Francia Inn Hotel Lima

... days riding and thinking i've catalogued a long list of things that i would want to say to you loved people. the only problem is that lots of times i've felt too cold or tired or sick to tinker away on these keys. additionally, i'm not a great cataloguer so that items are always going missing or out of order, so that when i try to mentally page back through these things it's like flipping through the encyclopedia of a dyslexic, dimentia plagued editor; nothing is in order - the civil war ...

... I also have a reputation for being a 'princess traveler', blinded by 5 stars, so this is going to be interesting.

Since Susie and I landed we've been pretty much on the go non-stop whipping through the sites of Peru. It's taking time to adapt to life on the road, but slowly the crackberry addiction is subsiding and the days are starting to just roll on.

So here are some of the funnier highlights so far. Normally these would ...

... my Spanish will be better. She said I have done a lot better than other volunteers. She said I could talk with Alicia. I had to go and I felt she was sad to see me leave. I am too. It was a great week and definitely opened my eyes to a whole new world. The flight to Lima was uneventful and over 1 hour has passed since I landed just 6 more hours to go. I had called Jose but he was busy. I told him I was going to his house feels like home. He said they all enjoyed me being there.

... leave that evening on an overnight bus so that we could get to altitude as soon as possible and begin acclimatising for our trek) and then for a good meal and a few drinks. The restaurant had some very nice waitresses in cycling style cat suits who Inkaboy insisted that we had a photo with. The rest of the day passed uneventfully and we saw a few nice places in Lima before catching the overnight bus at 9ish in the evening and settling down uncomfortably heading for Huaraz.

... since splitting up and our next plans. Eventually we settled on a place for dinner and had a delicious meal and wine. Gabe and I were leaving on the 10pm shuttle from that complex, so we decided to change our venue and have another drink. Sadly, or maybe happily depending on your viewpoint, we ended up in Hooters! Really funny actually, Emma and James are great and we had such a nice time catching up. By the time we jumped on the shuttle I was beat.

May 27-29, 2009: La Paz, Bolivia to Lima, Peru

Heading East to Brasil Via an Overnight Bus West to Lima
Flying throughout South America is expensive. Ungodly expensive. It is no wonder that airlines are going broke left and right; it is cheaper to buy a round-trip ticket than it is to by a one-way ticket in many instances. There is no way that there is negative marginal cost of flying, so the only logical explanation is to drive higher load factor on ...

... to store food.
We stopped to feed alpacas next, and then lunch. La Raya, the scenic high point, let us experience 14,017 feet.
Needless to say, we were breathless! Our last stop before Puno was Pucara where we saw remnants of an early culture, 300 B.C.-300 A.D. The surviving stones showed clear links to the practice of human sacrifice. Across the street is Iglesia Pinon de Pucara, an exquisite colonial ...

... wrong, I'll miss my family and friends (a ton) but I'm thoroughly thrilled for the adventures that lie ahead. I took an express jet from Detroit to Newark. I must say, the plane was just completely comical. You could barely stand up inside that thing! The roof was barely six foot high in the aisle way. Also, there was only one seat in the row on the left and two seats on the right. The aisle was about the width of one airplane chair! It was so small. I ...

The last night in the Galapagos we spent on board the boat but in the port at Puerto Ayora. We all went ashore for a drink or two but a couple of the guys stayed out, including my cabin mate. He woke me up coming back at 2am, although amittedly I had accidently locked him out so he didnt have much choice but to wake me up! He was drunk and excited about his night, including his success at beating the locals at pool and then dancing on the bar to get free ...

... I used to live there, near Meadowbrook Mart.”

“Meadobrook Mart?” I immediately tense up. Yeah, I know Meadowbrook Mart, know it well. Is this guy following me? Am I about to be set up on some scam again? Drug-induced paranoia takes over and taints the whole conversation and a possible friendship.

I promise Rosa I’ll call her when I get back from Cuzco. I never saw her again.