Hola everyone!
It´s 6am in Cajamarca and I am taking this opportunity to use the internet for what may be the last time in a week or so. I don´t know where the punctuation is generally so forgive me.
We got into Lima at 3am local time, to be swept away to our hotel through this huge neverending city with lots of development. Its cleaner than I expected, and the poor stuff is interspersed with random lovely buildings. There is an orphange on the coast that just goes on and on, opposite a ´loco´ hospital. Miraflores is great! Full of beautiful architecture and market type stalls litter the streets with fresh fruit and veg and peruvian handicrafts and LOTS of sweets. Jess had a banana, which was actually a plaintain, good fun.
We went out Friday night to a Cuban Salsa club with Romy, Rob´s newfound peruvian girlfriend who had been in aus for a year. She was great, helped us a lot with spanish and gave us tips on how to tell if money is fake or not. Was the best night! Salsa baby! And sangria.... so everyone was a little under the weather sat for our flight to cajamarca...
Cajamarca is incredibleª!! Just like you imagine a latin american city to be, the houses are sorta rooms plonked on top of each other, nothing really matches. Lots of colour, lots of people. The locals here cant speak a word of english but are very interested in the turistas. Jess, Henry Jacqui and I are in a hostel off the main square, its beautiful. We go up the mountains today. WHen we had first arrived into our rooms the first sound we heard was gunshots. Crap! we thought, we are in a death zone! Nobody out in the square looked phased however, except the pigeons, and we found out later that it is a canon or fireworks to celebrate the month of the gods. phew! they are all catholic but still have traditional beliefs too.
The food here is amazing, whoever told me it was crap lied. I´ve had seafood marinated in lime and chilli (cerviche), chicken from a rottisserie )so good!) and this awesome chicken dish with mushroom and wine. It´s all served with chips, papas, but you dont need them! And so cheap! 20 soles is an expensive sort of meal and that´s about $8.
The sangria and the pisco sour is gooood too!
We have found public phones that are about 6 soles ($2) for 3 minutes international, bargain. Much cheaper than our mobiles! And pretty good lines too.
There is some sad stuff around. In Lima there are lots of beggers, especially at night, and most of them are little kids. But they aren´t begging for themselves but their druggie bosses. We only gave money to one kid who did all these awesome tricks for us, thought that was entrepaneurial (that word is way too hard to spell this early!)
The coast of lima in amazing too, big cliffs looking over the pacific ocean, its all a bit of a visual overload!
Can feel the altitude up here, heart rate a bit quicker, short of breath a bit easier. glad we are hjere for so long before the trek up the mountains in cusco!
I didnt sleep all that well last night, lots of noise outside and my stupid tooth is hurting me! But not too bad.
So it´s my birhtday today, how surreal. Managed to talk to Scott and Mum yesterday, who both sang happy birhtday too me, the time difference is also weird, Aus is 16 hours in front. wowsers. It will be a different birhtday, I´m spending 8 hours in a bus! Henry is hoping we will have a chicken on the bus... I´m not so keen!
The people here have been great, even with no spanish they are very helpful and friendly. Not so the argentinians on the way over! With the exception of the massuse we met, they are argen-arrogant. But it will be a fun city to hang in when we have a bit more spanish.
Up in the mountains here noone speaks english, so we are going to get much better quickly i thinK! There is also no laundry, so a sink and a bar of soap is the call of the day. And after friday nights salsa we definately need some washing done. Smoking is rife, and the come around with a thing like the icecream man at the football filled with cigerettes lighters and mints. hehe. all the waiter s have lighters, if you have acigerrette in your mouth its only seconds before it is lit for you. Also got a picture of a smokers bar, no drinks behind the counter, just rows of smokes!
We´ve made a point of always being in at least pairs an always having a boy with us after dusk. Last night jacqui and i separated 5 m from henry cos he stopeed to get a photo and we just went inside, and there was instant wolf whistlings and ´complments´yeslled in spanish - pretty ladies etc. It was full on! They are amazed at the whiteness of us really.
So that´s about it so far! I´m a bit worse for wear at the moment, with the tooth the jetlag the altitude sickeness and my allergy to all the car exhaust, but I´m loving it and saoking it all up! <Send me emails, I get them eventually. ANd texts on my normal number, make sure you add the +61 and drop the 0.
Love you all! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
