peru

A trip in Peru is not complete without baby alpacas!

Tickets

One of my memories from childhood is my fascination with buses, trains and trams. Growing up in the city of Kolkata India I was no stranger to trams or streetcars as Americans would call it. Once my school teacher was asking everyone in class what they wanted to be when they grew up. The diligent students would stand up and say engineer or scientist or doctor. I still remember (I must have been nine years old at that time) standing up in front of the whole class and saying I wanted to be a tram driver. Everyone in my class including the teacher started laughing.

The 9 year old me simply could not fathom why I was being laughed at. To my mind the tram driver and the tram conductor were the richest and happiest people in the world. The tram driver would drive at a leisurely pace along the busy streets of Kolkata. The tram conductor had the coveted position of having a heavy leather bag which had a veritable treasure. The treasure were these cardboard tickets that would be handed out to each and every person who boarded the tram.

I still remember getting on the tram and being handed a ticket. I would diligently hold on to the ticket and had a collection of these cardboard tickets at home.

Fast forward many many years I find myself in Lima Peru. Just on a whim instead of taking a cab to the conference, I decided to take a crowded public bus. Imagine my surprise when as soon as I got on the bus I was treated to a ticket (you can see a picture of it above). It immediately reminded me of my childhood. To this day these bus or tram tickets are the best treasures. I still do not understand why I was laughed at in my class.

Travelling on a bus in Lima Peru

One of the most endearing memories of my childhood in Kolkata India was riding on the public buses. Frequently there would be a hawker who would board the bus and start selling some little bits and bobs. There would be assorted things wrapped in plastic: green peas in a hard shell, nuts, sweets. My favourite were these chilli Toffees (which we would call ”jhaal logenze”). One can hardly get them nowadays. But they were a craze in the 1980s and 1990s. There would be an assortment of black or some other dark coloured Toffees which would have chilli in them.

These used to be my favourite. Once you started chewing them it would slowly scrape your tongue which led to a weird sensation. I can feel that sensation now that I am writing this 35 years later.

Sadly with globalisation and modernization those hawkers are seldom seen in Kolkata buses. Gone also are those chilli Toffees.

Imagine my surprise when I recently visited Lima Peru. I could not resist the urge to take a ride on these public buses. They're quite modern; however the drivers speed and the pace at which he drove the buses through the streets of Lima reminded me of the so-called “mini buses” in Kolkata. We hung on to the railings and were treated to a wonderful tour of the city. Each street reminded me of Kolkata.

Once we got on the bus, I realised there was music blaring from somewhere. After a few minutes I turned around and I saw that the music was not coming from the speakers but there was a lady who was actually singing in a very nice voice. After singing for a few minutes she took out a wooden cylinder to ask for money. Sadly I did not have any change to give to her. After doing a few rounds of the bus she got down at the next stop.

After a few stops a new person got on; there was a strange sense of deja vu as soon as I saw this person. The same hawker who has disappeared from Kolkata has now appeared halfway around the world in Lima Peru.

He had with him nuts and various other sweets. Unfortunately he did not have the “jhaal logenze”.

Lima is like a time machine. I have been transported 35 years back to my childhood!