an offally good time

---

So we begin in Barranco, a suburb of Lima which is described as the bohemian artists quarter. I heard alot of negatives about Lima so my expectations were not too high. But we arrived to the very modern airport straight into the taxi our hostel (called One Hostel...it was really great) had sent for us. As I would soon discover, things work pretty well here. Granted we haven´t deviated from the well beaten path just yet, but the infrastructure in Lima is very well developed and there is clearly alot of money here...how well it is distrubited is yet to be seen.

We slept like babies after our 24hours of travel door to door, and spent the next day exploring the city. I was surprised how few people were around...I guess I was thinking of the vast numbers in London and the swell of people in cities I´ve visited in India, but this wasn´t like that. Lots of space, western chains and well tended garden squares. As we walked through one of these squares there was an exhibition of photos taken in Pisco, a hundred or so km south, showing the aftermath of the massive earthquake there last August. It was no holds barred stuff...devasting in so many ways. I began to see that the wealth distribution was indeed pretty skewed.

After a day of walking we both agreed that we would rather get out of the city...at the moment I´ve had my fill of all that and want to get out into the countryside. I´m sure that after a few weeks of wilderness I´ll be pleased to see so called civilisation, but for now...into the wild!

But first dinner and our first taste of the national drink, Pisco Sours. It´s kinda like a marguerita...sharp and refreshing...and mas fuerte! Our airport taxi driver had warned us that 2 was enough to floor him, but being English we had to find out for ourselves! Turns out 2 is a pretty good party! We soaked up the drinks in a bbq restaurant where I had amazing steak skewers and corn (turns out I quite like the corn here, it´s massive and crunchy and very sweet). Ritch went for a mixed grill...I warned him that one of the items translated as sweet breads and that the other 3 weren´t in my dictionary...but he went for it...and recieved a smorgasboard of offal! Mmmmm tripe! Not to mention the beef heart skewer (which was actually pretty good) and miscellaneous ´stuff´! Turns out he was pretty full of Pisco anyway so wasn´t too upset...apart from evertime he looked at the cow stomach on his plate! Turns out the tradition of me always ordering the best food holds true in Peru!

We didn´t test what 3 Piscos would do to us (yet) as manyana we had a very early bus to Huacacina...an oasis in the southern coastal desert where we´re gonna do some sandboarding...rad dude!

---

Comments

[Cassie]

Checking in
Hey Faye, it's great to read about your last few days - sounds like you are living life to the full. Back from Al Yanna so am setting up a photo album on snapfish, will send you link. Love to Ritch xxxxx