Lima

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Right then. Lets try this travelblog lark! If it all goes wrong, blame it on Bouffant... it was his idea. Sorry if I ramble a bit. The idea I suppose is that it serves as a travel journal rather than just an email to update you on the highlights. Therefore, feel free to ignore it and I´ll just bore you when I get back. That said, it tells me when people log on so if you want to boost my ego, just click on the link and then shut it down. I won´t know any different.....

Been in Lima for two-ish days now. The flight to Madrid was a shocker! Usually I put on a brave face with turbulence as Sophie doesn´t really like flying. However, I´m sure I was visibly terrified. I used to love flying. I suppose age - and the consequential awareness of death - has put paid to that. Having said that, the second flight across the Atlantic was much better. The circa 1970s Iberian decor and large quota of chick-flicks aside, it was almost fun. I got to use my first bit of Spanish, grunting "pollo" at the air stewardess when I was given options for the main course. I´ll be a pro in no time. By the time we landed, we had been travelling for about 24 hours and I for one was starting to lag. Predictably, when you least need it, the bags took an age to arrive and the pick-up we had arranged was nowhere to be found. Eventually "Victor" turned up and led us to an unmarked taxi, which you are warned in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS to avoid. I was in no mood to argue, even when he insisted on all the bags being locked in the trunk. Things got worse. Now, I am sure there are comparable places on earth but you are going to be doing well to find another country with such as complete disregard for speed limits, rules of the road or general safety. For the second time that day, I was terrified. Then Victor decided it would be a good idea to crank up the fear factor further and take us down some unlit coastal road. Obviously, as I´m writing this, I´m here to tell the tale. Anyway, the first thing I did on checking into the hostel was to get a well-earned beer to settle the nerves.... and then slept for a long time.

Obviously, a good night´s sleep puts a different complexion on matters. The paranoia of arriving in a strange city at night, exhausted, had left me and life was good again. The hostel (Inka Lodge for anyone who hasn´t been put off by the story so far) is great. Clean, friendly and serving a free breakfast (the way to my heart), I would certainly recommend it. We are staying in Miraflores, which is the posh part of town. We had a stroll around yesterday and enjoyed ourselves. It is quite charming (roads aside) and perfectly safe. We ´cheated´ a bit by going to this travellers club who kindly arranged our bus tickets for the next couple of weeks. I´ll attempt negotiating travel directly another time; I can order a beer but I CANNOT yet book two tickets for reclining seats on the 5.30 bus to Cusco. I may therefore seem a little bit ungrateful when I say the aforementioned club had a bit of a cultish feel to it. Everyone had matching fleeces and the guy pointed out rooms that were ´members only´. Needless to say, we were invited to join. We had to go back today for the tickets and I felt it was sensible to let a couple of people at the hostel know where we were going, just in case.... They also had folders full of recommendations and reviews about different things which the cult leader said was "unique". Are you sure? Ever been on the internet?

Anyway, boring organisational stuff aside, we had a cracking pizza at La Glorietta on a place fittingly called Pizza Street. It was a bit strange; having just got used to being in South America, you turn down a street and there are dozens of Italian restaurants lined up with pavement terraces. The local beer is called Cusquena; I like it, Sophie doesn´t. Oh well. Got back to the hostel after and sat up drinking with a Canadian girl, a yank and two aussies - the only other people staying here. Great night. I tried pisco (without mixer), the local drink, which tastes pretty much like most other white spirits. Almost bearable if you´re drunk, not so good when you´re sober. I stuck to beer after that. We also got the night porter Juan drunk. He was loving the pisco and great value. Oh, the yank drank too much too quickly and went to bed early. Typical.

Today was good fun. We went to an arceological site nearby which was really interesting. I won´t bore you with what essentially was a pile of rubble... you had to be there. They had some weird mini zoo there as well. We saw llamas, alpacas (which look like llamas) and ginea pigs. Just as Sophie pointed out one that looked like her old pet "Badger" (or something) the guide started explaining in intricate detail how to cook one. Fantastic. I´m definitely going to try one. I also saw a hummingbird which was amazing! I don´t think you can eat those though - not much meat. They also had some weird bald dogs which the guide reckoned cost about 1,000 quid each. Hmmm, not for me. They looked a bit like that creature on ghostbusters than Rick Moranis turns into at the end. In the afternoon, we headed to downtown Lima. I´d like to think I struck a good bargain with the texi driver although in reality I probably paid twice that of a local. We went to a monestary which was really interesting. Now, before you start thinking that sounds a bit geaky, I should say that it dated back to the 1600s and a lot of the original art work remained..... and they had a giant dungeon filled with old bones and skulls arranged in sinister patterns. Odd but pretty cool.

Anyway, time for another Cusquena.....

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