LIMA..... AND ELVIS!!!!

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So, the foreseen problems predicted by the ghastly check-in wench in Australia?? Non-Existent! I knew I had it all under control. The arrival gate at Lima airport was up to its usual best: crazy and chaotic- I barely noticed, there was only one face I was looking for- the crows of people were thick but there he was, like a butterfly among a sea of moths- flying into my arms; forgetting all about mum and dad being left to the perils of taxi drivers, hostel peddlers, trolley pushers. Juan Elvis Negrón Baca, Elvis to friends and family, my soon to be husband, quickly brought things to control in search for out transfer driver to the hotel- who, typically, had forgotten to pick us up. The trip to the hotel was uneventful- but reflected in my parents faces was how I felt my first time driving through Lima: the dangerous driving, lack of road rules, constant tooting of horns, small children working the streets in the middle of the night, the rubbish, the houses, the constant rancid smell of bad sewerage. I was happy dad was with me, but even prouder that mum had decided to come too. This is mum’s first time out of Australia. Perú! What a country to visit first time overseas! What an eye opener, what a “throw you out of your comfort zone so quickly you wont know what hit you” and she took it all in her stride.

Lima has never been a city that I’ve liked- it’s too loud, smelly and over crowded for my liking. But Elvis and I toured around with my parents, the tourist centre of Miraflores, the city canter, some churches and some old sand ruins a 30 minute drive outside the city. It was interesting, but having seen other Inca ruins before, a little unspectacular in comparison. We all took a funny little boat ride through some marshlands- the boat rower was a huge bird enthusiast who refused to row any further unless dad took at least five pictures of the birds he pointed out; and I am certain ½ the time it was the same bird.

Elvis and I have got all the paper work we needed to do with the Australian consulate so now it’s to Cusco. And thank to dad’s generosity it’s no more 19 hour bus ride from Lima to Cusco- it’s an hour flight with the luxuries of an airplane.

Cusco, here we come.


Candice. xxxoo

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Photos

MUM, ELVIS ANDME
TAKING A BREAK N THE CITY CENTRE.

ELVIS AND ME
HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE ON THE MARSHLANDS BOAT RIDE.