Preconceptions - Misconceptions

One of the good things about travel is that it challenges and educates.

So far, wherever I've travelled in South America, I've found that my many preconceptions are totally wrong. For example, Rio de Janeiro is a flat city with two big pointy bits. Wrong. Rio is a hilly city with many big peaks, of which two are renowned for the huge statue of Christ and the other for its shape like a sugar loaf (harks back to sugar production and the way it was left to dry) and the cable car that goes to the top. With its challenging topography, it couldn't possibly be a planned city. It does have a huge, very good harbour with a defendable entrance, which is probably why it turned from a small fishing village in the 16th century to a huge city today.

Preconception 2 - Brazil's interior is flat, similar to Australia. Wrong. Well, at least the bits of the interior that we visited. There's a barrier range just inland from the coast, reminding me of the Blue Mountains and the Great Dividing Range, which then drops away to rolling, often hilly topography. Even Belo Horizonte (Spanish for shit hole - sorry - Beautiful Horizon - hah!), which was supposed to be flat, was hilly.

Preconception 3 - Lima is a small, third-world town. Wrong. It's a city of 9 million people and is amazingly cosmopolitan! We stayed in Miraflores, which is the knob-head part, close to the sea. and ate at cafes that would've fitted in well with Manuka, albeit with aji sauce and empanadas.

Hopefully there'll be more challenges to my narrow views as the trip continues.