Day 251
Lima, Peru, South America
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Back to Euro keyboards and Spanish as the computer language!! Arrgh. That´s one language Greg and i have decided we want to learn - SPANISH!
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We´re still in Lima and have really rested and enjoyed ourselves.
Even tho the economy is poor here, and the political system fragile, we´ve really noticed the friendliness of the people.
They have gone out of their way to help us and to make us feel very welcome in Peru.
It´s a colonial city with beautiful colonial and spanish buildings..and so many museums. We´ve been exploring the town and have loved the history and whole feeling of the place.
There are also BIG SHOPS downtown Lima!
We spent quite a long time looking around ¨Ripley´s¨, the Macy´s of Peru! Or the Aherns of Peru i should say!!!! Geepers i´m still in New York!!!! (macy´s)
Anyway...I´m now the proud owner of a pair of trekking boots! They´re Timberland one´s and SO comfortable! They were cheaper here in South America..as everything is.....! (How can they import stuff and sell it so cheap??) My orthodics fit in really well and because they´re boots my ankles are protected! I just love them and now i´m wishing i had them when we were in Italy and walked so much! (Cinque Terre). They´ll be great for the Milford Track! (NZ! If we ever get in!)
My sexy boot!
Got some good socks as well..and other stuff like stationary and things like that. It´s good to feel normal again and go shopping. Shopping is something we´ve done extremely little of. Especially no grocery shopping. WHat´s that? !!
I guess we´ve been saving a lot by not using a fridge or stove or washing machine...or gas, electricity, phone etcetc and i´ve been keeping all our dockets so i can exactly determine what we´ve actually spent on this trip all up. (That´ll be quite a challenge!)
Not having to worry about a car and fuel and car and boat insurance costs, medical (it´s all been deferred for a year!) or any household expenses like phone, internet, foxtel...is such a saving....
Plus the biggy..no SHOPPING...and no hair makeovers!!!! Gosh! And no animals...awwww....And no socialising! We do miss our friends tho! Oh yeah, No spa´s, massages, facials, nailcare, makeup...and no holidays to Bali..and no wildly expensive parties we usually have at home...ONLY KIDDING haha!
But Geepers! I think we´re actually not spending as much as we thought! It´s balancing between the property bringing in rent..and our investments making us millions! (NOT!) Pity the share market is not soaring high ..Although it´s probably just as well or i´d be mourning the loss of our telstra shares!!
To be honest...It´s the ¨entertainment¨that´s costing! As mum pointed out!!! I mean, how often does one get to go to an Elton John concert in Las Vegas..or to see Sound of Music at the London Palladium and Moulin Rough in Paris or Wicked in Chicago and Mama Mia in New York!
Seeing and experiencing those things is simply priceless! I´d never change a thing! It´s always worth selling up to do these things....I do miss my car tho! But not the boat! And who´d give up staying in all these wondefully challenging hotels to live in a luxury home in Perth!!! (me! ha!)
This round the world ticket has been a complete saver too...We paid something like $4000 for our ticket (including $1300 of airport taxes!!!) and that includes 20 flights! (We´ve flown more than that with out own budget flights though)...
Just a flight to South America alone is HUGE. We´ve been talking to people here and they´ve told us the outrageous prices they´ve paid for flights here!
It´ll be interesting just to compare the costs of actual living, when we´re in Perth, compared with what we´ve spent here...
It´s been worth it..whatever it ends up being!
The food here in South America is so cheap...we´ve had meals at a local place..(and tried the local drink, pisco sour) and it´s not only VERY tasty it´s also low fat..with lots of vegetables!
Which brings me to say..Greg´s blood pressure seems ok...he wants to get a BP machine to test it..but he´s not feeling as dizzy..so that´s good and he feels so much better today. He´s sitting on the next computer looking up the affects of taking blood pressure tablets and going up high altitudes!
He also got his haircut today so looks like a new man!! (Still gorgeous as ever!)
Something i reckon is worth mentioning about our trip and the things that we´ve found invaluable..are snaplock bags..every traveller needs them! Also a travel kettle, for sterilising water (on boil for 5 minutes) and for making tea! (&cups!)
Travel adapters are also a must! The power for our kettle is European, as we bought it in Berlin, so it works here in SA without the adapter, but we´ve used our adapters everywhere. For recharging the mobile and the camera battery! And of course, post Germany, the kettle. Goodness knows why we waited so long to get that!
I´m making a list of the things we have really found invaluable..can´t think of anymore at the moment. It´s a bit brain dead! (Must be that pisco sour..only had one...but whoooooo!)
Oh yeah..my jacket is great! It has lots of pockets so i can keep my wallet and mobile in there..as well as a notebook because i´m always taking notes! There are also pockets inside and i can fit a water bottle and tissues as well!
My bag that i bought in Chile has become redundant already. Last night at dinner these two little innocent faced pervian kids came up..and one of the hands was like lightening! But not as lightening as mine..so i´ve decided to go back to using my pockets that just make me look six months pregnant..but who can be vain when security is in question! Apart from the fact that I´ve been also wearing the same clothes for days on end! (There must be a laundry here somewhere!!!)
Oh yeah...laundry!
Always good to have a sealed separate bag, for smelly clothes haha! It´s not that bad (it is!) but we can usually only get to a laundry about every 2 weeks! We wash nickers and socks daily..but the rest...get recycled or put in the sealed bag!
Gross hey..
My most valuable asset is my diary. I have it under lock in my front bag. I coudn´t bare to lose that..i consider that more valuable than my passport! A passport can be replaced but my diary can´t be!
Weird thing is..i haven´t been able to find a 2008 diary! I´ve looked everywhere here the last couple of days..and in the US..but nothing. I´m wondering now when they come out? I thought it was about 3 months before! I think if i can´t get one..i´ll download a calender from the net, print it, and use that! I just can´t do without it! If i didn´t have it i´d forget to get dressed in the morning!
A bit like this blog, if i didn´t have this i´d forget where we´ve been yesterday!!!
I wouldn´t do without my travel pants either. They have lots of pockets and make you look really muscly when all the brochures and things are stuffed inside..but they´re practical, light and easy to wash and pack!
My pack, by the way, weighs 15kg! And that includes 3 books! I stocked up in the US in case SA didn´t have english books..and i needen´t have worried because there are heaps of bookshops here...in English and in Spanish. My front back is 5kg.
Greg´s back pack is 21kg! And his front back is about 10kg! He´s carrying the medical kit and the dilly bag....makes a difference in the weight!
Greg has other things that he finds essential. Like his pocket knife...and his magnifying glass. He loves his travel pants with all the pockets as well..and he is glued to his front pack which he takes everywhere!!! He is wearing his glasses more now because everything is so difficult to read. I think i need glasses too..i´ve been finding i need the magifying glass more and more!
He also loves his Lonely Planet guides. They´re as heavy as all crap..but he insists on carrying them and his Wilbur Smith books. Actually, come to think of it, his front pack is heavier than 10kgs now! The Guides are great..they have all the must see places in each country and have been a good assistance to planning and plotting and giving inside knowledge about each place.
There are other things too...i´ll have to devote pages and pages to write about it all so i won´t go on any more!
But! Talking about books and South America. It´s certainly not as backward as in Spain!(Where English books are found rarely.)
South America, with it´s poverty, is actually very civilised in the tourist department! And I imagine Cusco, where we go to acclimatise for our trip, and where we end up after..is very forward because of the injection of the tourist dollar.
The fact that the American dollar is practically one to one with the AUD is good too! More aussies are travelling..and spending here..which will improve the standard of living. Lots of New Zealanders going on the treks too.
It´s really funny, because here at the hotel, there are so many people coming and going..we´re here for four days...and most people come, stay one night, then choof off..so we´ve met a lot of different people coming to go on the treks..at breakfast, or here in the computer room! Tonight had a yarn with a Finish guy (who lived not far from where we stayed in Rovaniemi!) and a British couple from the Brighton area.
That´s a fun thing about travelling too..meeting all kinds of people! But..like i´ve said before..we have only met most for night. Wé haven´t stayed in one place long!
It´s like we´re runnaways or something.....
We go on our two and a half week organised Peru and Bolivia tour soon...but the trek to Machu Picchu is not for another week..so by then..Greg´s blood pressure should have settled..and my shoes should be broken in!
So all´s good!
Except a few things...
But I can´t drone on about the pitfall´s of travelling can i...that´d really turn you off!
But hmm...there are a few....apart from the usual, missing my family and friends and conversations....but at the moment one thing that´s really peeving me is all the different shower taps in all the different accomodaton......here i go again!
No joke, every place we stay in, has a different way of turning the shower tap on to get the right consistency of hot and strength of water! They pop on, switch on, twist on, lever on, carry on!!
I reckon i have earned a degree in SHOWER APPLICATION whilst travelling!!!!
Will write again before we leave!
Love to all, jen and greg xxxx
PS pisco sour!
