Lisa takes on the World...Is it ready???

Blimey it's real now and i find myself in Peru! The trip was fine really and i'd heartily recommend the Megabus down to London to anyone - bargain and quick. We were delayed in Madrid for 4 hours but the queue for the freebie food soon broke the back of that. We arrived in Lima on 15th August, the start of the adventure and were welcomed outside our first hostel by a frisky little prostitute! I thought i'd chosen a nice hostel in a reputable area, well i guess she wasn't too rough?! The hostel was just dandy (apart from the bracing early morning showers) for our needs in the reputable Miraflores district of Lima. After speaking to a few people in and around the hostel the dawning realisation that we were the most disorganised and unplanned travellers there hit home. Time to start reading the guide books... First impressions of Lima: busy, noisey and polluted. Dig a bit deeper and battle through the smog and there are glimpses of beauty. Many of the parks are precisely manicured, the Cathedral stands proud and immense and the architecture around the central square Plaza de Armas is grand yet ornate. Our morbid side took us to the Museo del Tribunal de la Santa Inquisicion to look at the re-creations of torture techniques that had been used. Unfortunately all the literature was in Spanish so we struggled somewhat but nevertheless had smiley piccies taken next to the life size re-creations. I was quite shocked that we were being hounded so much by beggars whilst we were in the church San Francisco, even children as young as 4 asking for cash and trying to grab money out of the donation boxes. People were extremely friendly but being a cynical old boot I was constantly questioning their motives. I have now seen 3 people wearing psycho sandals (those velcro things) with socks - maybe i should aspire to join them??!! We are currently in a wee town 6 hours south of Lima called Nazca. Nazca is famed for the strange designs seen in the desert which surrounds the town - The Nazca Lines. We took a very very small and rather nauseating flight over the lines. The lines are pictures of monkeys, whales, birds etc etc plus a few trapezoids which have baffled scientists for years. Personnally i think i'd dispel the alien landing strip and stick with the 'Shamen' theory. The shamen consumes psycho-active drugs (not for pleasure you understand)that convinces him he can fly and so enters the world of spirits in order to rid sick people of evil spirits. The lines were designed to depict what was seen in the minds eye of the flying shamen?? After the flight we thought we'd wind down with a trip to a few tombs to see delightful mummies (i think we are actually rather sick individuals who may need help). Chaucilla housed 12 open tombs with some rather vile looking mummies positioned in them. There were even mummified babies in situ. Probably the most garish was the braided hair which frankly looked better than both Lisa and mine after a week without a hairdryer! Onto Cuzco tonight, a 14 hour imperial class bus journey.Even though we don't speak hardly any Spanish, well none whatsoever we are managing...thanks to lots of raising of eyebrows,flicking of phrasebook pages and random gesturing and flapping with our arms!!Are we getting strange looks? You can bet your bottom dollar!!I am sure that the more brandy based pisco sours we consume the more they will think we are locals. Mind you everyone is dark and small here so we do rather stick out, especially Fran who is taller than me and has that peroxide look!