/nightlife scene in Barranco might be a little better than Miraflores as well?

I know there are a couple of casinos in Lima with poker rooms, but sounds like the rake might make them hard to beat, especially at lower limits. Nonetheless I'll likely stop by at least one in order to get a poker chip (I collect the lowest denomination chip from poker rooms wherever I travel). As far as "un-official poker rooms" what are you referring to--home games?

Am arriving on Jan 31st. I think that finding an apartment in the vicinity of Lima will precede any travelling, at least for the first couple of months, but if you are still around, let's meet for coffee

And oh, any suggestions in beach towns/cities near Lima (or anywhere, really)?

With regards to Peru, I assume you chose it as it's inexpensive, stable internet to grind, good country to take Spanish course (very neutral accent), plus excellent food & good country for gringo to meet women?

Have you done much pre-trip research on Lima or Peru in general? Just curious, why are you committing to staying in Lima immediately upon arrival? I assume you'll want to see some of the main tourist sites (Machu Pichu, Sacred Valley, perhaps the Amazon?) while you're in Peru, why not visit them first and then decide if you want to base yourself out of Lima, or perhaps Cusco, Arequipa, or even some small beach town? As far as beach towns go, I'm no authority, but I think your best bet will be the Trujillo/Huanchaco area or Mancora. But I'm sure you can get better info from locals once you find your feet in Lima.

How are you planning to find an apartment--airbnb or what? Do you know anyone or have any contacts in Lima?

Looking forward to the coffee, though at the moment it sounds like we won't be in the same place until perhaps mid-February when I return to Lima to catch flight back to USA. If I find any particularly cool places during my travels I'll let you know.

Not much research, no, a few contacts in Lima, but limited. I was set on going to Colombia, but then found out that I cannot grind online there, so opted for Peru, which I planned on eventually visiting anyways.

My choice of settling on Lima upon arrival, is more a matter of mood : I have been on the road for the past few months (am in Israel right now), will be flying back to Montreal for 2 days then Lima right away, so having a home base pronto precedes any desire to travel around/open up a horizon of options or whatnot. Besides, I only have 12 weeks, so want to settle down for 10 of those and leave myself a couple weeks of travelling at the tail end of my SA trip.

AirBnB, most likely. My budget is pretty flexible. Let me know for that coffee.

Your questions have me pondering about my Lima/Peru plans and have shun some light upon my specific goals while in SA... I am definitely not a city person (yet have grown to appreciate more the urban life in the past year) and am more attracted by smaller towns and a simple lifestyle, yet a few factors have made me consider heavily Lima.

Primo (and foremost) : the desire to meet an intelligent (AKA educated, but liberal and quick-witted), beautiful woman that might lead to a long term relationship. Sure, I could have a casual relationship in a more appealing beach town, but want to put all chances on my side of perhaps building something more solid. Lima will obviously offer a greater affluence of possibilities then a tiny beach town.

Secondo : the abundance of resources for finding, for instance, a good Spanish tutor (already have found one), access to live poker (meh, not a great deal of importance, but still a social outlet), the beach (if Lima was not located by the ocean, I would not even consider it), the oodles of restaurants etc.

Tertio : this is not a permanent situation. 2 months in a city is just about the ideal window for me to appreciate a city without feeling that antsy need to GTFO

Cuarto : My need to be sedentary that largely outweighs (for now) my nomadic nature.

All this being said, there is a good chance that after a few days getting a feel for Miraflores and Barranco, I will just head out to Trujillo and go explore the towns over there

Based upon your goals & desires, understandable why you're leaning towards basing yourself in Lima. After a lot of more or less non-stop travel, I understand your desire to take off your backpack and settle in one place for a few months--I distinctly remember feeling that sensation once myself, though that was a lifetime ago.

That said, were I trying to do the same, and if I were planning on staying in one country for several months, I'd first want to explore my options. For example, were I going to Thailand for the first time, I'd be uncertain whether Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, or Kho Samui would be the best place to rent an apt for a month or two, so I'd likely take the first 2-3 weeks, visit all of them, and afterwards make my choice. But that's just me.

Also, it's been my experience that it's often much harder to meet people and make new friends in big cities versus smaller towns. In big cities, the pace is faster & people (including myself probably) have their guard up and are more distrustful of others, etc.. Also (though this may not be of great concern to you) usually large cities are significantly more expensive than the smaller towns. One advantage Lima has over all other options within Peru, however, is it's central location and international airport, which would make it exceedingly easier to take week off & visit wherever.

Don't know if you're solely interested in meeting a Peruvian woman (there are likely pros and cons to that, definitely helpful in terms of learning Spanish) but if your ultimate plan is to continue your wanderlust ways, you might be better served by meeting a gringa who similarly loves the nomadic life & is in fact already living that life herself. Just a thought...

True, I would if I was settling down for longer than 9 weeks (plan on travelling at least 2-3 weeks), but for a mere couple of months, I will test the waters in Lima and if I feel that they are lukewarm or above - sorta speak -, I will throw the towel and settle down. Rinse-repeat. I just don't think 2 months is much of a commitment, really.


Not a big concern, as I keep myself occupied with a variety of introverted activities and need little social outlet. This said, human relationships are obviously essential to our happiness.

There is a vipassana centre in Lima with a few home based group sits, which would be the first social circle that I will integrate. Then there are the poker clubs ; although these usually revolve around more superficial interractions... And then your standard cafes, restaurants etc. to meet locals or travellers.


Great point. Ideally, I would want to meet a woman that shares the same affinity with meditation as I do. And loves to travel.

Anyhow, thx for your insights friend, I greatly appreciate them And how about yourself, will you solely focus on travelling around? Got a few activities in mind? Ayahuasca? Machu Picchu?

Definitely going to visit MP & likely many of the other "must do / must see" sightsin Peru. From the little research I've done visiting / hiking around the Sacred Valley and Colca Canyon sound equally impressive.

Probably not going to do Ayahuasca, though extremely interested & quasi well-read about. I've done my fair share of psychedelics, & am open to trying some other plants while I'm there, but I've got a lot of respect/fear of Ayahuasca, and don't think I'm at the best mental / emotional place at this moment in my life to meet her for the first time. That said, I definitely plan on spending some time in Iquitos and seeing what's what. And you?

Hopefully we will have the chance to sit down and talk, I'm interested in hearing / learning more about how your life has changed and the benefits you've received from all the meditation/retreats you've experienced & attended. Yoga & meditation have for many years been an interest of mine that I've never taken dedicated the time to investigate.

I will not be actively seeking to do ayahuasca - in fact, not even sure if it is on my bucket list or not... -, but if I do happen to stumble upon a ceremony I trust, then will for sure partake. From talking to a few (3) meditators that did a TON of journeys, it allegedly acts similarly as vipassana does, opening up the same kind of breach into spirituality, sorta speak.

Yeah man, also hope we get to have that coffee Let's keep each other updated

If somehow you are still in Perú later in 2018 it would be cool to catch up. I practice yoga and meditation daily and it's always nice to meet like-minded people. I was looking into moving to a Latin American city, and ultimately decided on Mexico City instead of Lima or Medellín, mostly because of proximity to my family in the USA. But I am hoping to visit the other 2 sometime in 2018.

There's nothing at all wrong with spending a couple months in Lima. The people are plenty friendly, and the other cities in Peru generally seem like terrible places to settle down.

Thx for chiming in bro Yayyy, thread still alive I plan on updating/instilling some life into it once in Peru as well.

I am there until late April. Definitely would love to meet up and discuss indeed. Also, I see myself going back in 2019 (and visiting Spain end of 2018), especially once fluid in Spanish (funny coincidence : met some Peruvians, Spanish and peeps from Panama yesterday at the Dead Sea here in Israel, where I got to practice mi espanol basico ).

Let me know if you come to Peru bro

Arequipa seemed alright as well. I also lived in Trujillo for 3 months, downtown is nice the rest is meh. It is a nice place tot visit though, lots of touristy stuff nearby. For beaches go further north.

If you want a nice apartment and eat in fancy restaurants every night than Miraflores is pretty much your only option.

I arrived Lima airport at 11PM. Since I knew I wouldn't get to downtown Lima until midnight i booked a single room w/ shared bath via airbnb for $12. Room was totally acceptable.

The following morning I found out I couldn't check into my next Airbnb until 1PM, so I asked if I could leave my small backpack at the first place for a few hours--"no problemo" they said. However, when I returned to pick up my bag they charged me a $7 "storage fee". Considering the room only cost $12 I thought that was excessive, but whatever. Score one for the locals.

Transferred bags to new Airbnb--brand new modern apt smack dab in the middle of Barranco for $45/night. Yay me!

Evidently it rarely rains in Lima....so naturally it rained (just drizzled really) for 4-5 hours my first day here. I was walking the streets the entire time and literally saw not a single other person with an umbrella. Score one for the gringo.

First impressions of Lima are solidly meh; hopefully that will change.

Beautiful women? Not so much.

Nice to feel like a big guy though--I'm 5'10" and definitely bigger than most men and tower over many of the women.

So far the food is delivering. Had a very good coffee and some kind of chocolate-filled croissant for $3 for breakfast, excellent mixed ceviche & fried fish platter + beer at Market #1 for $8 for lunch, and grilled steak kabobs & potatoes + beer for $8 for dinner.

Somewhat surprisingly, I haven't been offered drugs once yet, not even by all the dreaded-out Rasta-looking guys selling hippie jewelry down by the beach. Guess I'm not exuding that cool-guy vibe like I did in my younger years....

Lots of (small) casinos in the Miraflores district. Calling all grinders--one had a pretty decent-size game going--minimum 3000 Sol buy-in, 25\50 blinds. 3% seems to be the standard rake, though some are uncapped.

Thanks for the TR, interesting read. Would love to hear more of your impressions as you spend more time in Lima.

Nice update indeed. Where do you plan on going next, bro? And have your initial meh impressions of Lima changed?

Is it ok to post links to other people's blogs? This isn't mine, but this guy has spent extensive time in tons of Latin American cities and has a city guide for each with an overall rating, comments on safety/girls/nightlife/vibe, and sometimes a few suggestions for nightlife or restaurants. It works well to get a brief rundown of what each city is like. His take on Lima seems to mirror Pride's.

City Guides

2nd full day in Lima:

Had a nice eggs/toast/coffee breakfast near my Airbnb for about $5. Blue skies and about 75 degrees, so the day is off to a good start. Go back to apartment to ****, shower, and shave.

Catch a taxi to Miraflores and go to a fairly high-end (and highly recommended) seafood restaurant. It's packed and there's a 30 minute, so I leave my name and walk around a bit. When I return I'm seated almost immediately, and after askimg the waiter for his recommendation, commence to devour a mixed ceviche entree and a super cold beer. I ordered the ceviche spicy and it was--nearly perfect. Cusquena Negra is my new favorite beer--dark and slightly sweet but not heavy. Lunch comes to $20 with tip. Considerably more attractive women out and about in this area today.

Yesterday I spent the entire day in tourist enclaves of Miraflores and Barranco; today I end up spending the rest of the afternoon in "Centro" Lima which imho is exponentially more interesting.

I walk down a pedestrian-only street that should be called "Street of shoes" as there is just one shoe store after another. I'm a bit of a shoe whore myself and find more than a few i like, but don't buy anything as I need another pair of shoes or boots like I need a hole in my head and anyway I don't feel like lugging unnecessary purchases all over Peru.

Peruvians really love their ornate, over-the-top Catholic churches, and I walk thru a bunch. Ditto for several museums, and I realize for the umpteenth time that I'm not a museum guy. Lots of cool old buildings and architecture in Centro Lima, though many are in need of restoration. I pass by a rotisserie chicken place; it's packed with locals and although I'm not the least bit hungry I go in and eat anyway--its cheap and delicious.

Afterwards, after several more churches, I stumble upon what I think is called Central Market, a big, sprawling market where you can buy anything and everything. I see a large group of people queuing to buy BBQ beef hearts, so naturally I join the line. Surprisingly tender but a little iodine-tasting, I only eat one skewer and give the rest to a very appreciative stray dog. End up in "Barrio Chino", i.e. China Town, where (not surprisingly) they sell mostly cheap Chinese ****. I've been to Hong Kong and China towns in NYC, San Fran, and Vancouver, so color me unimpressed.

Grab a cab back to Miraflores. At 1PM the cab to Centro Lima from Miraflores cost 15 Sol (about $5) and took at most 15 minutes; at 6:30PM it cost 25 Sol and took at least 30 minutes.

Walk around Miraflores, drink a coffee, then a beer, and stumble upon Atlantic City Casino. I collect poker chips from card rooms all over the world so I go in--solely intending to buy a 1 Sol chip for my collection---but somehow end up playing in the 5/10 game. Funny how that happens sometimes...

Soft game, not very aggressive, a few LOL bad players. I'm the only gringo at the table and likely in the whole room. There is a 5 table tournament going on and one other big cash game that I mentioned previously --minimum buy-in 3000 Sol (roughly $1K) and 25/50 blinds. Anyway, back to the kiddie table:

I mostly fold for the first half hour until I end up with QQ in first position; I just call. Guy in mid-position bets 40 Sol and gets three callers. I pop it to 150, he re-raises to 500, one guy goes all-in for approx 350, and other guy folds. Calling would put me all-in-one as well, so I " Hollywwood it" for 15-20 seconds, show my Queens to the guy next to me, say to him "no bueno" and fold them face down.

Immediately several other players tell the dealer to flip over my cards, which he does, and all of the sudden the table errupt! My Spanish sucks, but I know what the word "burro" means. One guy is practically foaming at the mouth and loudly tells me in broken English that he can't believe that I folded and that not a single other person at the table would even think of folding my hand. I just smile, shrug my shoulders, and say "Lo siento amigo--soy solo Americano estupido!" The other two players flip over their cards--the initial bettor shows pocket Kings and the caller Ace/ 7 suited. Kings flops a set and takes it down. I lost the hand but book it as a win in that I didn't get felted, so score one for the stupid gringo!

I play for another hour or so, somewhat enjoying myself and drinking free beers. At one point the casino puts out a small buffe--you would have thought they were giving away free money based upon how quickly players quit playing and lined up for free food. "When I'm Rome" and all that so I got in line as well. I tried the steamed fish; had i paid for it I wouldn't have been happy, but as it was free....not bad!

Ended up donating about $100 dollars to the local economy, cashed out and left to grab a taxi. Walked a few blocks, happened to look up and saw the "J.W. Marriott" sign which is directly next door to another casino/ poker room, so walked over there to buy one of their 1 Sol chips for my collection.

Anyone want to guess what happened next??

Shocking i know, but I have very little will-power--AND I am on vacation--so I sit down at the only game going, 5\5 with a minimum 300 Sol buy-in.

Again I'm the only gringo at the table, and again it's a fairly soft game. I order a Pisco Sour but for some reason they don't offer them so on another player's recommendation I order a Chilcano. I don't know what is in it but it's damn good and I drink about a half dozen more over the next few hours.

First hour i play a few hands, win a few and lose a few, nothing too exciting. Then I'm dealt pocket Aces, again in first position. Not wanting to advertise my hand I just call; player in mid position bets 40 and big blind calls. The bettor is by far the most active and aggressive player at the table, so I just call in the hope that he'll set the hook himself.

Flop comes all low cards with two spades, he bets 120, big blind folds and again I passively just call. Turn comes an Ace of clubs, I check, he thinks for a minute, then bets 300; I stare at him for about 30 seconds and again just call. River bricks. I think for 10 seconds and shove all-in for a little less than 300. Villain thinks for a LONG time but reluctantly calls--score another point for the gringo!!

Afterwards a player to his left asks me "Where are you from Man?" I reply " I'm from Estados Unidos but por favor please don't hold it against me--I hate Trump too!!" That gets a big laugh from everyone at the table. I start stacking my winnings and order another drink.

I soon learn that this casino offers poker players free food ordered off a menu! Not wanting to look unappreciative I ordered fried fish with onions--damn good even if I had had to pay for it!

I play for about another hour, win another nice pot when I flop the nut straight, and a few other smallish pots. Cash out up a little over 600 Sol for the night, slightly drunk and not even the tiniest bit hungry. There are several other casinos in the area, so knowing I can't trust myself I immediately get in a cab and head back to my apartment in Barranco.

At this time of night the streets are desserted. Along the way I briefly consider staying in Lima for another day--after all there are more poker chips to be collected! But then I remind myself that I didn't travel all the way to Peru to sit in a poker room and drink, so I'm off to Parancas Penninsula tomorrow to try and arrange a scuba trip to dive with sea wolves (what we call sea lions) off Isla Ballestas.

I was only in Lima for two full days, so obviously I only saw a very small part of the city. My point is this--I really haven't seen enough or spent enough time in Lima to even have an informed opinion. Additionally, it's low tourist season here which (for better and for worse I imagine) definitely affects my experience. But since you asked...

I lived in South Florida for many years, so I met both tourists and transplants from all over Central and South America. And almost without exception I found the Peruvians (along with Bolivians and Ecuadorians) to be a very warm, relaxed, friendly people, and not surprisingly i found them to be the same here. Everyone I have met so far has been very nice and friendly and very willing to help and offer assistance whenever I've asked for help with directions or whatever.

As expected, the food has been great. While I realize you can eat cheap, as a tourist (who almost all seldom stray outside the "tourists zones"), food has not been cheap, at least by 2nd World standards and/or in comparison to Asia. And that is likely the reason why Lima will remain "meh" for me.

I spent several years traveling all over southeast Asia. I absolutely love Asian food, the women are beautiful, by Western-standards everything is exotic AND cheap.....so that's the yardstick I measure other cities and countries by, and quite frankly very few if any are able to measure up.

That doesn't mean I'm right--I'm just telling you my preference. So unless I return to Lima at the end of this trip and experience something radically different, Lima will remain a place I probably wouldn't want to visit for more than a few days, maximum a week.

Thanks a lot for the updates. It's also more informative when people list which countries they love to give some insight into what things they value in a city. I've been researching Mexico City and it seems quite polarizing, but hearing "Mexico City sucks" from someone who hasn't traveled much outside the USA/Canada isn't really that useful.

Have you visited Mexico City? I think we value a lot of the same things in a city. I'm not really a museum guy, but I appreciate good architecture, friendly people, attractive women, a low cost of living, and delicious food. I'm gonna relocate later this year and was mostly debating between Lima, Medellín, and Mexico City and ultimately decided on Mexico City.

Partly because the logistics work out better (closer to family in USA, better base to cheap flights all over LatAm, etc.), but also b/c everyone raves about how cheap and great the food is, and the fact that it is not a 2 or 3 neighborhood city.

Solid entries, Pride of Cucamonga You single handedly brought this thread back from the dead, instilled life into it, put it on its feet, made it walk then run a marathon

I love threads like this, but unfortunately I don't think there are too many poker players traveling/living abroad anymore. There used to be bustling poker communities in Medellin and Buenos Aires and even smaller ones in Ecuador, but it appears they're all mostly dead now.