Lima never ends

Lima has been so amazing. I am sad to leave tomorrow to Wacachina but I am excited to try sand boarding and ride in a sand buggy. I have met so many people from all over the world and my Spanish has been getting better exponentially. My favorite new word is Joya which literally means jewelry but in Latin American slang means "Ok, cool".

In the past two days I have been exploring around Lima. On Monday I started the day off with my new friends from England, Hawaii and Chile and we went for a walk down to the beach. We tried out the water and attempted to skip rocks in the ocean. After we got lunch at a sandwich shop and had fresh made juices. I then headed to Barranco a barrio near Miraflores, Lima, which is less crowded but just as cool. Here we walked along the cliffs and ate dinner at a restaurant inside of a train car. We headed back to the hostel with two huge bottles of water (tap water is not safe to drink). At the hostel we hung out and met many new friends. We stayed up until 3am playing guitars, harmonicas, and singing to popular songs from around the world. 

This morning everyone ended up waking up late due to staying up late. A group of us headed out to Pachacamac, the sight of Inca ruins that are much older than Machu Picchu. The journey there was an adventure itself. To save money we decided to travel the way of the locals. We hopped on a random minibus and were off to Pachacamac. 

These minibuses are crazy. They pack tons of people in, they are really hot, and honk non-stop. To figure out which one to take you listen to the screaming men who lean out of the bus as it passes. They roll by screaming out the destinations trying to get people to jump on, sometimes as it is still moving. They often almost crash into other cars and drive in two lanes at the same time.

Pachacamac ruins were awesome. We had a guild who costed about $1.50 per person for an hour tour of the ruins. We were not able to climb into most of the ruins due to fragility caused by the many earthquakes. Temple del sol was the best, because we got to climb on top and the view of the ocean was amazing. Near Pachacamac ruins was a poor town that was built on the ruins before they could be preserved. Surrounding Pachacamac is just dessert and beach. 

I am now back in the hostel and about to join a BBQ on the roof. I will talk to you later.