Final Days in the South

For most of our trip round South America we had been hearing horror stories about Lima from lots of other travellers and how much a dump it was, even the Lonely Planet guidebook was quite harsh on it. So it was with some trepidation and reluctance that we headed to the capital of Peru for the final leg of our three week tour of Peru. As you drive into Lima you have to pass miles and miles of slums before getting to the center, we were staying very close to the historical centre. Our hostal was the poorest one we had stayed at in Peru but we were the lucky ones as we had a en-suite shower not everbody in the group did. We actually found Lima to be OK and no where near as bad as its reputation with some great architecture in the central historical area.

This was the last night of the tour and some people where leaving Lima the next day so everybody was up for a big night out or so they planned. We headed to Miraflores and a large development on the sea front, the whole place was a bit souless a bit like Pacific Quay in Glasgow or The Riverfront in Norwich with a multiplex cinema and bland chain resturants. We headed to a place called Cafe Cafe for dinner, I wouldn`t recommend this place if there`s a big group of you as they couldn`t handle the order and quite a few of the group's main courses appeared before their starters that`s if the starters turned up at all!



At this stage Joanne read a poem about the three week trip and a verse for everybody on it, in response Tubbsy read out a reply to Joanne which Sharpy and himself had written. Here's a flavour from both the poems....

Short Excerpt from BUDGET, BUMS AND BOOZE by Joanne Reilly

Twenty one days filled with fun,
At least that is how our tour begun.
We made a mad dash in buses around four,
And were all glad when we reached Cuzco´s door.

Now to Dawn who would often say,
´It´s bloody freezing´ almost every day.
In her hat & scarf in Fallen Angels she stood,
Whlst everyone else danced til she got in the mood.

Now Matt can´t normally get a word in,
´Cos Sharpy and Tubbsy make such a din.
Playing footie he didn´t hear the calls,
I couldn´t believe Jon hit him in the balls.

Helena our Viking Warrior strode around,
Until the Machu Picchu she found.
But be careful when she´s drunk & it´s dark,
I´m not sure if her bite´s worse than her bark.

My man Chris does he ever think,
He almost peed into a sink.
At almost all the boyish jokes he did laugh,
And at poor Jon sleeping took a photograph.

As for me well I´m tour group mum,
At 35 I kept up with everyone.
Until the flight over the Nazca Lines,
Where I threw up several times.

As the mum of the tour group I´ve had a blast,
Take care my children, life will pass you fast.
So to each and every one of you,
Ciao, Cheerio and a fond Adieu.

_____________________________________

and here`s a bit of the reply from Tubbsy & Sharpy

JOANNE

There was a wee lass in Peru, Who cried without Irn Bru.
We all had to think, But we found her a drink,
And she said Inca Cola would do.

The old Scotty showed she could dance, Whenever she did have the chance.
Her husband is ginger, But she´s not a whinger,
She just goes on occasional rants.

On the tour when we were all blue, The ´short un´ knew just what to do.
Now heading separate ways, We´ll remember the days,
We spent with Joanne in Peru!

__________________________________________

We then ended up in the bar called the Havana Club for a few cocktails, we were the only people in this huge bar and there was some weird ritual to get a drink. You had to go to a small booth and order your drink before taking it over to the bar where they would give you different drinks from what you paid for at the booth. Kate was also in her element here after one too many cocktails (yeah she had one) telling us of her previous jobs as a fluffer for Marks and Sparks and as a fudge packer for a confectionary manufacturer in York. She then went on to describe everyone in the group as to what type of animal she thought they were, Joanne and myself were hamsters, Tubbsy was a shark and so on round the group. I also have to say that Kate has just completed three years studying law at university and that she is also one of the nicest people you could meet and we both feel quite guilty if people might get the wrong opionion about her.


Mark our tour leader then recommended another club of sorts, well I say club but I am not too sure what exactly you would have called it! There were more ladies of the night there than actual punters. There was a full length mirror facing the dancefloor (just like Rooftops an old Glasgow nightclub) and the ladies danced in a line facing this whilst waiting for their customers. Joanne took a couple of pictures of the group and was yelled at to put the camera away. Apparently it was something to do with the fact that some local politicians sometimes frequent there. I also got to dance to Gasolina, this song has been played everywhere we have been in the last few months, it`s not very good but I laugh every time I hear it. After a few drinks and dances we left and managed to get back to the hostal in one piece.

The following day we went back to Miraflores and went window shopping. To be honest we didn't really see anything that different and then headed back to meet up and say goodbye to Rhys, Jon & our wee Kate. After that it was out for dinner and we found a lovely little restaurant called Ellen's where the food was really good and we were all severed at the same time - YIPPEE!! The other best bit for Chris anyway was the fact that they did great draft beer!! This was our last night in Lima and we said farewell to Jenny, Matt, Stephanie, Tubbsy, Jane & Sharpy.

Up early for breakfast and said goodbye to the rest of the group, Helena, Chrissie, Jonathon, Dawn and Mark. The last three weeks with the budget expedition group has been brilliant and I´m sure the memories will last for years and hopefully we can keep in touch with group long after we all return home.


Then it was off to the airport to leave the land of Inca's behind and to travel to the land of the Aztec's and Mayan's (Mexico).