Shell shocked

Lima
27-29th March

Seeing bright lights, Macdonalds, Pizza Hut and Peruvians not dressed in traditional attire left us feeling a bit shell shocked after spending the last few weeks in very rural areas of Peru and also Bolivia.

Having had such a good time at the Loki Hostel in Cusco, we decided to stay at its Lima version. We felt like the Granny´s of the dorm as we were wanting to see some fo the cultural sights of Lima, however the other dorm members priorities lay in being permanently stoned or out boozing til 6 or 7 in the morning and sleeping all day - hence we never got to know many of our dormmates due to their nocturnal hours. Our first night was rather eventful, a drunken Dutch girl stumbled into the dorm wearing only her knickers and trainers (not sure where her jeans went?!) and was helped into her top bunk by the receptionist. We woke up to the disturbance and waited for the inevitable, as she restlessly flung her body and limbs from side to side - the CRASH - we turned on the light to see her sprawled amongst the backpacks on the floor. Gayle kindly helped her into bed - the bottom bunk this time (fortunately the owner was still out partying) - to prevent further injury.

After much deliberation, we decided that the Galapagos was way out of our budget as we were scrimping and saving at every possible moment and as a result, finding it stressful and not enjoying our time travelling as we should (it´s important to be able to treat yourself to that chocolate or beer when you need it). The new plan is to go there for our honeymoons (not together!) Although as James W has advised us, "Screw the money, marry for the passport" (fortunately we have the latter, so can go for the first!) Having made this decision, we both felt a huge weight off our shoulders with the Galapagos Fund now the "Fun Fund".

Our first day in Lima we ambitiously decided to walk to the Musee de la Nacion, completely underestimating the size of Lima we managed to see a large proportion of Lima on foot! On the way, now able to afford the postage of Nicky´s frame, we stopped at the post office to send it home. (Is it there yet mum?) Aaron, who we met in Arequipa, recommended we went to this museum to see the exhibition on the Nazca lines to make up for having skipped them in Nazca. Unfortunately the exhibition was closed and the explanations for the other exhibits of the Inca and pre Inca civilisations were all in Spanish...by the end of this museum we were well and truly "ruined-out". Luckily an amazing photographic exhibition saved the day - we were both shocked and impressed by the display showing graphic photos of the last 20 years of violence and terror in a time of political unrest in Peru. We felt completely ignorant of this recent history when much of Peruvian history is focused on the Incas.

We were very proud of ourselves when we mastered the local transportation system and caught a bus back to the hostel.

While in Lima In order to keep our avid readers happy, we also put serious dedication into updating our blog. We also met up with Thomas and Louise (from Salt Flats Tour). Was great to see familiar faces and catch up, sharing stories of the last 2 weeks since we`d last seen them in Sucre. As we were about to leave we realised we knew the gorgeous "out-of-this-world" blonde who walked into the hostel. It was Oli, our long lost German friend (minus Oolie) from Punta Arenas. Had a quick catch up and realised we`d be reunited in Mancora in a couple of days.