From patchwerk.com
I wrote about the problems with transport before in think carefully before marrying a Peruvian. I said that transport is cheap in Peru, if you want to take combis. I did and they took forever, stopped at green lights, went at red, were driven by maniacs with dirty finger nails, had people crouching down in mini-vans, fighting over fares, bribing police officers, making me angry and stressed out. Many expats drive or take taxis due to this.One tip to remember is that speaking Spanish will help you greatly. You'll be treated differently than if you speak English all the time, it'll help you assimilate, and you'll be able to communicate easier. If you're looking to learn Spanish, the two programmes I recommend are Synergy Spanish and Speak From Day 1.
Things are slowly changing. There's now the Lima Metro, the Metropolitano Bus, and the Huancayo Metro is in the works. That being said, a friend of mine recently told me that you can tell a country is a developed, first world country when everyone takes public transport. For that to happen, public transport should be:
- Safe
- Convenient
- Reliable
- Organised
- Clean
- Affordable, with fixed prices
And most public transport in Peru isn't like that. At least not yet.
