Swissotel Lima

... we have visited so far. This was re-enforced when we entered the outskirts of Lima around 11am in the morning. There were no real houses just miles of ugly lifeless shacks, I was already getting nervous about where we were going to end up. The guide book had mentioned how unsafe Lima was and this was also mentioned by several people we had met, not least of all our Peruvian friend Richard just yesterday. We had no money, our last meal was nearly 24 hours ...

Hey everyone,<br><br>I am back :) Yeahhhhhh. I know its been a while since you last heard from me, but I have been madly busy with school and all. Now I finally found some time to tell you all about my spontaneous trip to Peru ;) Well as many of you already knew, I had met a very sweet Peruvian guy online and after chatting and calling for a few months, I decided to fly to Peru to meet him in person and to find out if we both are indeed a great match :) I bought the ticket around ...

... to come up with something to say, on the fly and in Spanish, to the family of the girl who my parents had decided to sponsor.<br><br>For dinner, Jim and Gloria took me and several other people that work in the association out in Arequipa. It was GREAT &#8211; I had this ostrich filet that came out on a stone, splattering the entire time I was eating (they prepare you for this by bringing out a huge bib once you&#8217;ve placed your order). It was ...

... us up with a taxi straight to the hostel.<br>The next day we were kinda groggy tired and all, but we went on a tour of Mira Flores by foot. <br>We visited the Museum of Gold and several markets.<br>That was about it for that day as we were still tired from the flight, so we returned back to the hostel to rest.<br><br>The next morning we had a flight to Cusco at 5:45 in the morning.

... actually it felt a lot like a summer in San Francisco! The currency is soles and so we had to exchange money before agreeing to a town car fee from various people approaching us. The driver insisted we get as many bags in the trunk as we could, but his trunk already had stuff in it, so Gabe&#8217;s big backpack sat conspicuously in the front seat. As we left the airport we began down back roads and the neighborhood was the poorest I had ever ...

... around and watched for a bit - I suppose I was feeling a little detatched given I didn´t even know who it was. IPB was clearly much loved but there were also lots of people cheering and applauding, a couple of bands were playing (not funeral march stuff, but quite cheery Andean folk music), there were people on stilts (honest) and huge carnival parade dolls in the procession... Seriously, I have pictures of full dress military guards ...

... photography is a tough gig: http://picasaweb.google.com/jonplacy/Sw immingWithSeaLionsUnderwaterCam?feat=em ail#slideshow/5327310998847401634 Michael ¨Looking back over my shoulder got some miles on me now Not much more that I could do to keep my deal from going down I'm tired in my bones and I've starting to wonder Can we really call it livin' when your livin' on the run¨ Yonder Mountain String Band ¨Looking Back Over My Shoulder¨

Apres quelques emplettes (gaz, appareil photo, pates...), je pars vers 11h de la Plaza Grau pour Chosica a 70 km de Lima. Meme par la voie rapide, on met pres de 1h30 a sortir des faubourg de cette ville gigantesque. Je dejeune un "poulet fou" et pars vers 15h30 vers San Pedro de Casta (3202 m). Le bus s'enfonce plus de 3h dans une vallee escarpee. La route rappelle celles de Bolivie ...

... creatures on the floor, but never saw any. The owners were well-meaning, and lived upstairs in a small room with a bed in it. No excuses for a shambles. The bathroom was the worst; the sink plugged up and the bath edged with rusting (it looked that colour!) that made you feel cleaner by not showering. Plus the owners could look down on you from the skylight window; which was nice!<br><br>We had to make do here ...

... svo langt frá. Okkur var ekkerst sérstaklega vel vid thaer thar sem malaría getur verid á thessum slódum... Vid vorum svo oll útbitin, adalega Gunni samt, eftir sanflugur á strondinni og vid hofum sterkan grun um ad that hafi verid veggalýs á hostelinu sem vid vorum á, sem fela sig í dýnum og skrída svo á mann á nóttunni og sjúga úr manni blód. That er nú reyndar ekki í fyrsta skipti sem vid ...