Lima, The City Who Held Me!


Advertisement
Peru's flag
South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Miraflores
November 4th 2012
Published: November 4th 2012
Edit Blog Post

Well, it has been an interesting two weeks for me to say the least. Ica and Lima gave me highs and lows and I have come away not really knowing how I feel about the area! But let me start from the start.

After leaving the farm in Quellomayo, I spent a weekend in Cusco to re-grind myself. The two days were pretty great, I had plenty of computer time (getting this blog going), but I also met two great people. Makoto and Zaya, they were my roommates for the weekend and decided to hang out. Makoto who had been in the Amazon making a documentary was an intriguing filmmaker who had traveled allot. Zaya was on and adventure trip, in the process of making a film also, looking for a doorway into the industry. Zaya was Mongolian, and I can tell you I learnt allot from her, feeling very ignorant as I discovered the Mongols ruled almost half the world at one point. I had a great time with these two, rich conversations made the weekend really enjoying, one of my favorite things about travel!

I caught a bus to Ica on Monday, as it was a long trip (14hrs) I took the overnight bus. I spent the money on a good company. The trip started off well, food and movies. We got three, by then it was starting to get late so we were lulled into sleep by the now silent bus. However, I woke in the night being thrown around in my seat. I looked out the window, I could see it was now the dead of night and pitch black outside. From the motion of the bus I figure we were climbing a mountain range, but I tell you what it was not pleasant. I looked around the bus and most people seemed to be sleeping peacefully somehow. I am not sure how, the bus driver didn´t seem to understand that you were supposed to slow for the corners. It seemed that the bus driver had decided to drive at scarily fast speeds now that everyone was asleep. Needless to say the remainder of my night was a disturbed sleep if any. Ica is a desert city, and as the sun rose I began to see our surroundings. It still amazes me how different deserts can actually be. This desert was amazing, huge sand dunes stretched as far as the eye could see, the Andes lining the horizon. Unfortunately, bus window photography is something I have now banned myself from. The results just never do the justice deserved. So I hope I have provided a good enough metal picture. When we arrived in Ica, we were given breakfast in a cafeteria as most passengers were going on to Lima.

In Ica bus terminal I called my couch surfing host; he said he could pick me up in 20 min. Soon enough he found me and we headed out to his house on the outskirts of Ica. He welcomed me into his beautiful home, which he was planning to be a hostel. Definitely had the potential. With 4 floors and beautiful interior designing, it was well on its way. After settling in, he offered to take me around to see the pisqo wineries. This is what Ica is famous for and basically one of the few to things to see in Ica itself. So of course I accepted. Had a great day learning about the process of making pisqo. Also made from grapes, it seems to be quite similar to wine making, using different grapes. The distillation is also different, the use big old traditional Clay jug like containers. I couldn´t tell you exactly the process though. Like wine tour you get to test pisqo along the way. However the difference is that they give you shots of pisqo (similar, I think, to the affect of tequila). As you can imagine I was feeling rather light headed by the end of the day! We ended at a very cool winery, where the owner had spent a lifetime collecting and ecliptic mix of things from South America. It was really interesting to spend some time in there looking at what he had managed to gather. Near to Ica there is a desert oasis called Huacachina. It is a very popular destination for sand boarding and buggy rides. I decided I had had my desert fun in San Pedro De Atacama. I regret this al little but not totally. So the next day (Tuesday) I decided that I was going to head off to Lima. Saying goodbye to my host, I headed to the bus station again. This time it would only be a 5 hour trip so I just got on one of the local buses. This trip was also accompanied by a couple of movies, unusual for the local buses I was pleasantly surprised and happily arrived in Lima. Even though we were an hour later than originally promised, and I was feeling fuzzy brained it was good to be in the city. I caught a taxi to my hostel, another flying dog and checked in.

Now as I am sure a lot of you are aware I have now been in Lima for two weeks, much longer than originally planned. So I won´t go through every day in detail but you can learn of my highlights and lowlights. I had arrived in Lima late so went to be. The next morning I went to a delicious breakfast. A part of the accommodation at my hostel breakfast is had at a restaurant across the park. Quite a treat, you receive eggs, toast, cheese, juice and coffee. My first day in Lima, I spent happily at the park, staring into the ocean. While sitting in the park I decided to embark on a project I have always wanted to do. Write a novel. I have them time now, probably more than I will ever have. So I decided to do it for a bit of fun and to see if I could more than anything. So off I went to the stationary shop and got myself a notebook to embark on my own journey. I had seen that two of my classmates from Spanish school would be in town the next day so we arranged an afternoon catch up. Caught a bus in to town to meet at the Magic water circuit. This was definitely one of my highlights. We spent the afternoon, walking and seeing the water displays in the afternoon. We played Uno and I tried Churros for the first time. Churros are a kind of sweet doughnut, but shaped like a tube and filled with hot caramel, covered in sugar it is a dangerously scrumptious snack!!! Mike and Grace had to make tracks to get on a bus, but I hung around for the night light show. I am really glad I did it was a beautiful demonstration and it was almost just as fun to watch so many local families having such a beautiful time (at only 4 soles it is affordable for most people).

Thursday and Friday I spent, writing my book drawing and wandering the streets of Lima. I discovered that the streets were littered with mulberry trees. The delicious little fruits still in arms reach for me YUM! Thursday afternoon, a friend of mine Layla arrived in Lima. We had met in La Paz and our paths have crisscrossed since, enough for us to become good friends. As I hadn´t properly celebrated my birthday, Lalyla agreed to help me. I hadn´t really experience a night out in a diskotec. So we had some drinks and headed out. We had a great night and managed not to spend more than about 20soles! Great night of dancing thanks Layla! The next day all I really did was relax and I was lucky to have sunshine, a rare commodity in Lima. Well Friday night I decided to go get a sandwich and go back to my hostels. Unfortunately Lima had a different idea. As I walked a very small man popped up next to me, opening line ‘it’s so funny because you are so tall and I am so short’. Yea fucking hilarious I thought, totally not ready to be harassed, but I just politely laughed. Then he began on a rampage of conversation (one sided).

Him: Where are you from?

Me: Australia. I Love Aussies!

Him: Really?

Seeing a random restaurant I saw my escape. ‘Well I am going to eat here so goodnight’. ‘I have a bottle of wine, I will join you we can have a drink’. I literally said ‘No thanks, I would rather be alone tonight’, apparently he didn’t get it. ‘Ok I will come back in an hour we can have a drink then’. I said ok bye, knowing I was not going to be there in an hour. I went in the restaurant and saw the prices, immediately left to find another place. I found one ordered and sat down. All of a sudden the same guy was back ‘I paid for your meal, so let’s enjoy a meal together’. Fuuuck take a hint, at that point I thought, well I am going to eat my meal and leave. Well he wouldn´t shut up, the conversation (one sided) went from him living in Germany, being a tour guide, offering me free tours into the jungle just ‘cause’. Bullshit. I had eaten my meal, refused beer after beer, him constantly complaining that he had already bought it for me. Your problem mate! Finally it got to a point when he offered me ‘lines’ now officially freaked out, out of my depth but up a free meal, I told him firmly that I was leaving. That did not go down well however I just left. Got followed back to my hotel where I ran behind the locked gates. Informing the staff not to ever let him in!!! So now Lima had officially offended me and tainted my view. Feeling upset and overwhelmed I went to sleep.



Then next couple of days I spent trying to avoid the main strip, so I wouldn´t run into the guy and thank god I did not. One good thing that came from the experience was that in my avoidance of main streets I found a really cute café. A German - Peruvian Café which had a big old writing chair. Green and massive, I came back almost everyday of my time here. It has great music, people and free wifi. The perfect get away.

Sunday here they close the roads and set up stands for rollerblading and bikes. Of course I couldn’t resist and was soon blade-ing my happy heart out. A small redemption for Lima. All this time I am waiting for an email from the consulate to tell me my new bank card has arrived. This is how the city held me. The second week passed and an aussie couple joined my room. I Still regulared the parks at the beach, my book now forming a plot. The week passed slowly, I found enjoyment in watching the cats in Park Kennedy across from my hostel. The park is a place where they feed and care for the street cats of the city. Which means there are some very cute cats cruising around. I also went and saw two movies at the cinema. Taken 2, thankfully in English was great. The next day I saw, Hotel Transylvania, which luckily was a children’s movie with simple language because it was in Spanish.

Friday was awesome, I caught up with Savvy who I hadn´t seen since Brissie. We spent the day hanging out and chatting! Had Lunch and it was just nice to see a familiar face from home. Then that afternoon I discovered that my card had arrived but the lady had not emailed me until close so I had to wait until Monday to get it. Fury rose up in my whhhhyyyyy??? Well then I was in a bit of a mood, but had plans to meet Savvy for dinner. As we walked together, we passed a climbing store. It had a Gym! Immediately all my feelings of Lima hate disappeared. This I could fill my weekend with! So the night was filled with good food, conversation and excitedness for the next day!

I managed to get 8 climbs in and after some bouldering too was absolutely buggered. Watched some Tv and went to bed. Now it is my last day in Lima. I am heading to The jungle tomorrow. Finally on the road again I can’t wait for what comes next!

Advertisement



20th November 2012

Awesome blogs luc, your writing is so full of imagery I feel like im there! Love and miss you xxx

Tot: 0.074s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0442s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb