[bregma]

I went there with my younger kids a few years ago. It was like visiting the USA only fewer guns and authoritarian people in uniforms everywhere, and don't drink the water out of the tap. Also maybe pay in cash everywhere since no one takes cards. Lima is big and like big cities everywhere be on your guard in touristy areas because a lot of people make a living there and not always through legal means.

Hiking the Inca trail to Maccu Piccu and seeing the Nazca line in person though, worth it. Just stay in hostels and travel by bus. A bit of Spanish would help but we got by OK without it.

[contrarian1234]

> Lima is big and like big cities everywhere be on your guard in touristy areas because a lot of people make a living there and not always through legal means.

Super weird to normalize urban violence.. as someone who lives in Asia.. this is a really messed up terrorized mindset. You don't need to walk around Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul or Bangkok and "be on your guard" .. ever.

Your government(s) have just failed you in providing a safe environment to live

[robohoe]

What’s odd the Opp calls out guns in USA but is ok with unsafe areas in Peru?

> It was like visiting the USA only fewer guns and authoritarian people in uniforms everywhere, and don't drink the water out of the tap.

[nomdep]

Is not about normalizing (or “my country is better than yours”) is about acknowledging reality

Also, OP wasn’t talking about violence (very rare) but scams.

[lazide]

In South America, violence is not very rare.

[nomdep]

Depends on the neighborhood, the city, the country, and the current political situation.

[kvgr]

It must be historical and also how cities are settled. South America has huge influx of uneducated, poor people into the cities. It is easy for them to get entangled in bad activities in the slums. Like Rio. Beautiful city and some government reforms pushed ex slaves into city with no prospect for life. and government forgot about them until there was a problem. And maybe there is different social net in Asia. Culture based on shame, more than power/status(?).

[dakiol]

I think it’s the whole American continent (north and south) that’s way behind Europe/Asia regarding safety in the streets.

[bregma]

Honestly I felt more unsafe in certain touristy parts of Paris than anywhere I went in Lima. But not because of violence but because of pickpockets and scammers. I would chalk that up to the fact that most foreigners visiting the Plaza des Armas in Lima are probably an order of magnitude less wealthy than the busloads middle-class tourist crowding Montmartre in Paris.

[plantwallshoe]

Well, have fun never leaving East Asian megacities. You probably won’t like what literally the rest of the entire world is like.