Whistlestop Lima

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We arrived in Lima completely exhausted. Getting good at bargaining, we managed to get a taxi to the Miraflores area for 25 soles between us, when the tariff sheet said it should be 40 soles. There was another traveller in our car (an antisocial one) who was clearly annoyed that he was paying 30 soles for himself. Oh well if that's how the taxi drivers make their money, that's fine with us.

Last time we were in Lima we had been really excited to find a McDonalds with adjoining McCafe, all next door to a cinema. This time we had found the addresses of some hostels even nearer to these establishments, and when we were dropped at our first selection Luke was mesmerised to see that we were directly opposite McDonalds. We were worried there may not be any availability due to it being Boxing day, but it was fine. We checked into a room with a view into McDonalds, and it was the noisiest place we have ever stayed. We were located on a roundabout which must have been the busiest in the whole of Lima with beeping horns and skidding tyres all night long.

After checking in we went for a nap which ended up taking over most of the rest of the day. We woke around 8 and showered before going for dinner at you guessed it, McDonalds. We wandered around the first real department store that we have seen on our trip which was also in the same complex. Oh what a luxury, but the prices were out of our budget. We then headed to the cinema hoping to see Los Fockers Pesquenas or whatever it's called, but it wasn't showing for some reason, so we were stuck with Narnia. It became the second Boxing day of Katie's life wasted watching this film. After the cinema we returned to the hostel where we were very excited to see they had a TV room with a massive TV and every possible black market DVD ever available. After watching Madagascar we went to bed looking forward to seeing more of the city so hated by many travellers.

The following day we spent mooching in shops trying to decide whether the branded stuff was real and knock-off, or just fake. Luke was looking for something to wear on New Year, but the search was nusuccessful. Katie found brie in the local supermarket, Metro, so we bought an overpriced slice to satisfy her 2 month craving. For lunch we headed to pizza hut whih had an amazing deal, then we had a milshake overlooking the coast. Lima has a number of beaches along the front of the city, but they are all horrible and rubbly, and the water is quite rough. It is good for surfing and we watched some surfers for a while whilst drinking. There really isn't a lot to do in Lima as it is a metropolitan modern city. It is pretty and nice to shop, but other than tht there wasn't a lot for us to do. We walked through Kennedy Park in the Miraflores area just outside our hostel, and were quite surprised at how many American people seem to live here. We spent the evening in the hostel with a few beers and ping pong.

The following day we collected our laundry which was a complete mess. Half of the items came back dirtier than when we'd sent them. After causing quite a scene in reception and refusing to pay for the damaged items we were finally discounted 4kg. It still didn't mean our clothes were clean though.

We cooked pasta for lunch and wandered around town again passing the time before going to the airport for our flight to Rio for New Year. We met this really annoying old man at the hostel who was smoking drugs and just being a general offensive dick towards the population at large. He was clearly having an extended mim-life crisis. Katie was eating her brie and found a giant chunk of glass in it which was really annoying.
We decided to take a taxi off the street to the airport, as if we ordered one from the hostel it would cost 50 soles. We scoffed at that price to which another girl in reception commented 'I'd rather pay more and know I had a safe ride'. Oh how naive, they use the same company as he ones on the streets; it's no wonder we end up having to pay over the odds in tourist spots.

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