I planned to tone down the walking a bit in the run up to meeting the others on the group trip, and with the small matter of a 4 day trek at altititude approaching.
I went into downtown Lima for a bus tour to Sant Cristobal which is a large cross/shrine at the top of tthe cliff/mountain top overlooking Lima. To get there the bus has to go through the shanty towns where 70% of Lima people live. I paid extra for the top of the double decker bus as I thought could be some photo opportunities.
The bus ride was eventful, the hills are very steep and this crazy driver is motoring a double decker bus up these thin dusty roads and every bend you think you’re driving over the edge. Plus, they don’t hang about here so they were going much faster up here than what I would have liked. I met two Polish girls from London and they were screaming as they had front seats, and to be fair, it was fully justified. I admit on some bends I closed my eyes!
We made it to the top alive and took some photos. In chatting to the two girls, they’d done zero research on the place or anything and had pretty much accidentally gone against advice on all sites regarding taxis etc and they knew nothing about Lima, what to do or see. Not only that, they somehow were confused when they turned up in Lima 3 days before their tour starts and had no accommodation. They thought their group would have been psychic and booked any random accommodation for them without prompt. Yes, they were both blonde by the way.
When we got back from Sant Cristobal I grabbed some amazing local chicken pancake dish and booked myself a swanky Uruguayan meal for the evening in case the people in the group tour want to pez it from here on in. I’d look like an arse if broke away for good restaurants, but I’m Buenos Aires it’s happening, I’m going to spend a small fortune on the finest Argentinian moo.
I chilled out in the hotel until my booking in the restaurant and headed there. Had a great meal of sweetbreads for starter, some lovely Uruguayan steak kebabs for main and some caramel pancake dessert.
After the meal, I got back to watch the Isles get smashed by the Caps in pre season.
Day 4 was meant to be the last day on my own so was meant to be completely chilled. It was roasting out again today so went for a walk along the boardwalk on coast, but not too mad. I went back to watch Wales then went to the shopping centre for some frozen yoghurt and chilled out in the parks contemplating life. Even though doesn’t feel like always busy back home, time to sit, ponder, chill and plan some future stuff very rarely seems to happen, so I tend to find my best laid plans happen when I am away from the stress of work and football.
On the way back I thought I should get some more cash out of th STA travel card, which hadn’t worked up until this point. I got to a cash point near my hotel and disaster struck, the cash machine went black and gobbled my card.
I had about 600 quid on the card which is designed to be used around the world. My visa had worked every time but I’m getting fleeced every time I use it so this card not working and then getting gobbled put me in a foul mood. I used the freephone in the ATM place and they didn’t speak a word of English, probably didn’t help when I used the word gobbled my card. As it was Sunday I was going to have to wait until 9am tomorrow.
I had an amazing chicken sandwich from a famous Peruvian sandwich place and I tried this chicha juice which was grim. The reason it was grim was because it tasted like black absinthe without the alcohol, and that was enough to remind me of gas chambers in Ibiza and made me want to chunder.
I watched some serious Narcos, finishing the first series and signed up to a trial of Netflix for season 2.
On day 5, I had my last bread breakfast with my random fruit smoothie and then headed straight to the bank. In preparation I google translated some sentences like ‘ate my card’ and ‘need card back please’. When I got there the manager spoke English and told me the atm’s done shit cards out, they are irretrievable which I found hard to believe. Anyway, I called sta travel no told them to transfer my money from their poverty card to my bank account. I’d rather pay the extortionate fees knowing I am going to get cash then using the bet savings scheme on earth when you can’t get anything out of the thing.
I checked out and headed to the hotel where I was due to meet the group. After a long slog in the baking head I got there and the meeting was 6pm, so I wanted to chance my luck and see if could get on a tour I desperately wanted to yesterday, a small group tour of the shanty towns and the real Lima by a non profit organisation. Thankfully, they had space and got me on the two o clock tour.
At two o clock I got picked up at hotel by a class tour guide along with an Indian couple from California and a father daughter from Canada. We headed up into the Shanty Towns and the unfolded my best time in Lima so far and a tour that’ll stick in my memory for a long time.
I have been saying for sometime now the things that stick out when travelling for me are the experiential stuff and the stuff you accidentally stumble upon. The shanty towns are self built houses in the cliffs where majority of Lima people live, with no money and they build their own roads, houses etc. It will be hard to describe this but hopefully when the photos go up at the end you’ll get a better picture.
There are a couple of important Peruvian traits, one, they never beg, if people are not well off they will still have something to sell you. Secondly, they will always offer you gifts, however poor they are and you should always accept.
We first visited a small market where people had fruits and vegetables selling for next to nothing. We also met a lady who mass incan beer, she had a tiny self made stall with one two litre full of this self made beer in a Fanta bottle. We chatted to her, shook hands etc and immediately I could tell these people were delightful.
We then purchased some fruits to hand out to the children as we go around and some bags of vegetables for the ladies who would talk to us about their families etc along the way. The guys with the fruit and veg stalls sell kilos of the stuff for twenty or thirty pence yet they were still giving us loads of fruits for free to eat.
We moved higher into the shanty towns and met loads of children, and also one of the leaders. Leaders are politicians they are established ladies who volunteer for schools, wellbeing of the people etc. Kids get snatched all time up here because nobody is registered properly, the city don’t give two hoots.
We met an incredible silversmith whose work is widely recognised but he gets peanuts for his work by the swanky stores who sell for ten fold no doubt. He told me an amazing story about the champions league trophy and how he made a replica for somebody. The bloke was an absolute legend and showed us all his work in this, small zinc shell he worked in.
We met many more women and families, and saw some of the day centres and steps etc this non profit org has built for the area. All money for tours goes back into the shanty towns. They’ve got no hospitals, most haven’t got water and they share electricity.
We got to the top of the shanty town and played volleyball with some of the locals which was amazing. We bought some drinks and biscuits for pennies from the stall owners and they were all so happy to have photos take. The thing that blew me away was the people are all absolutely content with their lot, and have no envy of the visitors with their cameras etc, it’s this what made it so special. All interaction was so genuine and they were so kind and giving.
Other than the meeting of the people, we learnt loads about how the housing, infrastructure, education etc works and I’d be here forever typing about it. All I can say is, it was an incredible experience, very humbling. The people are just amazing and it made me feel like we are all complete and utter scumbags. I asked via tour guide translating about Christmas and they’re all excited but there will be no presents, no facebook photos etc, just humble gifts and family around. These kids were over the moon to be given a fruit yet would still give you anything of theirs.
I cannot really do that trip justice typing about this knackered to be honest, I would have loved to have heard about the tour earlier so I would have time to volunteer on one of their many projects up there. The trip will last long in the memory, but I’ll no doubt be back to buying expensive crap and posting it online in a matter of days.
When I got back I had my meeting which was just me. Turns out the six other people are doing a bolt on beforehand which I had never heard of and I’ll be meeting them in Cusco tomorrow. They’ll all be going right through to the end in Rio and I think we also pick up some people after the Inca trail who are just going with us until Chile.
So it’s an early flight tomorrow at six in the morning so I headed to get some food and now I am here at the hotel ready to get some sleep and head to Cusco to meet the rest of the gang.
