Three Amigos are go!

Nelson to Lima Friday 1.6.12

So here we go, the three amigos off for a whirlwind tour of Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Harry the bastard, Hippy Hax and our hero - Garth the really nice guy, not to mention handsome, witty and multi-skilled after watching Bear Grylls videos and taking notes. Three weeks, three Kawasaki's, three nations, more than three natural and cultural wonders with three partially skilled elderly teenagers offering mutual support and encouragement, no doubt with ample hilarity at each south American sand induced tumble from the two wheeled steads. Hax and I met up outside the Auckland international terminal, in rarely seen sunshine. The flight was good, smooth, but limited for sleep due to my inability to sleep sitting up, sore bum++, and three movies prior to a brief sleep and the sun was coming up. As south America came into view it was immediately obvious this is big country, Big mountain range (the Andes I think it is called) dropping from very high into the sea, much like the west coast of the south island except the land is bone dry by the looks of it. As we cam into Santiago the pilot demonstrated that a bit of flamboyance is very possible in an A340 as he threw in a hard turn that generated the most G force that I have experienced in a big plane. I guess this was due to the fairly tight valley that Santiago sits in, but really I think it was just for the hell of it after a long straight haul. Through to the transit lounge we enjoyed a couple of coffees and a mediocre sandwich and had a conversation with a customer talking loudly about the expense of the airport food.

Flight into Lima about 3 and a half hours latter saw us descend into hazy conditions. Still more of the big mountain ranges (pretty confident this is the Andes?) once again steep to flat for a bit then into the sea, dry++. Can through customs completely confused, didn’t know how to answer the question “will you frequent need of temporary entrances?’ Taxi fare offered by the first stand US$50, we were rescued by a friendly Aussie couple who had obviously read the guidebook and realised this was a rip off price. We shared a taxi with them for less than half the price, although the taxi driver insisted on charging more than we had agreed at the Airport, should have been 45 sol but the taxi charged 70sol, settled on US$25, the side of the street didn’t seem the right place to argue the point so we just paid and headed for the hotel. Hot in the Taxi, with the darkest windows that did not ever, Lima traffic - hustle, bustle, bang. Glade we are not riding here. . Nice hotel. Walked to get money from ATM, Sol from Aussie, walked around busy, beeping horns, happy people, went to Al Fresco for sea food meal - delicious raw fish, followed by Risotto, back for a beer in the hotel bar, looks like a brothel with beds everywhere, few chairs, bright lights, and thumping music. Exhausted off to bed!