Days 1 - 6

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After a teary goodbye to the Baker clan and Charlie finding some snazzy sunglasses in the duty free shop, we endured a long flight of approximately 12 hours, before arriving in Lima. Our hotel was in the Downtown district; it was simple but comfortable and never quiet. There was continuous noise from all of the clubs and discotecas, and of course from all of the insane taxi drivers: let's explore the subject of Peruvian taxi drivers. In short, they are insane. The don´t have seatbelts, they beep their horns at each other constantly, and they drive in between lanes. We weren´t afraid of being car-jacked as much as we were afraid of dying in a huge taxi related car accident.

On our first day in Lima we walked through Downtown to the main square, home to the famous Lima Cathedral and the Presidential Palace. The buildings are absolutely amazing. Inside the Cathedral there are several impressively carved 20 foot high altars made from gold and wood, depicting different events and saints (of which there seems to be an endless supply). The main altar is made from gold and is a stunning site. The Cathedral houses a museum of art and artefacts including the severed arm of General, which for some grotesque reason, has become a treasured religious relic. As well as the carvings, the sculptures and paintings are extremely beautiful and ornate. After the Cathedral, a walk around Lima and then to bed to deal with the jet lag.

The Palace in the main square is a huge building surrounded by many armed guards and two small tanks, complete with large guns. Despite this intimidating factor, the changing of the guards every day at midday was an enjoyable sight. Brass bands, swords, marching and elaborate costumes which must have been uncomfortable in the midday heat (over 30 degrees) all made up this elaborate ceremony.

One of the highlights of our first brief stay in Lima was our visit to Huaca Pullanca, a fantastic resturant complete with gorment food (including yuca, a traditional potato dish which was delicious) and excellent service. We ate on the terrace overlooking the 2000 year old Inca ruins of the same name that surround the resturant. A fantastic experience!!!!

On our third day in Lima, we visited a wonderful museum of Inca archaeology and culture. The museum itself was beautiful; it was a mediterranean style house that had once belonged to one of the local Don´s, and had been converted into a museum after his death. It contained thousands of historical Inca artefacts, and was also home to an "erotic gallery", home to many explicit and ever so amusing Inca pottery (which we had the maturity to NOT laugh at...) Also we saw a piece of cloth that held the world record for number of threads per linear inch, and also a vast archive of pottery depicting everything from demons and spirits to frogs and monkeys.

A short flight at 5.30am on the 4th of May took us to Cuzco, where we were met by our crew leader, Yvonne, and her cocker spaniel, Spike. A brief taxi ride took us to the Madventurer flat which will be our home for the next month. Altitude sickness is a bit of a problem, and after two days we are still very tired and feeling rough. After sleeping for most of the day we went to Indigo´s bar with the Mad team. We had our first Alpaca steak which tastes a bit like a tender beef steak, and we listened to a Peruvian blues band while smoking shisha. A good night had by all.

This weekend in Cuzco has been a mixture of exploring the local markets and sites, and getting to know the rest of our crew who all seem very nice. The flat is small, but comfortable, and the city of Cuzco is very beautiful. Our money is being stretched as the exchange rate is approximately 6.5 nuevo soles to one pound. Everything here is very cheap; on our first day in Lima, we had no inhibitions about paying 15 nuevo soles for a ten minute taxi ride, but now, we´ve got to the stage where Charlie is arguing with the local merchants about how 20 soles for a hand-made bag and a leather diary with Inca patterns and carvings on it is too expensive. No wonder the British have a bad reputation!!!

Anyway, these ramblings have taken us up-to-date with our adventures over here on the other side of the world, and now we´re going to go have a three course meal, complete with a bottle of the most expensive wine in South America, for 10 soles (joking!!!)

Love to all! We miss you all so much.

Chalex xxxx

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Comments

[David Baker]

hola maestros
Hi there teachers (which is what I think I've said in the title). Glad things are going well for you, and hope that you get over the altitude sickness soon - I'm sure you'll acclimatise. Good to hear that you're having fun, the restaurant (Huaca Pullanca) sounded fantaaaaaastic. It's reassuring to hear that the rest of the MAD crew are nice people, I felt that they would be. We've had snow here for the last two days - a complete white-out, so I guess the temperature has been lower than with you. We've got Skype set up on the house computer, so if you text us, we can call you for 1p per minute (the going rate on Skype) which is superb - we spoke with someone in the flat yesterday afternoon (Sunday) Milly hadn't spoken with you both for a day and wanted to chat - and so did we... Anyroadup, we hope that the first day goes well (I'm sure it will) and that you have lots of fun, remember, if you're not enjoying yourself, why are you doing it? Lots of love to you both - from David, Lesley and Milly xxxxx