Going on long

Its taking an age to update both blogs due to poor internet connection out here so just gonna keep the one going.. follow the link below

http://hollieandlloyd.blogspot.com

Peace x

Lima - A city of two halves

We arrived in Lima, Peru at around 6am after a 12 hour flight from madrid. The flight was uneventful and surprisingly we kept ourselves to ourselves, probably due to the fact that we had been traveling for about 8 hours prior to this and were pretty shattered.

As we had to rush to get our flight in madrid as our previous flight was delayed we both thought in our heads that our bags may get lost, although we didn't say this to each other for fear of jinxing it.Unfortunately my bag as well as several other peoples bags did not make it to Lima. To say I was a little annoyed would be an understatement! I was not happy at all, probably due to the last flight with little sleep. So after speaking with the airport staff they told me my bag would be delivered to our hostel the following day. This made me feel a little better, although at the back of my mind i was thinking 'what if it doesn't turn up at all?'

Hollie using her bi lingual skills got us a taxi and we headed to the hostel. Our first impression of Lima was one of shock, we couldn't believe it was a capital city. It is like no other capital I have ever visited, there is a huge divide between the haves and have nots, this would become more clear to us as we stayed in the city.HQ villa hostel is lovely, the best I have stayed at so far in my 24 years of traveling around planet earth. The staff are so friendly and have gone out of there way to help us on more than one occasion.We arrived at the hostel about 8am but as our room would not be ready until 1pm we sat in the living area on the sofas, Hollie had a sleep and I read some travel guides about the area.Our first day was pretty chilled. Due to feeling rough from the flight and jet lagged we walked into the town before we checked into our room. The street our hostel is on is very nice with armed guards outside most of the other buildings. Once we got back we checked in, chilled for a bit before heading back into town for some dinner. The wine was great although I have not got a clue what it was. We retired early, around 8.30pm and slept straight through till the morning.

Breakfast is provided and although it is only a selection of bread, fruit and fresh juice for $18 a night I'm not complaining. At breakfast we sat with two English people, Ben and Lindsey. Both really nice people who we chatted with all morning. We talked about traveling, work, life and anything in-between. Then my bag turns up! I was very happy about this. After this we all went out for lunch with Bens girlfriend who we met in town as she is a local. She took us to a really nice restaurant before going back to work. After this the four of us me, Hollie ben and lindsey went for a drink - champagne on the beach front which cost round the same price as a bottle of wine in your local, a great way to start our trip I think you will agree

It was now 6.30 pm and getting dark, the hostel were putting on a pasta and wine night so we slowly headed back, passing through a market and chatting with the locals.
The meal was lovely, 12 people mostly from Europe sharing stories and enjoying the good food. From here we went to a local bar for some more drinks - highlights include singing oasis wonderwall and Hollie wolf whistling so loudly everyone stopped to look!
We got back to the hostel and stayed up drinking whiskey straight till the early hours. Good times.

We woke up feeling surprisingly fresh. I had planned to leave today for Cuzco, the city where machu picchu is. However the 20 hour bus was fully booked so I booked us on to the bus the following day and had some breakfast.

We had decided to go into the city centre as we had only been to our local strip the day before. This is where you can really see the two sides of the city. But before this me hollie and ben grabbed some lunch close to the hostel in Peru's version of Mc Donalds. Those that know me know I have a soft spot when it coming to the golden arches and although the food wasn't as good (if you can say that) I have two words for you - inca cola. This stuff is a cross between coke mountain dew and iron brew, words can not explain just how tasty this stuff is! From here we got a taxi to Lima centre.The colonial arcutexture is stunning combining woodwork in the extravagant buildings. It is nation day in Peru on 27th July so the whole town is busy repainting buildings and raising flags wherever possible. We walked around taking photos and generally taking in the city. From the paliment building was a great site, in the foreground a armed truck with a soldier at the helm of a large riffle on the top, in the background up the mountains you can see the shanty towns built into the cliffs. Such an amazing breathtaking sight, wealth and poverty in one view. We stood there looking at this for a good 15 minutes just taking it in, something I will never forget.

After this we walked around the old part of the city, here we really got a sense of the poorer side of live in Lima. We stopped to eat in a small cafe which was very cheap but was some of the best food we have had so far.Back at the hostel I booked our hostel for Cuzco, hollie was feeling ill so I got her an extra blanket and tucked her in for the night. Me Ben and a few others stayed up drinking, chatting about everything under the sun as if we had known each other our whole lives - god I love traveling.

Lloyd

when and where from are you leaving?

when and where from are you leaving?