Stuck In A Place Where The Sun Don't Shine

In between the action in Huaraz and our next adventure on the sand dunes of Huacachina, we spent a week in Lima, because we were to meet a couple of the wife's friends. Who are a couple, by the way.

Despite swearing off long stays in big cities, we were pleasantly amazed by the sense of security we felt while in the Miraflores district. In addition, we stayed at a real kickass hostel where an entire dormitory with 2 double-deckers and a single bed were available for our personal use. But no, we did not test out all five beds. Too lazy to climb to the upper decks! We just found 2 that were very comfortable and stuck with our choice for the rest of our stay.

Now, Lima is one of those cities that is perpetually shrouded with fog. There is no sunrise or sunset to speak of, just a gradual brightening and darkening of the sky. Look up, and you will not be able to see the sun, or any clouds. Just a dull, uniform grey. You can't help but feel depressed after awhile. Even our photos seemed washed out. Sigh.

So, what did we do in sunless Lima? Nothing much! And it was great!

Our schedule was about the same everyday: Wake up, eat the breakfast that was provided, go back to the room, sit in bed, then lie in bed, then fall back asleep, then wake in the afternoon, brush our teeth, head out for walk/excursion and lunch, then back to hostel to go online till dinner time, then go out for dinner again.

And that's why the entire week is captured in just one blog entry! :)

Highlights of our time in Lima (which I call Peru's No. 5, because in the Malay language, lima is 5. Oh, I am so witty!) :

Treating ourselves to the new McFlurry Oreo Duo

Completed a McDonald's survey in Espanol

Checked out the quality of KFC in Peru (tasted as good as in Singapore, but less oily and slightly saltier)

Checked out the shopping centre by the Pacific Ocean - Larcomar. Yup, there are people paragliding here!

We missed going to the movies, so we fooled around in the cineplex in Larcoma

The wife also missed munching on popcorn, so we bought popcorn and sat down in the cinema to view trailers. Unfortunately, there's only salty, not the sweet ones we prefer.

We also did a bit of recce for my parents-in-law. They will be traveling to Melbourne next month, and we tried to see it. Failed miserably, of course.

We also attempted to take a bus down to the city centre. But because we had no idea where to alight, we missed our stop completely. No matter though. The area that we bussed through were so seedy-looking that we immediately took a bus back to the safety of Miraflores!

And before we knew it, the wife's friends, Rhys and Elaine, arrived! Rhys and Elaine brought us our action figures, a fresh supply of po chai pills (for stomach upsets) and most importantly, became my new best friends by presenting us with a packet of bak kwa! I'm saving the bak kwa so that I can savor it while watching the broadcast of the F1 race in Singapore, so it's still in vacuum sealed. I can't wait! *salivate*


And... that's it for Peru's No. 5!