Beautiful Andes and the bus journey down South

Going towards Ica on the Pan Americana, there were mountains of sand on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Passed by villages with small huts, rows of chicken coops, and lot of street vendors. At every traffic light had vendors reaching out at the window to sell their wares. Living in the US, we had completely forgotten how accessible things were, especially food and one did not need to stock up a lot while traveling. Sugar cane juice, coke (that tasted exactly like Thumbs-Up), corn and much more. Here's a picture of the corn we bought from near the bus terminal. It was being sold by a roadside vendor ( piping hot, taken out from her pot of boiling water) and served with some delicious spicy salsa.

Day 3, Lima and Decisions

Passport is not stamped yet and the weekend is approaching. We have changed out plans now and instead of leaving for Cusco with our bags, we will be going to Ica, Pisco and Nazca for the weekend. We will need to come back to get our passports and so it was quite stressful since we had not expected this twist early on in the trip. Hoping this will not create time issues further along. We pack our smaller back pack with essential clothes and items and leave the rest in the hostel. We were recommended to take the Soyuz bus from La Victoria ( which should be reached by a taxi since it was an unsafe neighborhood per the hostel staff). On the contrary we saw no issues with the neighborhood and felt the 8 sole taxi ride to be an unnecessary expense. Soyuz did not got to Nazca and charged 27 soles for one way to Ica. We decided to shop around since there were other bus operators in the area. Noone spoke English but people were good at reading maps. We were advised to check out Ceva (at a different bus terminal- cab ride 3 soles). The bus depot was bustling, and there were multiple bus agencies there. Since Ceva had no vacant seats we decided to take the next bus to Ica with Flores (20 soles). The bus was leaving in 5 minutes- I rushed to find where it was while H decided to grab us a meal. Completely crazy idea but he made it back in time with some piping hot, delicious corn and spicy, fresh salsa. Yummy!

Day 2, Visa, Downtown

Left early in the morning to go to the US embassy. We decided to take the cab to not get late for the 8am appointment. I was not anxious having gone through the process many times before. Reached the embassy on time, but it was already bustling with people. Went to get in the queue for the embassy and decided to meet H at 9:30 outside the embassy. Some difficulties ensued that were unexpected however the visa was finally issued. Passport pickup could be anywhere between 48 hours and 5 days. Great! Perfect for planning the next leg of the trip. We decided to take the combi to plaza de aramas. Combi was the local transport option popularly used by many in Lima. Having regularly traveled by rickshaw and also local buses in India combi seemed like an easy option for commuting.
Some local guy helped us with figuring out which one to take. According to him it would not be easy to get to the plaza since it would require changing combis twice. We had all the time in the world so decided to go the slower route. Any combi trip so far was costing us 1 soles. Inside it was bustling with people and we fell at home. There was a young, disheveled lady sitting with a cute cherubic boy. She got curious in us and tried to figure out where we were going. She looked at our lonely planet lima center map and was smartly able to figure out and show us the route that would get us close to the Plaza. Then in sign language she also told us that the driver was her child's father and that he did not believe in getting married!! Talk about feeling at ease. She advised us not to pay more than 4 soles for the next ride in a hush tone since she didn't want the driver or the conductor to feel she was giving away insider secrets It was such a pleasant ride and we wondered why we were being advised not to take it. Reached a bustling center and were immediately told to take a shared cab by the driver. Seemed like he was a part of their group, and we went along. The ride took about 20 minutes and we were dropped off close to the Plaza. The first thing to strike us was the huge cathedral in the plaza. Christ Ruled. We were completely famished and looked for Cafe Natural that was recommended by Lonely Planet for vegetarian food. The food was pretty good and seemed good value for the money. After visiting 2 museums(nothing great) we had some delicious coconut pastry and some average coffee. Decided to call it a day and head back to the hostel. General observations from a day in the city:
- A line of combis(mini-buses) always arrive together- here's a video; it was a private local transport system and ran extremely efficient. There was typically a conductor who shouted the destination of the combi. They hardly stopped for a minute and you could get off on the way, wherever you wanted within reason. It was a cheap, easy way to travel conveniently in the city. They seemed to move faster than the rest of the traffic.
- Sign language seemed to be working everywhere
- Looking like a Peruvian, but not knowing Spanish worked to a disadvantage. Locals either started having a conversation or thought you were fooling them
- Weather is awesome- don't miss the Boston cold
- Building are very colorful

Landed in Lima- Day 1

Lima airport was bustling with people when we landed around 1 am. We had decided not to check our backpacks so it was a smooth exit. Outside there were hoards of taxi drivers, hotel pick-ups waiting for the passengers. We had booked a prepaid ride with Hostel Malka (where we were planning to stay). The ride would cost us 20$ but decided it was worth it, late at night when we were tired and unsure of the safety in the surrounding areas.

The hostel pick up was prompt and we set out on our 20 minute journey to the hostel. Unfortunately the driver didn’t speak much English. The whiff of air was similar to Bombay and the city was sleeping. We checked in. prepaid for the 1^st night (the rate was pretty good- 7 soles for 1 dollar) so we paid in dollars. Our room was small, and the bed seemed smaller than what we were used to in the US. The air was humid and hot. What a change from the Boston weather! We were exhausted and called it a night. Next morning were able to better appreciate the room and the hostel. It was neatly laid out with a small table, and a cupboard. The room overlooked the garden downstairs and had an adjoining shared patio. There were shared bathrooms. There were several people staying in the hostel- mostly young kids from Europe. The hostel had a large kitchen which was well equipped however did not have a matchstick ( note to self, buy one). There was a fridge, microwave and a lot of pots and pans.

The girl at the desk had changed from last night, and found a friendly and helpful person on the other end. We needed to go to Banco Continental and Bolivian embassy that day. Got some local maps from her, as well as the neared Banco Continental address. Hostel was in a nice residential neighborhood and walking a couple of blocks we were in the middle of the bank district. We were able to locate the bank fairly easily and waited for help. At the counter only 1 person spoke broken English and I showed him the written instructions from US consulate, regarding what was needed. They were helpful and we got the bank draft easily.

From there we realized we were famished so decided to look for something to eat. On the map we knew where the supermarket was and decided that would be our best bet. Usually food courts have more veggie options than restaurants or cafes. The super market seemed upscale and on the back was a large buffet spread. 7.99 pesos a pound. Checked out the selection and found tons of options for vegetarian. H was sold on their dessert selection. We picked up all that looked tempting and oddly in the checkout line we were the only ones who had carried food that weighed at 2 pounds. We were fairly embarrassed but devoured on our first Peruvian meal.

Headed to the Bolivian embassy from there by bus- it was farther away from our hostel. Seemed like most embassies were in that area. Unfortunately it was closed.

We needed yellow fever vaccination for the trip to Pantanal, Brazil and according to the hostel it was possible to get it at the general hospital 40$ per person. The hospital was on the other end of town and again managed to take a bus there. That area seemed poorer and was bustling with people. At the hospital we were immediately helped and the doctor knew some English. He was intrigued when we told him we were from India. The vaccination was quickly completed and expected symptoms were headache and mild fever within a week.

It was late afternoon and we were exhausted. Decided to head back to hostel and make dinner. We discovered another supermarket around the corner from the banks street which was slightly cheaper, and bigger with more variety of products. Completely freaked out in the fresh vegetable section. Tons of variety in produce, lot of different kinds of dried chillies. They also had bulk holders of different types of lentils, grains and pasta. Bought Quinoa, potatoes (had to, we were in Peru- place where potatoes were first grown and it boasted 2000 varieties of these), carrots,tomatoes,chillies and rice. Also stocked up on the basics like butter, eggs, milk, salt. Hit upon the fresh jams and jellies section later where they had a huge selection sold by the pound. We bought some Anjeer jam and Peruvian cheese.

As always, we realized we had bought more than we needed but returned to the hostel satisfied with our purchase.

Quinoa soup/dal, rice and salad meal turned out to be great. Not really sure if locals used these ingredients for a similar preparation, but enjoyed the Indianized version of it. Hostel staff had changed for the evening. I went to check with the lady if she could tell me how the grain is used, but did not get much help.

There was dining set up outside, need the lounge and table tennis area overlooking the garden.

A Dutch guy, older than the rest of the inhabitants of the hostel, was hanging around in the area. We started chatting and realized he had spent a lot of time in India. He was in the business of making tents and had outsourced the work to an entrepreneur in Jaipur who made it using Indian textiles. The clientele was in Holland and used the tents for outdoor events and weddings. How global and interesting!

Pointers:
- youthhostelmalka is a great option to stay in Lima
- Check out grocery stores for food- works great for vegetarians
- Yellow Fever Vaccination easily available in Lima