Moving On - Peru

After an unfortunate set of circumstances in Bolivia, I have been faced with the decision of "do I keep travelling on my own around the world adventure?" or "do I go home and get going with starting my life from scratch....again?".  Well, thanks to a number of people and their encouragement I have been convinced to just see how things go in the short term and where it is I end up with my travels.  Good guidance!

Not waisting too much time, I left La Paz and an invite from two similar solo travellers to stick around and have an awesome time with them.  I really needed the fresh start approach and this wasn´t in La Paz, it was in Arequipa, Peru.  Immediately at the bus station things picked up.  I ran into a nice couple I had been travelling with in the Amazon, Lolo and Lucas and they were heartfelt in the wishes they offered me.  On the bus I lucked out and got a front row seat on the second deck next to two Brazilian girls which was cool (awesome actually!).  Chatting and laughing we made it to Puno, Peru, before we unfortunately had to part ways.  Me to Arequipa and them to Cuzco, bugger!  But, what a small world..... Next it was in Puno that I met up with some French girls I had met in the Amazon as well as my first Aussie, YAY!  Unfortunately the French were off in a few days back home, but the Aussie, Cassie was heading my way.

Catching a cab in the wee hours of the morning with Cassie we ended up at the Wild Rover hostel in Arequipa where they gifted us some early beds so that we could sleep and recover.  Cassie too is a solo traveller and like myself a little less prone to planning and stuff.  The mentality of go to do what you want, when you want it was her perspective.  With each of us feeling like resting rather than hoping on the tourist gravy train we spent 4 days in Arequipa eating at the local markets (which have the most amazing food and juices!) and relaxing.  Bloody awesome!  It was during this time I met a lot of other solo travellers and soon I came to realise that this approach to travelling is totally different than the couple thing.  No ittineraries, do what you feel comfortable with and just relax into the travelling experience, that was the theme.  Travelling alone opens you up to so much more possibilities and you find the locals as well as other solo travellers are so much more likely to interact with you.

After 4 days in Arequipa, which is an awesome place, I made plans to head for Lima and 2 couch surfing dates with some local girls.  It´s probably at this point you are thinking, ha! he is really chasing the girls.  Well not really, I just seem to be meeting more of them and what I found out later after my first couch surfing date was that here in Peru, the girls are more aggressive at chasing guys than visa versa.  This explained why I only had girls responding to my couch requests....

Well hopping on the bus to Lima I found myself again up the front but this time I was seated next to a local guy from Lima.  Immediately we got to talking (which is my style) and for the whole trip we traded stories, recommendations, etc.  Arriving in Lima he hit me up to come and meet him and his girlfriend during my stay and gave me a hand bargaining the pesky taxi drivers.  I think it was the Aussie hip hop I played for him (on my stellar new shiny laptop!) from the Hill Top Hoods that sold him on me ;).

Arriving at my hostel, where Cassie was already staying, I quickly prepared for my first couch surfing date with Maria.  Well ain´t the Peruvians a friendly bunch!  Marie was a bubbling collection of enthusiasm and curiousity.  She gave me three choices for what to do:
1) Grab some coffee and later some dinner (eh...).
2) Grab some beers and later some dinner (tempting....).
3) Go to a local soccer match and see her favourite team play for some big stakes  

Being the Aussie I am, I picked the soccer match, not for the game, but for the craziness I new was to come...  Well quickly scooting off to the stadium, which was right off in the burbs, I was not dissapointed in the least.  Hopping off the bus, we were straight into a taxi, because walking around in the burbs being 6 foot 2, white and with lighter coloured hair was not a good idea I was told.  Soon enough I got to see why!  Being told to shut up and not speak a word of English (or bad Spanish) we dashed from the cab, through the massive mobs of brawling hoons and riot police to the secure area at the gate of the stadium.  I can definitely say I was the odd one out and people knew it.  Oh My God!  The riot police here are carying equipment that looks like it gets daily use!  Bean bag guns, battons, whips, shields etc.  They are kitted!  Not taking any crap they also had attack dogs, horses etc and they were hitting anyone not progressing the ticket line, getting in the way or just looking funny.  This was full on!

Inside the stadium, people were off the chain!  Drums, fireworks, chanting and general hooning was rife.  All the local kids were yelling stuff at me while Maria was kindly translated what it was they were saying.  Well, apparently I looked just like their team goalie and they were chuffed with this, and so was I....for a while until I saw how crap he was.....  Then we began to think this was a bad thing, because if he let a goal in.......oh crap.  So I cheared like buggery for the goalie!  Luckily the game was a nill all afair!  Phew!

Dashing from the stadium and trying to keep my head down we scored a ride with a local father and son back to my area in Lima for free!  People here are so generous.  Then it was on to eating some local specialities and drinking some beers.  Maria told me just how full on the situation was I was just in....nice to know after the fact!  Later we chatted exchanging other stories and experiences.  Dissapointingly, I had to pull the night up short because of a chronic lack of sleep I had been having over the past 5 days (too much partying in Arequipa with some Cassie and some American girls, hehe!).  

Sooo....I think I can get into this lone travelling thingy!  For now I recon my compass is pointing to Columbia.  I will eventually make my way out of Lima and on to Mancora, a surf town in the north, before entering Equador and finally arriving in Columbia.  Cause Columbia sounds awesome!