Anyone for raw octopus?

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Geo: -12.0931, -77.0465

After a blissful long sleep, we awoke and had a leisurely breakfast, followed by a leisurely start to the day - researching places to see on our return. We almost booked a tour out to some ancient inca ruins out on the coast near Lima, as they are considered a great precursor to seeing the wonders of the inca Kingdom in the Sacred Valley, but sadly, the trip was fully booked and it's something we will consider on our return, if not templed out by then.

We made our way to our new hotel, not a particularly salubrious establishment, but sufficient for the one night stay. Here, we managed to find a recommendation for some the best ceviche in town, and so wandered the busy streets of Lima. Once again, having blonde hair seems to cause something of a stir here - despite what must be the vast numbers of tourists that pass through this international hub every day, it would appear that very few of them are blonde, as the staring has already begun. It is not as voracious as in China or India, but it is there all the same.

After a half hour walk, we arrived at Punto Azul - a family run restaurant with a formidable reputation. And it showed. Customers were bursting out of the door and we had a 25 minute wait for a table. We spent the time people watching and perusing the menu - unsurprisingly, it was a little fishy! Eventually, we settled for crispy fish wantones and mixed ceviche - the latter is Peru's national dish and one I was looking forward to introducing Stacey to. I had sampled lobster and conch ceviche when in Belize and knew it was an acquired taste, but when in Rome and all that....

When the food came, Stacey looked at it with suspicion, but we both dived right in - the flavours were delicious, delicately limey with a gentle kick of chilli and a tang of red onion. However, as is often the case with shellfish, the texture was a little more difficult to palate. The octopus, in particular, in its raw state was quite rubbery, although delicious, and the fish pieces were quite large and fleshy, making it more difficult to chew than the prawns and white corn that made up the rest of the dish. Other delectable items in the ceviche, we were later told, were black conch and something I have been thus far unable to decipher. In summary, ceviche is not one for the faint hearted, or weak stomached, but it was quite delicious once you got past the texture! (The crispy wantones - served with a sweet sesame dipping syrup - were also delicious, although incredibly large, and the portions were huge so we didn't manage to make a proper dent in them.

The rest of the day was spent meeting our group, ready for the real adventure to begin tomorrow, which would begin with an uncivilised 5am breakfast and 5.30 departure for r flight to Cusco.

The rest of the

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