Once again, René and I travelled onwards and arrived in Lima central bus terminal late at night. We were wary of muggings, thieves and scammers. Three people from my Inca Trail had been mugged in Lima and I was focussed. It turned out to be simple for us, as we jumped in a cab from the terminal with a nice old gent, and went straight to Miraflores, the more affluent area of Lima. It is not a good idea to stay anywhere else in Lima, particularly at night time.

We found ´Friend´s hostel´, where Tom and Russ (from Huacachina) had told us they were going to be staying. I saw their names in the hostel signing-in book, and it wasn´t long before they came back to the hostel. I had told Mallory and Bronwyn (the Canadian girls from Cusco) we would be staying there, so to come join us, and would expect them sometime the next day, as they travelled up from Arequipa.

The next day, Liverpool were playing AC Milan in the Champions League Final, so Tom, Russ, René and I went to watch it in the Sports Bar on the main road. I´d left a note at the hostel for Mal and Bron with that description - a bit ambiguous I know, but that´s all I had to go on! However, getting there, all sitting space had been taken, and on peering through the glass, with no-one standing, they had shut saying they were full! What kind of ´sports bar´ is that?! So, with kick off 2 minutes away, we jumped in a cab that would take us to where we knew it was on - Loki hostel bar a few minutes walk away. Liverpool lost the game 2-1, undeservedly, and as the game finished, I stood up from my bar stool, and randomly saw Bron and Mal walking on the other side of the street! I legged it down the stairs, across the other side of the road and greeted them. Back in the bar, I introduced them to René, Russ and Tom. The girls were heading to Huaraz the next day so had to go and buy their bus tickets. We met up with them a bit later, and I joined them for some drinks and a catch-up. We all decided to go out that night to some bars, which turned out to be empty but we still had a good laugh.

We didn´t really get up to too much in Lima, as Russ, Tom and I were heading up to Huaraz the next day too. I was initially in Lima to get my flight to Buenos Aires, but changed it to hang around some more with the others. Russ and Tom convinced to to go trekking with them, then after I would head up to Mancora to meet Bron and Mal. So, after some lazing about in Lima, Russ, Tom and I headed to Huaraz on the night bus, minus René who´d gone up to Tumbes, near the Equadorian border.