Peru, Lima

This entry covers 30 to 31 October

Well i left you all a couple of quarts down the hatch and on the verge of taking on whatever nightlife Miraflores had to offer. Headed into the darkness with Chad (tatoo man) and the 2 Irish mofos. It was late already as we had to finish watching 8 Mile (in Spanish!). The 1st spot was closing although had serious potensh (memory bank for another night). Chad then took us to Tasca's where the handshake and hug was the order of the evening in order to pass the bouncers. The place was raging inside...99% locals jamming to local tracks made me think we were somewhat outsiders in this place so decided to restrain and observe their moves while sipping on a seriously potent mix of something and coke. The walk home was interesting to say the least...half pint hookers followed us like a pack of hyenas for at least 200m until they realised that Chad wasn't willing to cheat on one of his many local girlfriends and the Irish lads couldn't converse...try getting a spanish peruvian to understand galic!

I had a marathon breakfast (breadrolls, strawb jam, a banana and tea) with Steve and Isabelle (also from Aus). Was lekker to meet some dudes from a similar background. Mick (the boozer/other) awoke up after a solid 20 hour hibernation and looked worse than before! His claim to fame...4 days without sleep...whatever rocks your boat buddy!

Jumped onto the bus (I'm guessing manufactured in the early 60's) bound for Central Lima. The gearstick bobbed around a couple feet below the busdriver's right knee which certainly didn't help the poor man's hunched posture. I was intrigued by the little doorman's antics, hanging out the door (irrespective of whether it was stationary) shouting directions to all and sundry. The trip took about 45 minutes only because we stopped every 30 yards to pick up people, exhaust fumes, beggars and entrepreneurs trying to sell everything from ince creams to chocolates to sweets.

Finally reached Plaza de Armes and was blown away by the monstrocity of the buildings. La Cathedral de Lima was magnificent and Hermy (my frog mascot) made some awesome appearances. I hit numerous innocent bystanders with "Puedo sacar uno foto" (please can I take a foto) handing them my little plastic frog to pose with! I met Sergio in front of Monestario de San Francisco. He was an artist from Cusco and an interesting little man with such a friendly disposition. I've realised that while the locals are oober hospitable, they're also entrepreneurs looking for an angle out of most situations. Peter (also from Cusco) introduced himself in Plaza de San Martin. He took me to Amull's Sports Bar where we sunk a couple of quarts and chatting about our experiences to date (mostly lost in translation) only to find out that the beers were on me! I decided it was worth it in the end as I met Steve from Canada who was having coffee at the table next to ours and Milos (the owner of the restaurant)...an ex Yugoslavian soccer international who had decorated the place with shirts and photo's from his haydays (including one of Maradonna's original shirts!). I asked both these men what their interested in Peru were and it turned out that both had married lcoal Peruvian lasses! You're probably thinking, what on earth could draw a Canadian and an international soccer legend to such women and both concluded that they have great hearts, respect their men and are loyal. While not breaking any record books on the height department (around 4ft 5 inches), they're also surprisingly good looking. I ended up chatting to Flor (one of the waitresses) and took her number with the intention of hooking up later that evening assuming someone in the backpackers would have a cell phone to lend for a couple sms'...no such luck...Chad lent his to someone and forgot to get it back and Mick's was stolen a week ago.

A moment of humour on the bus drive back to Miraflores included a little Peruvian boy (ok, they're all pretty small human beings!) falling asleep in my lap!

Back at the backpackers, I ended up introducing the legendary cardgame, Shithead, to Maria and Thea (from Denmark). I was so buggered from a long day in the city that decided to calkl it a day and save myself for Halloween. Edken (the dude who runs the backpackers) flipped thru the local newspaper and found some hotspots to explore in Barancas this evening...nice.

I'm off to chack out the pyramid ruins called Huaca Puellama and Mercado del Indies (a local market) to test my Spanish bargaining skills. Also going to pop into Explore Bicycle Rentals to see if it's possible to ride to Pachacamas and the Southern Beaches (Punte Hermora, San Bartola and Punte Recas).

Wish me luck

Raffa

Other words for the day..."Eres muy bonitas" (you are very beautiful)