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Lima, Peru. A mega city of 12 million people. A place bursting with an incredible variety of neighborhoods, scenes, and people. From informal settlements that look like you could be in the Middle East and underground crime to the glitz and glam of a modern mega city. Like anywhere, you'll see different class levels and lifestyles side by side. It's an absolutely mindblowing place that never stops surprising you. So, let's jump into it. Today we're going to be visiting some of the most notorious neighborhoods in all of Peru. These places are visually engaging, a bit rough around the edges.
They are quite dangerous in areas, so we're going to keep have to keep our wits about us, see who we can meet, what we can come across. Some of the neighborhoods and where they're built and how they're positioned is absolutely breathtaking. So, let's jump in a car, drive halfway across the city to the complete other end, and see what we can come across in this beautiful city of Lima here. Brother, you good? It's dangerous but elegant. What? What kind of danger? Oh, really? Would you say that's a good description?
Yeah. Dangerous but elegant. People here have a very special way of being. You know, whenever you meet someone from Kaya and you have problems, they will always say, "I'm from Kaya. Be careful." Right. So, it does have a bit of a notorious reputation. When he's talking about danger, what's he actually meaning? Gangs, fights. There's always fights between the gangs and they have gangs. So, like gunfighting. Yeah, gunfighting. And they're just like you might get caught in the crossfire.
Yeah, there are areas where they go and play football. Each person has a gun. Really? Yes. What? Is it becoming safer over the years or is it still No. No. Okay. Has there been any news stories lately that you've heard of? There's always in the news constantly someone dies or Yeah. Is it because Kaya is on the porch and you know historically there's a lot of drug trafficking and things and so there's a lot of illegal businesses.
There's like fight for power and things. Just take care of this because people are stealing already. Okay. Is it dangerous here? Steing now right now. Before the it was calmer, but in these days they started to steal. They always say like that. Really? Yeah. If they see you like that, they will be crazy about it. You should be careful. They will tell you always. That's nice of them, right?
Yeah. But do you think that is that a fair reality what they're saying? I think they kind of exaggerate a little bit, but these things happen. So, they are telling you be careful, right? Because me is like a white guy with a big camera sticks out, right? So, you're saying if you went like a few streets to the right, you would go directly right into the gang territory? Yeah. I wouldn't go there. Right. And you're saying like that the electrical cables are like it's so dilapidated and I guess the government and the police don't really go there. So, it's kind of abandoned.
They don't go there. And the cables are like hitting the ground and things. Yes. You have to ask for permission to get inside. So, it's completely lawless. It's run by gangs entirely. No law there. And how come the government don't do anything about that? Are they don't have the power or That's the question, right? Why? Thanks, man. Hello. So, we just jumped out of the car and we're going to get the drone up. You can see the cops behind me. Uh, we're going to get the drone up and we're going to try and fly it over the gang areas. So, it's going to be a really good way to
see the gang areas without driving into it cuz we did ask like some people like, "Can we get into those areas?" But they said you have to get permission from the gang leaders and everything and it's just not worth the risk. Even where we were, they were saying it's a bit sketchy. So, it's actually perfect timing because Anti-gravity have brought out a new drone and they've sent it to me and they're kindly sponsoring this video. So, we're going to get it up because it's actually a 360 drone and you can film and see from all different angles. I'll show you how it works. It's pretty incredible. They are asking what YouTube channel So straight out that way is the gang the gang shadow.
Also it's in between the coast and here is the dangerous part. Yes. So they got the prime real estate. Amazing. You can see so much. Oh, those streets are quite quiet, right? There's like nobody on there. No, exactly. Wow. cuz dogs always try to bite drones. Yeah, I got to be quite careful with around here. I mean, like a guy just walked past and said, "Take care of your camera." It's like multiple people's telling us it's dangerous from the locals. And normally out of the more dangerous places I've been, it's like people don't just randomly come up to you and say, "Be careful." So, and take the advice of the locals.
It's quite clean here though, right? Like it is, right? Yes. You know, relatively for like the so-called like dangerous Latin American areas, this is pretty clean, isn't it? But if we cross there, you will see the difference. Yeah. Right. I haven't seen that many police here though, which you'd think if it was that dangerous that'd be a bigger police presence or Yeah. There's there's less police in some danger. There is way less police than right they just like Sanro has a lot of policemen compared to this area and that's where I'm staying in the tourist zone. The rich areas have a lot of police. So they protect the rich people but they don't protect the working class.
Totally. Are you feeling the effects of the fuel crisis massively here or? Yes. The crisis of fuel people are worried about that. I was just wondering because that lady told us it's getting more dangerous and people are stealing more than they were a while ago. So, do you think that's related to the inflation? Could be. But violence has been growing from a longer time ago. Okay. Do you have any theories why it's growing? I think it's the government's fault because they are not really doing anything to control this. So, they're not cracking down hard
enough on crime. So, people just commit crime with impunity. Exactly. And they are not giving enough opportunities to people also. So, there is no option for many people that doing these kind of things. It's always a risk to come here because you don't know what's going to happen. You're looking around at all times. I have to be very careful. Eyes in the back. Right. When the locals are warning us, are they more meaning like hold on tight cuz of snatching? Is it more like snatch and grab or is that like violent? No. Mostly the snatching because there's a lot of people here. They wouldn't really attack you or do Okay. But they will grab your stuff, right? And then as soon as you went to like a more quiet street then the danger is significant.
People here has been abandoned especially indigenous peoples for many centuries since colonial times. They're not taking care at all and they suffer a lot from colonial times and terrorism and there is racism, discrimination. So maybe you know they have something inside that they want to explode. But that has happened in many parts of the world too. Everybody has been so abandoned and there's generational trauma. So it's like a free-for-all. Could be that people are really tired of not being equal, you know, than people in Mira or Sanro. They have been treated like a secondass, third class citizens since colonial times.
They just do whatever they can to survive. Exactly. So, we've come like just a few streets over from those streets where everybody was telling us to be careful. And now this is a really wellto-do area, right? Yeah, this is a wealthy area of Cayo. And there's like security when we entered as well. So, security, police, it's pretty safe area. But this was just a few minutes drive from like very close. Yeah. Those gang neighborhoods, eh? Exactly. Yeah. And I saw a sign there for like a tsunami warning. And you have sitting on a fault line here.
Exactly. We have two plates right here. Nazca plate under the sea. We have earthquakes all the time. We're part of the ring of fire like New Zealand, right? Yeah. Yeah, that's right. And you're overdue for one or We are expecting Yeah, expecting one anytime. The buildings have a height restriction for earthquake risk. Yes, they are not tall because it's forbidden to build very tall buildings in Peru because of the earthquakes. Because a city with 12 million people with such huge industry, then it's surprising to see no, you know, you've got a few like mediumsiz skyscrapers, but no like huge ones.
People are afraid the earth we're expecting could be an 8°ree earthquake and that would destroy around 80% of the city. We're just arriving at the beach here in Cayo and it's like got the port in the distance and lots of boats and then locals enjoying the sand here. Surreal, right? To come from just there a few minutes ago and now we're just on the beach on a holiday. So the port is of vital importance because of you're saying mining and exportation of minerals and things. We have we are an extractive economy. Exports are very important for us. We export a lot of minerals. What are the main minerals that you're exporting?
We export a lot of copper. We are the second largest producers of copper in the world. Is that right? After Chile, we have a lot of silver, gold as well, and many other minerals. Yeah. And a lot of cocaine. Yes. Obviously with the huge copper exports will go through these ports, but then there'll be a lot of corruption where right now guaranteed there's cocaine sitting in that port right now. Right. Oh, there's always people that try to enter those kind of products. Yeah. And there are containers with they don't check, you know, right?
They just look the other way, right? So you got people here buying ice creams and uh it's quite a such a contrast cuz you know there's streets a few blocks away that are just completely neglected and abandoned and overrun by the gangs and it's completely lawless and you come here and it's like really relaxing and I could quite easily just sit on the beach and chill, right? Like it's crazy. It's like another world. Alfredo was just telling me that there used to be a prison on this island in the background here. But in 1986, there was a prison riot when there was lots of internal terrorism going on in the country. Got so bad that the Navy bombed
THE PRISON BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T control it. So much to the point that even some of the prison guards were killed because it was so out of hand. So we've just come to this park that's called Amore Park. love park cuz there's a huge statue of some people making love behind me. And I just want to take a quick second to talk a bit more about the anti-gravity A1 360 drone. It's like a whole new experience. The way that you get to see where you're traveling. I haven't had this much fun using a new piece of camera equipment in years. This actually breathes so much fresh air and inspiration into travel because you're wearing these goggles and it's like that you're flying in the air like a bird and
wherever you look you can see like so you look down you see directly below you look up you see above you. You use this throttle here to accelerate and record and wherever you look you're going to fly. So it's an interactive experience and it's so easy to fly. Basically wherever whatever direction you want to go you just turn with your body. So you wear it and then you stand and turn. It's an absolutely amazing experience. Honestly, it's it's a lot of fun. For example, you've seen when we've been going to some of the more rough neighborhoods. If we want to go and see like what the area looks like without actually having to go to see if it's
something we want to go to or knowing that we can't go there and then just being able to see. If you saw the last video, we went to the wall of shame. And there's no way I would have been able to see the houses on the other side with the swimming pool. The wall of shame is what separates the rich and the poor neighborhoods in Lemur. And then you saw earlier today when we were near those gang neighborhoods, the driver and Alfredo were like definitely not. And the locals are like, you go down there and you're dead. So being able to like see from a bird's eye perspective and also with the goggles like you're flying above it, it's just something that's priceless. has a 39minut flight time
which is incredible. It's super lightweight and it comes in this little small travel case which is ideal for me because in the past I've had drones that come in these huge cases and it's just not practical. It was actually co-engineered with Insta 360 who are experts in 360 cameras and it gives such peace of mind knowing that it's filming in all directions at all times so you can't miss anything because it was filming in 360° wherever you're flying it. It captures everything. They also have after sales support including anti-gravity care and local repair services in the US. So what's the story about this neighborhood?
Aino is one of the first um human settlements. They took over the land, right? uh escaping from poverty and many things but this is one of the first ones maybe the early 40s 50s one of the more dangerous ones you say yeah it's very close as you can see from the central areas so there's more commerce drugs and gangs in this areas are there any roads to the top or you have to walk all the way there are some roads but they are usually closed it's not accessible unless you ask for permission from the gang from the gangs The city of Lemur is absolutely incredible. Like the diversity of the scenes, you know, like contrast the contrast and also the it's so visually stimulating. It's not just rich and poor or anything. It's like you've
got the coast, the peninsulas, and then you've got these kind of neighborhoods. So that's the entrance to San Pedro, which is a notorious neighborhood. Yeah, definitely. And only moto taxis can enter. No cars like this because it's everything very narrow inside. And what would happen if we just walked in there right now? Well, we will be target for stealing. Just pickpocketing or more than that? No, they can assault you, right? Yes, they can assault you inside.
Right. So, you're saying that this is an area where cars that are stolen from all over Lemur come and get stripped down really quickly? Exactly. Yeah. They bring the cars right here and they try to take the parts as quick as possible. Do you know somebody who's had their car stolen? Yeah. The man uh our driver yesterday When they steal your cars, they will call you to ask if you can pay for it. You know, a big amount of money.
Some people will pay, but some others don't pay. So, those cars end up here. And how do they get the contact information? They know. They know who are they going to steal. All right. So, Wow. You're saying that the police women always stick together and go around in groups? Cuz I've noticed around the city that the police women on motorbikes are in groups of women. Yeah. Usually they are in groups because alone it will be dangerous for themselves. So the spirituality runs deep in Peru, right? So this is all for like shaman's potions and things like that.
Exactly. Do you really believe in this? And is that something that you believe in? I'm not. No, I'm not a believer. Yeah. Right. The psychedelic side of things here is quite big like Aosco and San Pedro. Right. Because in the west we often hear about people coming over here to do it. But what about the locals? How many people on the street and things would do Iaska? Nobody. No. Nobody. It's really something only the tribes do in deep in the Amazon. Uhhuh. And they don't pay for it, you know. They only do it if they feel bad, they are sick. And the shaman is like a doctor.
Okay. They will go and take care of their people with these plants. Would people from the city ever go and migrate and do something like Iawaska if they have like depression or something like that? Some do it and also they do it because of the fan or the you know something that is growing. There's a lot of tourists coming from everywhere in the world. Yeah. To do that. So I think some locals also want to experience it. But is it more like a middle class thing or do the working class as well do it?
No, it's more middle or higher class. Right. It's like a glamorous kind of thing. Right. Are they selling cocoa leaves here? Yes. People in other countries, they're not used to how cocoa leaves are such a big part of life like they are here, right? And it's just a normal thing. But yeah, it's traditional for us. It's a medicine. We use it con we have tea, coca everywhere, right? Uh we chew cocoa for high altitudes or headaches. But it is also the precursor to cocaine which causes the horrific deaths and violence all over the continent. Right.
Totally. But you would need tons of cocoa to make a little bit of cocaine. You also need lots of horrible ingredients like gasoline and things like that. Right. You were saying that Peru is a huge producer of cocaine, but a lot of the violence and stuff luckily is pushed further north to like Colombia and Mexico. Yeah, we don't we do have some violence uh especially deep in the Amazon because we have uh gangs taking care of the producers.
Yeah. and they commercialize with Colombia, with Mexico, with other parts of the world, right? But most of the gangs are far from here, like the cartels. They're selling salvia here. If you don't know what salvia is, it's a massive hallucinogenic drug. They call it Mexican tripping weed. The effects of this are crazy. There's stories of people who've smoked salvia and they get caught into being a ceiling fan in a family's house for like 40 years and the time difference because you're only when you smoke it apparently you're only out for like uh you know a few seconds or a few minutes but then you live like 40
years in another reality and you can look down on like a family as a ceiling fan and you can see them going through all their life stages and things and it's like yeah but like the psychedelic scene here is huge, right? It's huge. So, Brazil gifted you this statue. Yeah, the company, the Brazilian company gave the pres, our president the statue for getting a lot of uh projects in construction. It was a construction company, right? Yeah. But now the CEO and all the people of the company are in prison. Our president was supposed to go to prison, but he committed suicide.
Really? before the police was in his door and he went to his uh bedroom and shot himself. So, this was a bribe, the statue. It was a gift for the bribe. He killed himself in 2019 cuz he knew he was going to be locked up forever. Most probably Alfredo, what did you think of the different places that we've seen on the trip? I think it shows the diversity of Peru because Lima is the capital and people from different parts of Peru come here, but they kept kind of their cultures. So that's how each place has its own personality. It's like a little Peru.
It's amazing the different things that we've seen, you know. I feel like we've traveled to multiple countries. Totally. Yes. Are you hopeful for the future of Peru? I am hopeful. Things are changing very slow. They could change much faster uh with all the wealth um resources we have in the country. But we need basic things like education and health. Without that, it will be hard to get better. So progress is happening. It's just happening at a slow pace. It's hard to say cuz in terms of economy, the country is growing, right? But you still see a lot of need, a lot of poor people. We have seen it. And I
don't see a change there. I see a change in, you know, Mira Flores. I see a change in the city. There is infrastructure. I see a change in when you see the numbers of the money that the country has. We recently bought this F-16s, more than 20 that cost millions of dollars for a country that doesn't really have many for a country that Yeah. We don't need them. And we need education. We need those things, you know, that should be priority. And what's your favorite thing about Peru? The people. I think people are really nice. Like I was telling you before, even though they have lots of problems, they have a great attitude towards life, they enjoy, they are proud of who they are, their culture, their food, and you can see
that when you talk with people, they really help you. They're really nice with visitors. They could invite you to their homes. The little they have, they can give it. They share. Well, I hope that uh things improve for everybody here. the house to a huge thank you to Alfredo for all his help during my time in Peru. You can see that he's a top expert in all things Peru and a great guy. So, I'll leave his information below if you ever find yourself in Peru and need a good man to take care of you. Also, a huge thank you to Anti-Gravity for letting me try out their A1 drone. I'll definitely be using it in future videos. It's the closest
feeling to a bird that I've ever felt. I'll leave a link down below where you can learn more about the Anti-Gravity A1. And just so you know, Anti-gravity's biggest sale of the year, Big Deal Days, is live. You can now get the Anti-Gravity A1 for up to 25% off, saving up to $480. The first 10 orders using my link below will also receive a free flight battery worth over $100. If you like visiting the off the-beaten path locations like I do, don't miss this limited time offer on the perfect drone for your next immersive adventure. A massive thank you to Anti-Gravity for supporting the channel. Thank you so much for joining me on this Latin American adventure in Bolivia and Peru.
And I'll see you in the next video from somewhere new. And in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.
