This one though, not so much; filled with people who’ve come in groups and are not keen on mixing, who are loud, very drunk and who possess bad dorm etiquette. So at 1:30am when I’m trying to sleep, there are people walking in and switching the lights on. You can hear the music blaring and people shouting downstairs. Plus, the burps and farts from the mates in your dorm are not pleasant. Not to mention the drunk girl in the bed next to mine who threw up; in her bed; while she was sleeping.
So I’m in Miraflores and want to make the best of Lima. In the morning I head out to the Huana Pucllana temple ruins. Like a little precursor to Machu Picchu. It was constructed in 400 AD with adobe bricks at different levels. Every time they raised a level, they would sacrifice a few women. As good luck, you know. I’m not sure why they didn´t just hire better architects and civil engineers. There was an English guide to the place but with her thick accent, it was really as good as Spanish. Lucky for her I know eight words in Spanish.
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From there I made my way to the vibrant and quaint handicrafts market. Walking through tiny shops selling alpaca wool gloves and quirky souvenirs, I was surprised when one local said “Namaste, mera naam hai Marcus.” Yeah! He learned Hindi because he has tons of Indian clients! And at least two other shopkeepers told me they loved Shah Rukh and Singh is King. I just smiled because I didn´t know how to continue that conversation.
Having a couple of hours to kill, I thought I’d head for a massage. I deserved it, you know. With all this walking I’ve been doing. The masseuse was visually impaired and didn’t speak English. So she had a watch that constantly tells her the time out loud. I kind of preferred that since it was better than the Oriental Star Wars playing on the speakers that sounded like Light sabers and flying space ships. In fact, it felt like Darth Vader massaged me too. I’ll tell you why.
First she rubbed my back like there was something on her hand and she was trying to get it off, on to my back. All the while sighing heavily. Then there was the elbow in the back move. She pressed down so hard it made my toes curl. How do you say in Spanish – Your elbow is coming out through my chest? “Senhora… your elbow et mis intestinos NO son amigos.”
Then comes the part where she added more knots to my shoulders than I started out with. Scouts would have had a field day. Finally she patted my soles like I have princess feet.
Muchas gracias and I was out of there.
I headed back to the hostel and joined in the chaos that was happening at the bar. Hey, if you can´t beat ‘em, drink enough of beer so that you can´t hear anything when you sleep!
