Lima, dirty, noisy and grim, God I love it

Having just been for four days in Santiago, going between Alto Las Condes and Parque Arauco, getting into Lima is a breath of 'dirty' air and say that with joy. The town is noisy, filthy, full of micro buses, it is India, Guatemala, Colombia all over again.

Lima's Main Square ( Click on image for full size )

It is crowded, people stares at me, rich whites wondering why am I walking around, the working class why am I not in a large 'carro'. But at the same time they smile, and when you struggle in the bus they tell you to sit down, or that you have reached your destination.

Lima seems to be able to just about balance the fact that is a living megacity with its cultural richness. As its 9 million people get on with their lives, I have walked around and enjoyed a bit of sightseeing.
Yet somehow I could not help but to notice that hardly anyone else was doing that.
Has Lima given itself such a bad reputation that people are scare of walking around?

San Francisco

I was taken back when I found out that our local contact, a very nice lady will not even drive herself to some of the department stores and will only go by taxi as she is convinced her car will be taken from the car park.