Greetings to all! I have been dropping some short messages on facebook and twitter statuses, but realize some of you do not check those pages. Therefore it was time to check in. I expect to fairly easily be online almost every day, unless we are going into some remote area, which won~t happen much. **please don~t mind odd punctuation marks. The computer is set up for another language, and I am typing as I know how regardless.
I am on a public computer in our hostel, but even in our cheaper room at The Point Lima (about $20), we have wifi. Tim is using the computer now. I think the world, especially western and european travellers insist on the technology.
Tim and I are having a FABULOUS time. We are enjoying each other~s company and learning how to communicate in new situations. We have been having a blast. The first two nights in Lima we stayed at the Torreblanco Hostel on the outskirts of Miraflores. Rather it was IN Miraflores, but on the edge. It was $52 a night, but very quiet, private, and comfy. Thursday night I sent e-mails to 4 hostels in Lima asking if they had availability the next night. One e-mailed me back and that is where we are. Tim and I have christened the Point, which contains a bar names Pointless, as PARTY TOWN! We have a private room here as well, 15 feet from the bar that is open til 1, with something like ply board walls (pressed wood). We have hammocks and a ping pong table right outside our door, though no one has played. I did, however, pull out ear plugs for a nap earlier. We stayed up until 4 a.m. last night. It had been our first opportunity to really meet people. This is the perfect type of hostel for that. This is where you meet people from all over the world by sitting down at the plastic table in the courtyard. (To top it off, they had a guitar by that table last night. You know what that means.) We sat there for hours, talking to a German couple, a Scottish and an English guy, and some random Americans. As you can imagine, Tim and I are talking up a storm - or rather, asking questions and listening. In addition to just AMAZING stories from different cultures, we have awesome information on cheap and safe travel. We are making it happen, and it~s fun!
Things we have done around Lima- We took a lovely walk on the beach on Thursday and then walked around Miraflores. Friday we went to American airlines and learned that we can book one-way trips for 10,000 frequent flyer miles within the country. Great to know, but seats that can be used for that are rare and need to be booked earlier. We are thinking we might try to go south in Argentina that way… to Patagonia etc. We decided not to go to Iquitos, which I mainly wanted to go to just to see the Amazon river. We can go to the jungle elsewhere cheaper. We will see the Amazon someday in Brazil where it~s serious. It was way too expensive to fly up there, and it takes pressure off, so we can spend time in Cusco or doing the trail etc. And spend money doing something else. We are, of course, enjoying learning ways to do this cheaply. Doñ~t worry, we will always be safe and comfortable if we can at all help it! And we will splurge when we should. You should hear how some of these people travel. We are very lucky to have any money. But we have a great time finding deals, like today we bought a winter coat for Tim for $10 that is really nice. He needed something for the wintery cities like La Paz.
Boy I am distratced. The bar is right behind me. After learning about the flights, we went to our new hostel and checked in. Then took a taxi to Museo Larco, which was a little $$ but super cool. We had an amazing and cheap dinner nearby at Heladaria Fressca (north a couple blocks from the museum) and then went to Parque de la Reserva, which I read about online. It is too new to be in the 2009 Lonely Planet guide we have (publishing time and all). It¨s about a year old. A park with 13 huge beautiful lit-up fountains with music. Very cheap too. Today we went to the changing of the guard at the Palacio de Gobierno. Very fancy! Brits might be stoic, but these guys do some borderline dance marching that~s pretty fancy. I liked it when they threw their guns! Next we went to Museo y Monasterio de San Francisco, which was also cheap and had a 45-min guided tour included. Beautiful art, a fascinating library, and crypts with bones. Good times! Then we went shopping for some things Tim needed. Nappéd and now ready for PARTY TOWN. Tomorrow morning, we hope to get info and get to Ica, which is where the Nazca Lines are. We will find a bus, and have been advised on the good and bad ones to take.
This is hugely long. We are most excellent.
