¡Hola a todos!
Nicole and I have made it to Lima, the huge capital city of Peru with almost 8 million inhabitants. We are still catching up on sleep, as our last night in Cuzco before we flew to Lima, we went to bed at 3.30 am and woke up at 5.30 am to catch a taxi. Nutty?! Well, it was worth it. We met up with our Machu Picchu tour guide William and we danced the night away at one of his favourite local discotheques (we first went to a more gringo-ish lounge with a wicked DJ but seeing William{s reaction, we knew he felt uncomfortable, so we decided to go local!). It was cheap cover and cheap beer is sold by the litre and Nicole and I were THE ONLY gringos in the club. Yes it felt weird at times being starred at like a museum piece. None the less, the three us of us couldn’t have had a better time.
It was very, very sad to leave Cuzco, as we had visited that town 3 times and somewhat formed a family at the hostel we stayed at for those 3 times. They were always so happy to see us each time we returned and we even cooked them curry one afternoon. My last afternoon there, I sat on their terrace with their kitten Centimos and we played together for over two hours. He would attack my necklaces that were hanging around my neck, claw my legs, purr, then get all frisky again and attack the grommets on my jeans and then start climbing up my back. As out of control as he sounds, he is the cutest little gato! So far, Cuzco has been mine and Nicole{s favourite town because it really did feel like home.
The severe lack of sleep is catching up with us now in Lima though. But to be honest, I would rather be catching up on sleep here than anywhere else we have been. Lima is not the most attractive cities. From April to December it is in a constant state of muggy and misty weather. It is grey and dark, the loudest of all cities we have been in and the streets wreak of car exhaust. We are staying in a busy backpacker hostel called Flying Dog Hostel right in the heard of Miraflores, a more pricey but safe district in Lima. There are shopping malls and Starbucks, McDonalds and movie theatres and a windy beach about 10 blocks down the way with locals surfing the waves. We are happy to be in this city for two nights and extremely stoked to be catching a 6 am flight to the JUNGLE TOMORROW!!
Last night we had a tasty meal of falafel sandwiches and an oriental salad before seeing Eclipse (The 3rd series of Twilight) at a theatre nearby (before we had a 3 hour siesta in the afternoon). It is officially my most favourite thing to watch a movie in South America! The crowd ooos and aaahs at the most sappy scenes…especially when hot boys suddenly come on the screen. You will hear constant mumbling when something really dramatic or scary happens and hear huge roars of laughter when something really cheesy occurs. If this happened in Canada, many people would probably get kicked out because they would be disturbing others nearby. Man we are hard asses!
Today Nicole is feeling feverish so she has been resting all day. I went to pick up breakfast at a supermarket down the road (yogurt, papaya and fresh raisin buns from a panderia). After this email I am going to walk down to the beach and then check out some stores. Tonight we are going to watch a movie in our hostel and eat popcorn. What a lovely low-key way to spend a Saturday night!
My next email will be sent after our time in the one and only…AMAZON JUNGLE! Cannot wait for some warm muggy weather. And then I can finally wear some shorts!!
Hasta luego amigos,
Lauren xxoo