Lima Peru

Went to bed early, but didn't sleep very well again. I was up about 4am and worked on my blog. Taxi took me to the airport for 7:30. Flew from Quito to Lima. En route we flew over the Cotopaxi Volcano I had climbed the other day, beautiful view as it pooked through the clouds. When I arrived I had to haggle with the taxi guys to get a decent price to the hostel I had already booked. I was warned about the taxi's in Lima by George from the Cloud Forest. There are legit taxis and ones that are only pretend. I knew how much it was supposed to cost, because the hostel said they would pick me up for $20. However, for some reason they didn't.

Anyway, the ride was about half an hour to the area of Lima called Miraflores. This is a huge ugly city. Part of the ride was along the Pacific coast, and even that was ugly. There was construction everywhere and the ocean looked dirty. During the ride I was thinking, why am I here. Maybe it was because I was so tired. I only knew of one thing to do in Lima, which is to eat at an amazing world class restaurant that the travel agent in Quito told me about when I booked my flight. I got to the hostel and wasn't particularly impressed with it either. My room was okay but the path to it was kind of grotty. Found out I had a shared room, which I didn't know. The room had four beds in it. I met an Englishman named Richard in the lobby. He was working on the computer trying to book a flight and I was e-mailing. Then I went back to my room and met my room mate, who was another Englishman, named Pedro.

There was a travel agent booking firm actually in the hostel. Having thought about it and checking my time lines I decided to get out of Lima. I asked her if she could get me to Nasca and Cuzco by the 18th so I could meet up with my GAP tour of Machu Picchu. She worked it all out quickly. For $260 she booked me a taxi to pick me up at 6:30, a seven hour bus ride from Lima to Nasca on an airconditioned double decker bus, a taxi to pick me up at the bus station and take me to a hotel, the hotel room for one night, a taxi to pick me up in the morning and take me to the airport, a flight in a small aircraft to see the Nasca Lines, an overnight bus trip from Nasca to Cuzco. How good is that?

After going to get some cash for an ATM to pay for it, I met up again with Richard and Pedro. They wanted to go out and get something to eat, and Richard wanted to go buy a Lonely Planet book. I told them about the restaurant I'd hear about. They weren't sure because they figured it would be expensive, but I encouraged them. So, since it was all in the same direction we walked to the coast, about a half hour. The city is up on a cliff which overlooks the beaches. From the plaza on the cliff where the book store was, we could see the restaurant. It is on a pier out into the Pacific. I think they were intrigued. So, we walked along the cliff until we found a set of steps that takes you down. It was quite a long walk, and frankly, I was glad I had company. Always a bit dodgy walking about at dusk by yourself in these cities. Anyway, when we got there it was beautiful. I wasn't sure if we would get in dressed as we were, and without a reservation. The place was booked, but managed to get a table outside on the deck.

We had a great dinner, a beer each and a lot of fun for an hour and a half. And it only cost up $20 each! Richard and I shared at seafood platter with four different things. It was delicious. Both Pedro and especially Richard were really glad we went.

Then we had to haggle for a taxi to take us back up the cliff and let us off at a supermarket near our hostel. I bought a bit of fruit and some water for the bus ride. Then back to the rooms for a goodbye chat. Watched a two inch long cockroach walk across our floor. Put a bucket over him. Then found a spider on my pillow when I pulled my sheets down.

Went to bed about ten and was woken up about three as the hostel moved another guy into our room! Managed to get back to sleep and got up at 6:00 to get ready for the taxi.