Lost in Lima

Ledge and I had booked ourselves into a cute little hostel in the district of Barraca, the more bohemian area of Lima right by the sea. We had the luxury of a dorm room all to ourselves so after a quiet night's sleep I felt surprisingly good and excited to explore the capital city. We set off on foot along the sea front in the direction on Mirafloras and soon got lost!! A little trek along the main highway to a chorus of cars beeping and truck horns blasting soon sent us heading for the hills. We soon found our way with the help of some local directions and Leanne's Spanish skills which have been an invaluable. Its a struggle to get by here with just basic language as there is so little English spoken or understood. I have set myself the challenge of learning a set of Spanish words and key phrases everyday with the help of Teacher Ledge. So far I'm slowly but clumsily fumbling my way through :)

A handy little phrase for my time in Lima was, 'Cajate la puta boca!'; thanks Binks for this little nugget of knowledge ;) Being a fair skinned blondie seems to invite every vehicle on the road to honk or flash their lights whilst the average man on the street will opt for a traditional 'Ola señorita' or shout 'Oh my God Lady' 3 inches from your face ... Muy molesto!

After a day of this, Leanne and I made like a local and caught the city bus back to Barraca. The buses are feckin crazy; packed up like a rush hour tube carriage with a death-wish conductor hanging out the open side as the driver plays a game of destruction derby with the screaming traffic. Awesome Fun! :D To keep costs down we (actually Ledge!) cooked us up a feast in our slightly dodgy hostel kitchen and we headed out into the night to hunt down some Pisco Sours. I have definitely lucked out having a dulcet toned, bilingual masterchef as my travelling companion :) Back of the net!

Ledge lives up to her name and cooks us tea on a super dodgy stove

In a mad spontaneous moment, Ledge and I decided the next day to sack off the cloudy skies of Lima and try to bustle our way onto a same-day coach to Cusco. A quick dash to the out-of-town bus station and we were soon back in Lima searching for a hostel to stay another night! Everything was booked out so we would have to wait until 2pm the next day to embark on our 21 hour road trip up the Andes to reach the dizzy city of Cusco, 3400m above sea level.

Determined not to waste the day we headed out on another city bus in the direction of the Museo de Arte, asking the crazy conductor to let us know when to get off. He ushered us out of the bus a few blocks down and we set off in search of some culture. Out of nowhere, a local guy in Clark Kent style glasses came running towards us shouting at us to 'Wait up!'. This was Ricardo; a Peruvian Superhero! He explained that the bus driver had turfed us off the bus early to free up the seats for more paying customers, he had seen what had happened and came to our rescue worried that we'd be wondering lost and confused in the wrong part of town. He found us the right bus stop, waited with us until the bus arrived, paid for our fare and apologised for the way his people had treated us. Ricardo told us to take care and was gone as quickly as he'd appeared leaving us forever grateful!

Crazy City Buses

The following day we headed out to the bus station once more to catch our coach to Cusco. An epic journey driving through the night with no stops for longed for leg stretches, this was serious travelling! The VIP bus was actually loads more luxurious than my plane from Madrid so no complaints there. We awoke to amazing views of the Andes and blazing sunshine. A few ear popping hours later we finally arrived in the Inca 'belly button of the world', Cusco City.

Ledge being attacked by alien art

Never ending treasures, an antique shop in Lima

A dog made out of towels ... ??!

City Graphite

Epic Roadtrip

The view we woke up to

Trains, Planes and Peruvian Taxis

4am, 27th September ... and so it begins. My very sleepy bezzy friend Sarah offers up an extra big hug and tells me to stay safe. This is the last of what has been a week packed full of heartbreaking goodbyes, but I've done it. I've quit my life for 4 whole months and all I have to worry about now is the bag on my back and where my next adventure will take me. I feel 10 times lighter :)

I've had 2hrs broken sleep but I'm fully alert and ready for anything. I check in without a hitch and head to Security Control, confidently whipping off my belt, removing my shoes and grabbing a tray. I bundle everything in and turn towards the beeping doorway just in time to catch a glimpse of my passport being launched skywards as the security handler flips my rucksack gives it a shove. Slow-mo scenes ensue; I watch as my passport lands on the rollers, bounces, spins and elegantly slides between the gaps onto the machine's conveyer belt below to be whisked away at lightening speed into the belly of the beast. O.M.Fing.G! I haven't even made it out of the UK yet and already it's all over. I won't be getting very far with a chewed up passport now will I?! 20mins of watching a lot of security men in tight trousers crawl about on their hands and knees whilst I breathe deeply and try not to cry and its recovered unscathed. Big Sigh of Relief!

After a flight to Madrid and 1.5hrs of hanging about, tiredness is setting in and I can't wait to get on my connecting flight to Lima. I rummage in my bag for that free Daily Telegraph I got with my bottle of water and flick through. I land on page 10 and there it is ... a photo of my sister Helen picking cider apples from an National Trust orchard in Devon. On a journey that will fling me far far away from my motherland is an image of home. A warm feeling wells up inside me like a hug from my big sis herself. I rip out the article and tuck it in the back of my book as a little remedy for when I next feel in need of another one.

Boarding the final flight I look forward to settling in; a few movies, a nice comfy seat, a slug of medicinal wine and a good snooze is all I need. But alas, the plane is a relic from the 1970s. Burnt out ashtrays are inset along every nicotine stained arm rest and the only source of entertainment is a tiny beige monitor suspended above the heads of the passengers 1734 rows in front of me. My seat is full of lumpy springs but it's on the end so at least that's good .... actually it's less good. Cue elbow and face getting knocked, smacked and trolley carted for the full 12hr flight. Around 8hrs in I suffer a serious attack of cabin fever but this is quickly cured by the torrential turbulence that causes the nuns a few rows in front to clasp their hands and cross their hearts.

Zero Zzzs later and I've landed on solid Lima ground :D Shuffling through arrivals I spot Ledge, bright eyed and rosy cheeked sporting a beaming beautiful smile. Her welcoming healing hug instantly melts away the last 20hrs of treacherous traveling. None of that matters now; we're here, we made it ... The Ledge and Treb's adventure has finally begun!

We found Leanne´s Peruvian Twin!