So I´m here. I arrived in Lima last night completely and utterly exhausted. The 3 flights it took to get here, the horrible plane food (the last meal i was given on the flight to Lima was so gross it made me feel sick) and the lack of sleep over the past few days (had to get up at 4am before my flight!) all made me just wish and hope for a comfy bed as soon as possible. Thankfully I was picked up at the airport by my hostel and pretty much just crashed out on my bed at 9pm Lima time (3am for me).

Lima is grey this time of year (I was waiting to see the ground when we went through the cloud layer yesterday but the cloud kept on going until we landed...) but was pleasantly surprised while I was exploring this morning that the sky cleared, the sun came out and it got hot (well fairly toasty in my jeans!). I´m still jet-lagged so havn´t gone far today. Just wandered around Miraflores (the suburb I´m staying in), through some food markets and tourist tack markets and shops. Took a walk down to the coast where I talked to a surfer man about surfing. It wasnt badly priced at all, will think about maybe having a go tomorrow. Will definitely head into central Lima to do some sights tomorrow aswell.

What I think of Lima so far is it´s noisy!! And busy! The traffic is insane (the taxi ride for the airport was interesting!) Let´s just say I would not like to drive here. All cars, taxis etc seem to want to get to where they´re going as quickly as possible, changing lanes every 2 seconds, pullling out infront of traffic... All day long horns are tooting at everyone and everything. Would drive me a little insane if I stayed here too long. Doesn´t help that my hostel in on the main road though. We shall see what central Lima is like tomorrow...

Don´t plan on staying long in any case. Been thinking of how I´m going to get to my next place... Cusco . It is recommended to fly as the bus ride is a little rough, winding through the mountains etc but i think i still might go for the bus as its only 22 (maybe grueling?) hours, cheap, and i´ll get to see more of the country. Whatever way, I´m leaving for Cusco on thursday morning.

I´m looking forward to my language course starting on Monday there. I realy really need to learn some spanish (hello, thanks and goodbye doesn´t really get far)! The travellers I´ve met so far all seem to be able to speak spanish already. Grrr. I´m sure I´ll get along with pointing etc if I need to in the meantime but i just know I´ll get much more out of this trip when I can communicate better with the locals.

Anyway, off to get some food and water. Be in touch later xx