Wow, how time flies! (Heading home...)

The last month of the trip was kind of bittersweet, both in knowing it was coming to an end, and having to stay in place, when there were so many other places we wanted to visit...

We woke up in our small adobe room we had been staying in, at Adam's Tierra Langla, on the 4th of March.  It was such a strange feeling to realize that it had already been one full year that we had been away.  I was both excited to return, but also not wanting to be finished yet.

We had a semi easy journey to complete, in order to get to the airport in Lima, and semi easy meaning up to this point, we've already traveled some 14,000 miles, so another 2 hour bus ride is literally nothing!

We said our goodbyes to all of the people at Tierra Langla, and with our bags packed, trudged up the dirt driveway to the street above.

Within minutes, a passing collectivo van stopped, and we threw our backpacks on top of the van, and brought our guitars inside.  A rather short journey back to Imperial, and then Canete, where we boarded "Peru Bus" headed for Lima.  We were graced with a sleazy Steven Segal movie all the way there, which of course was dubbed horribly in Spanish.

When we got to Lima, we jumped into a cab, and within about a half hour, we were at the airport.  Now it really felt like we were heading home...We had a few hours to kill, and started by stuffing our semi-malnourished bodies with a healthy serving of McDonalds Quarter Pounders, that perhaps never tasted so good, especially since we had been eating mostly vegan for the past month.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 1 AM, and was almost an hour late, so we were a little worried about our connecting flight in Atlanta.  When we arrived there, it was bright and early, and nobody was in the airport, so our connection was smooth, and quick.  It was pretty funny, going through US immigration, as the officer looked at my well worn passport, with what seemed like hundreds of stamps, especially from Chile and Argentina...He asked how long I was gone, and when I told him a year, he asked "why?"  Then he asked how Peru was, and how I was able to make it back in one piece...I told him he should get out more.

We boarded our second plane, and we were slightly disappointed that nobody greeted us in Spanish...Now was the final stretch...We would be in Los Angeles in a few hours, and my mom would be there to pick us up from the airport, one year later.

Lima, en route to the south...

We arrived in Lima in the evening time from Huaraz.  The bus ride was fairly smooth, and we passed some pretty incredible looking coastline along the way.  Sand dunes for miles, and very desert-like scenario.

We jumped in a cab at the bus station, and headed to Hostal Iquique, which was semi near the center of town.

We were starving, and after checking into the hostal, we walked out, looking for some dinner.  First place we found was just a couple blocks away, and looked nice, cheap, and was full of people, so we decided to give it a try.

I wasn't paying too much attention to the menu they had out front, and the older guy waiting tables told us they had a 'mixed plate' sorta thing, where they would give us a little of everything, which sounded good.  We ordered a beer as well, and while we waited, we kind of discussed what the food would be like.

Turns out, we were both given a huge plate of cow stomach, intestine, and heart.  The heart was the only thing semi edible, as it was shish kabob syle, on a skewer.  I tried eating as muth as I could without getting sick, not to be completely rude, and plus I was starving.  It smelled horrid, and the consistency was like eating slime and leather.  Danica took a couple bites of her beef heart, and didn't touch the rest.

A man entered the restaurant, with a pan flute, and started blowing on it with a vengeance...

He then came around table to table asking for tips...We didn't really have much to give him, and told him sorry, but he quickly eyed Danica's full, hardly touched plate of slop...

He asked if he could have it, and very excitedly, she replied "SI!"

He put it all into a bag, and the waiter hadn't a clue she hadn't touched her meal.  Perfect.  Now, we left disgusted, and of course not full, or satisfied in the least.

Moral:  Check what you order.  Normally I would have, but after traveling all day, wasn't on my toes.

2 nights in Lima, and we spent almost a full day walking around in Barranco district, which was quite beautiful.  Rather ironic it was though, as we spent the time walking around trying to find a micro brewery we saw on the net...Nobody had ever heard of it, but we finally found it, only for it to be closed...We banged on the door, and the owner came out and said they only have 2 beers on tap...Super lame, oh well.

We walked down the road and found a burger joint owned by a British guy, and he sold us a couple of unbelievable IPA's from "Barbarian" brewery, which is another craft brewery in Lima, on the opposite side of town.  We enjoyed them to the fullest, and recommend trying them out if you're in the area!

8% unbelievable IPA!

The second morning, while we were waiting for our bus, there was a 7.0 earthquake centered just off the coast near Nazca.  Several people in Lima felt it, but luckily it was in an area where nothing was, and nobody was hurt.  On to the famed and mysterious Nazca Desert to take it all in!