Next point of call was the capital of Peru, Lima. We had the pleasure of arriving here via a night bus, which is never a great night sleep no matter how 'comfortable' they claim the bus is. The free snack and drink on board is always welcome though! Since the tour commenced, as a group we have complemented each other and got on really well, so it was sad that we would be losing 3 people in Lima (due to the first section of the tour being complete). However we later found out that six new faces would be joining so hopefully all is not lost.

As in most places, the central part of the city is best explored by foot. We started out in Plaza Dis De Mayo which is littered with brightly coloured buildings, primarily blue. From there we ambled to Plaza De Armas which is the focal point of Lima and surrounded by many spectacular buildings including a Palace and a Cathedral. It is one of the most impressive squares we have been in and we were even lucky enough to be there for the change over of the guards. Having not been to China for all of 2 months, we thought it was then a good idea to go visit Chinatown. There are plenty of bustling markets there but as expected, it was no shock to us that it was nothing like the real thing (will any Chinatown ever be now?!) On the way back to our hotel a guy very kindly came up to us and let us utilise his bus card to save us paying for a taxi. It was totally unprovoked and to this point Peruvian people have been nothing but friendly to us tourists.

So we couldn't visit Lima without getting a taste of the nightlife. Unfortunately this was not possible for all of us since there was a stomach bug starting to sweep the group - I have total confidence that I will not get this given I have a stomach of steel from years of chilli abuse! Anyway the night out was cultural (we sampled plenty of the local drink Pisco), educational (we found a local bar with past Manchester United scarves amongst others) as well as integrating with some of the traditions (dancing with the locals).
An alternative region of the city we visited the next day was Miraflores. Lima is on the coast and this part of the capital is located on top of the cliffs overlooking the sea so it is quite scenic. Other than this area is best known for it's shopping. Of course we couldn't buy anything with limited backpack space, but it was a good chilled out afternoon which was needed after the late night antics from the previous day.

That evening a few of us (6 guys and 2 girls) thought it would be a good idea to soak up the atmosphere of a local football game. Our luck was in that there was a local derby game imminent (Allianz Lima Vs Sport Boys) and at a cost of £2! It was evident that it was a bit of a dodgy area, so we made sure we took as little as possible with us. Outside the ground it was quite hostile and you could sense a couple of the group becoming intimidated - of course me being a novice at going to football matches I have never experienced an environment such as this - ok so my sarcasm is not so subtle but I could appreciate that it wasn't a comfortable situation for most. We managed to get in fine though and it was thoroughly enjoyable even if the football was not to the standard that I have been accustomed to. The atmosphere and the passion of the crowd was by far the highlight (as hopefully can be seen by the videos).

Before we left we the ground we had a pre-warning when someone tried to grab one of our bags via the distraction of a local taking a photo of us. To minimise the risk we decided to leave 15 minutes early to avoid the crowds. This was to no avail though since just three blocks down the road we were jumped on. It all happened really quickly but I sensed something was wrong when we came to a corner and two guys started walking towards us looking me up and down. Before I knew it there were three other guys with hands all in my pockets. Gladly I had my phone up my sleeve (clenched in my hand) and there was also 9 sol (£2.25) in loose change in my other hand which I instinctively threw on the floor to distract them. This seemed to work as well as the assistance of our group who also pulled Ian free who fortunately had his camera in a zip pocket so they didn't get time to extract it. Although not a recommended experience, I found it quite exciting and probably more so because I had outsmarted them!

We arrived back at our hotel, some shook up, some still with adrenalin pumping, but gladly all in one piece. We assessed the cost of the damages which in total was 5 sol (I managed to retrieve 4 sol back from the floor!) As a result of going to the football game we missed the new group meeting (gladly Sara attended and did not witness the attempted mugging). Oh well we would be moving on tomorrow and I'm sure there will be plenty more time to acquaint ourselves with the new recruits.

Xx