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Our next stop was Lima, neither of us could stomach the thought of another 20 hour bus ride so we looked at flying. We managed to get cheap tickets that cost only $10 more than the bus ride and would save us 19 hours. We arrived at the Cuzco airport to find 3 previous flights had been canceled and the que was about 50 meters long and Paul got the panics. He kept saying he had to get out of this town and couldn't stand another night here. I tried to calm him but he kept saying I've seen 'Airport' on Tv and we'll never get a plane. I had to keep him in order and stop the panic. After about an hour we had moved about 10 feet and he was hard work. Eventually an airport man advised us the plane was an hour and a half late due to fog in Lima and we finally got our bags checked in and through to departures. After quite a wait we got on the plane and had a really nice flight to Lima and got a taxi into Lima Central and found a Hostel.
Thursday. Had the energy to do
some exploring of Lima and caught the Changing of the guard at Parliament House. They had Police to keep all the sight seers well away from the fence and even had tank type things at each side with a big gun out the top. The performance was really nice and the band played a tune we knew but couldn't remember the name. Lima has really cheap food and we enjoyed it. A slice of pizza and a glass of coke for abut 70 cents.
Our friend Kath met us at the hostel later that night. While traveling it has been common to bump into people we've met before and Kath is one of them. We first met in Mendoza, then Ushuaia, then Puerto Natales and then the Naviman Ferry and we traveled to Pucon together where Kath and Paul and another friend climbed the volcano.
One fault with Lima is that there is no sub-way. We have taken to them in a big way. However, we have had the courage to catch Collectivos, these are like Hi-ace vans that act like buses. We caught one to Mirafloras so Kath could go sourvineer shopping. A man got on the
bus and started talking and he turned out to be a magician who put on a bit of a show and had every one laughing. He did it for donations. Other people get on and try to sell all sorts of stuff, a blind man came on and was selling jewellery.
Miraflores is an upmarket, touristy place that left us cold. There was a huge shopping complex overlooking the sea but it could have been any posh shopping centre anywhere in the world. Paul was befriended by an old man who wanted him to go into his 'Art Gallery' and then we couldn't get rid of him. He said he had spent some time in Australia and spoke good English. Somehow or another he led us to a market where they sold Marca - a root vegetable that is really good for you and he managed to get Paul to spend 40 sols on buying some of this stuff made into capsules. It was assured to get his breathing at altitude good, and do many other things including grow hair on his head. We were then led to a shop that sold antiquities - only by saying we would
be put in jail in NZ for buying them did he stop his hard sell but still we couldn't get rid of him. Eventually Paul had to pay him 6 sols so we could go on our way. We saw him again later, with a young guy looking very anxious in the same predicament.
We went back to Lima, again by collectivo at rush hour. It is so much fun to see how these things work in rush hour traffic. When the bus is full, it means that 20 more people can fit on and they get driven so fast and horns tooting. The drivers make sure the person in the passenger seat has on a seat belt, but that appears to be the only rule followed. They all expect the other drivers to make way for them and they are all tooting and the man that collects the money calls out for more to fit on, even when there is no room.
We got a bit lost getting back to our hostel and ended up in a red light area, turned out to be only 1 block from where were staying.
We went to the Changing
of the Gaurd again and they had men in different uniforms and a different band. There was a dog lying by the fence that was there when we were here 2 days ago. He appears to live there, the solders allow him to be close to the fence. We visited a museum that had wax models of people being tortured by the Inquisition and we walked underground to see where they were kept until they were done in.
Then we found China Town and had some really delicious Chinese food. Lots of Chinese people came here over 100 years ago and it is their restaurants to go to for vegetables.
Walking around town that night Paul was again befriended by a man who wanted to practice his English. Paul must have 'Easy Touch' tattooed on his forehead because we were caught again. We were taken to see his church and then appeared to be led in a round about way to a restaurant where he took us in and said it was for a rest but somehow beer and food ended up on the table. Then we were presented with a bill for 130 sols. Paul blew his
stack and wanted the Police to be called and caused quite a scene. A policeman was having a quiet beer and he became involved and with Paul ranting and the policeman shaking his finger we were presented with another bill for 38 sols - still too much and more than we had on us so we paid what we had and left the rest to our friend Antonio to pay.
Time to leave town.
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