I took the kids to Arabica, where I had the best coffee I`ve had here in South America; simply divine. Jess b-lined for Starbucks and a half-litre Chai Latte which satisfied her in more ways than one, IF you know what I mean. Wink, wink, nudge nudge, say no more. We saw Iron Man 2. Of course Arabica was visited again the following days and I managed to expensively get my data off my USB stick to DVD. At the Miraflores cliffside park I saw a jogger with his full tracksuit made of crinkly grey tarpouline plastic, pin-striped with red and yellow sucked up his arse and tucked in socks. Pure disco.
Our hostel obviously had found it`s way onto the online "Israeli-friendly hostel" list as 95% of the 25 or so people there were Israeli. Now, I don`t have a problem personally with Israelis; they`re generally friendly and interested. But en masse they start to become a little grating on the nerves. They can be a bit dismissive towards locals and staff, they`re generally pretty lazy and messy and they don`t like to spend any more money than necessary. Hence the free internet computers were always in use, the TV/DVD was never free and liking their own company a lot they kind of took over the hostel. However I think the staff shared our sentiments as they refused at least 2 more large groups of prospective Israeli clients and kept our 8 bed dorm free for just us 3! Thanks The Shark. Your hostel was all-in-all pretty %&% but you sure did us a favour!¡
I said good-bye to Chris and Jess for which I actually was a bit emotional - we`d become good friends in our few weeks together but such is the life of a rolling stone. Bye guys! Suerte con todo¡ The main bus company area of Lima is a crazy affair which immediately put my thief radar onto ultra-alert, crowded streets and terminals that I don`t doubt harboured many potential criminals. Speaking of criminals, a mining corporation were unhindered in handing out shiny propaganda leaflets inside the bus terminal. " It`s free!", the smiling recipients assured me before I told them and the deliverer what I really thought of them. I was also apparently travelling on a 100% CO2 neutral bus... ahhh, breath easy tonight.
My investment in buscama (bed-seat) paid off as I was able to sleep overnight despite a hellishly twisting journey to Cusco. It also gave me a great view of The Biggest Douche In The Universe 2010, Sandra Bullock, in some ridiculous film. By the morning the road was calmer bringing us to dusty high-altitude canyons ravaged by centuries of farming - they evoked images of American Western Indian ambushes. We climbed higher and slower around the mountains which revealed surreal glaciers and epic snow peaks. The driving was at times both incredibly slow and erratic - at one point we came within one metre of driving off a bridge into the river below. But even great things come to an end sometime and we came at last to Cusco. There I at last spoke on the phone with Maggie who I had met in Posada del Maple and invited me to journey down to Pisac near Cusco to visit. She wanted to live in a wooden house, where making more friends would be easy, but it turned out to be mud-brick instead.
So at the bus terminal (in between logisitics for getting to Maggie`s place) I was accosted by drug police. At first I didn`t believe them and kept walking as one of their IDs was expired by 3 years. But big boss cop in uniform soon appeared to assure me that they were police - I reluctantly went with them to have EVERYTHING in my possession searched. I was apoplectic with rage but restrained myself enough knowing the lawlessness that sometimes reigns here. One of them was playing the `Stupid $%$ing $%$/head Dumb Cop` role to perfection. `When did you get in from Lima? At 3.30? That`s not right.` (Buses arrive all the time from Lima); `What were you just doing in the internet cafe?` (checking out how to make cocaine on the internet, what else?); `This is a Peruvian phone.` No, its not, half-wit, but if it was, take me straight to the electric chair, that`s a crime against humanity that is. So after they took my sizeable bribe for carrying high-grade Colombian (coffee, that is), I had to completely repack my pack and restrain myself from spitting in their fayces.
I caught a shared taxi/rally car to Pisac, contacted Maggie and finally made it to her place - one of a group of mud-brick eco-dwellings inhabited by various hippiesh types on the outskirts of town. Over a lovely pasta meal I met some of her neighbours like Laura, Jarrah and Maya and Nathan from Sydney. I was made to feel right at home straight away which I wholly appreciated - I had been so transient in my travels that to stay in one spot was a great relief of burden.... ahh.
Our hostel obviously had found it`s way onto the online "Israeli-friendly hostel" list as 95% of the 25 or so people there were Israeli. Now, I don`t have a problem personally with Israelis; they`re generally friendly and interested. But en masse they start to become a little grating on the nerves. They can be a bit dismissive towards locals and staff, they`re generally pretty lazy and messy and they don`t like to spend any more money than necessary. Hence the free internet computers were always in use, the TV/DVD was never free and liking their own company a lot they kind of took over the hostel. However I think the staff shared our sentiments as they refused at least 2 more large groups of prospective Israeli clients and kept our 8 bed dorm free for just us 3! Thanks The Shark. Your hostel was all-in-all pretty %&% but you sure did us a favour!¡
I said good-bye to Chris and Jess for which I actually was a bit emotional - we`d become good friends in our few weeks together but such is the life of a rolling stone. Bye guys! Suerte con todo¡ The main bus company area of Lima is a crazy affair which immediately put my thief radar onto ultra-alert, crowded streets and terminals that I don`t doubt harboured many potential criminals. Speaking of criminals, a mining corporation were unhindered in handing out shiny propaganda leaflets inside the bus terminal. " It`s free!", the smiling recipients assured me before I told them and the deliverer what I really thought of them. I was also apparently travelling on a 100% CO2 neutral bus... ahhh, breath easy tonight.
My investment in buscama (bed-seat) paid off as I was able to sleep overnight despite a hellishly twisting journey to Cusco. It also gave me a great view of The Biggest Douche In The Universe 2010, Sandra Bullock, in some ridiculous film. By the morning the road was calmer bringing us to dusty high-altitude canyons ravaged by centuries of farming - they evoked images of American Western Indian ambushes. We climbed higher and slower around the mountains which revealed surreal glaciers and epic snow peaks. The driving was at times both incredibly slow and erratic - at one point we came within one metre of driving off a bridge into the river below. But even great things come to an end sometime and we came at last to Cusco. There I at last spoke on the phone with Maggie who I had met in Posada del Maple and invited me to journey down to Pisac near Cusco to visit. She wanted to live in a wooden house, where making more friends would be easy, but it turned out to be mud-brick instead.
So at the bus terminal (in between logisitics for getting to Maggie`s place) I was accosted by drug police. At first I didn`t believe them and kept walking as one of their IDs was expired by 3 years. But big boss cop in uniform soon appeared to assure me that they were police - I reluctantly went with them to have EVERYTHING in my possession searched. I was apoplectic with rage but restrained myself enough knowing the lawlessness that sometimes reigns here. One of them was playing the `Stupid $%$ing $%$/head Dumb Cop` role to perfection. `When did you get in from Lima? At 3.30? That`s not right.` (Buses arrive all the time from Lima); `What were you just doing in the internet cafe?` (checking out how to make cocaine on the internet, what else?); `This is a Peruvian phone.` No, its not, half-wit, but if it was, take me straight to the electric chair, that`s a crime against humanity that is. So after they took my sizeable bribe for carrying high-grade Colombian (coffee, that is), I had to completely repack my pack and restrain myself from spitting in their fayces.
I caught a shared taxi/rally car to Pisac, contacted Maggie and finally made it to her place - one of a group of mud-brick eco-dwellings inhabited by various hippiesh types on the outskirts of town. Over a lovely pasta meal I met some of her neighbours like Laura, Jarrah and Maya and Nathan from Sydney. I was made to feel right at home straight away which I wholly appreciated - I had been so transient in my travels that to stay in one spot was a great relief of burden.... ahh.
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