Friendly Locals & Crazy Drivers

Happy to be in another airport lounge
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We are here. Jetlagged, but we have definitely arrived at our first major destination....Lima, Peru.

The flight over was only 4 hours which considering our neverending flights yesterday was too easy. We sat next to the friendliest Chilean explosives expert Carlos who helped us with our very dodgy spanish (well Mike´s is dodgey but Linda has taken to it extremely well).  He even showed us photos of places he had been in Peru, and told Mike that he has to try a local drink known as a Pisco Sour (which he is very much looking forward to doing).

They literally stick their heads out the windows of cars, buses and taxis to stare.

Our room for the next 5 nights
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Driving from the airport to our hostel in Lima was a real culture shock. The area was very poor with shanty towns scattered everywhere and every second building is damaged in some way....some looked like bombs had hit them, but I imagine it is damage from an earthquake as this area is quite prone to them. Driving here is also an experience in itself. There doesn´t seem to be any road rules, and beeping is almost constant. Our taxi driver was very intent on getting us there in the quickest time possible and lane changing was very scary at times! On the subject of our taxi driver, he stalked us from the moment we cleared customs (which is just a guy, by the way - no machines) and yelled at other taxi drivers when they tried to approach us...like we were his! But he was very friendly and persistant. In fact all the people we have met so far have been so friendly and willing to help us at every turn which we hope will continue for at least another 6 months.

Inka Lodge Room 3. Dont come a knockin
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Today we have done a bit of exploritory searching around our neighbourhood.  We tracked down the South American Explorers Club (of which we are members) and we will use this as our base for information and exploring.  We checked out a local market called Mercado de Artesanias (think the Melbourne Markets with more colour) however we will probably hold off buying until we reach some more rural areas.  When we got hungry for lunch, we headed for a little local place called McDonalds (we were too tired and hungry to figure out other local menus). We also played a game called ´try to cross the road without getting run over´ which we haven´t quite mastered yet.

Mike working out where to go next
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I had a moment in Santiago Airport when I realised that being a tall, white, blonde (Mike wants me to say attractive too) woman was going to bring me a few stares, leers and generally blatant gawking from some of the local men.  They literally stick their heads out the windows of cars, buses and taxis to stare.

We are staying at a cute place called The Inka Lodge in Miraflores (a ritzy suburb of LIma) which feels quite safe.  Our room is small but comfy, with beautiful artwork all around.  We have free internet access so we will make use of it during our stay (Mike has already checked his various sports dream teams). Tomorrow we plan to explore some more, buy some lunch from a local supermarket and chill out in one of the beautiful parks around these parts.  Mike is still a bit jetlagged (soft) but i am doing surprisingly well.

Inka Lodge - outdoor dining area
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For dinner we wanted to try our first taste of real Peruvian food, afterall you don´t come halfway around the world to try food that you could get back at home.  So we went for a wander down our street, but to our dismay, all the restaurants that were buzzing at lunch were now closed. Peruvians seem to have big lunches like you world expect in Europe, and dinner is not a big deal. But we found a little place at the end of the street which looked cute and reasonably priced. The food was delicious, but only after going through our phrasebook did we realise that the name of the restaurant ¨Chifa¨ actually means Chinese! So our first two tries at Peruvian food were McDonalds and Chinese. : )

The main roundabout in Miraflores
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Oh well, there is always tomorrow!