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Wanted to get up early and head to the animal market but 6am is just too early so we went to the other market where they had all sorts of crap for all sorts of prices. Matthew got his armadillo guitar for about $55 which is good compared to the $360 they cost in shops. Lisa picked up a few oil paintings and some bits and bobs.
We got back to the hotel and packed up our stuff before heading for lunch and to the bus station. We got accosted by a huge black guy who practically forced us on to his bus which was conveniently headed for Quito. The journey took about 3hours and the bus was packed out. We got off a few stops early to avoid congestion and got a cheap taxi to the square near our hotel. We had a few hours to kill so we went to the restaurant and watched the festival kicking off right beside us.
We headed to San Francisco de Quito to grab our stuff and pack our bags and noticed the American guy we had thought was a rude priest had changed into very much more cardinal-like robes. His assistant carried about 6 suitcases out of the hotel and the cardinal went outside and started blessing the locals. He must have been out there for about half an hour just blessing people. He then got into his chauffer driven Mercedes and left with the assistant in the car behind him.
We asked the hotel to phone a taxi for us which was a mistake because they charge for being called out. It cost $10 for a $5 trip to the airport. We tried to argue with the guy but he seemed the type to carry a big stick for people who are bigger than him so we thought it best not to threaten him too much. The rip off of a taxi was made worse by the Cardinal checking in for his flight not 3 check-in desks away.
Everything everyone and everything did to us seemed to annoy us; things costing much more than we expected, having to wait ages for poor service etc. This seemed to mean nothing when we realised that our tickets for the flight to Lima said Business Class. Champagne when you board, actual crockery and cutlery, the choice of drinks during the superfancy meal were water, tea, coffee, brandy, coke, champagne etc etc.
Got off the plane in Lima and checked our luggage for the flight in the morning and headed to McDonalds for what seemed like an expensive meal but really only cost about 4quid. Found some pretty nice toilets and tried to find somewhere to rest our heads for a few hours. We settled at a pillar and waited for the time we could go through security. We did this an hour or 2 later and found some good seats quite near to our gate where we grabbed a few hours sleep.
Boarded our flight at about 5am and got stuck just behind Business Class. Matthew had a really rude woman in front of him who put her seat all the way back for the entire flight. In a business class seat this is quite the distance.
Landed and got our luggage after waiting for what seemed like forever. Got offered a taxi no less than 3million times but found the woman from our hotel and interrogated her about her name and her dealings with the hotel before getting into her car. We arrived at the hotel and were given some coca tea which is supposed to help with the altitude but really just tasted like some leaves in hot water... nice leaves though.
We got shown to our room which is up 5 flights of dodgy stairs and is absolutely freezing. They gave us 2quilts and 3fleecy blankets which sometimes isn´t enough but they light the fire for us and it really warms the place up. We had big plans but decided that sleep was far more important after not having slept properly for around 28 hours.
We went to the restaurant recommended by the guy at reception and it was very popular. We had to wait outside for a while for a table to come free but it was good.
Headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next exciting day in CUSCO.
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