Spent a nice day in Lima on Sunday with the crew ...different extended family, same core group (Luis, Juan Pablo, Veronica, Ceci, Aida (Veronica's grandma)). Took a nice walk around the golf course near their home, and enjoyed splendid weather. It was great to have quality time with Veronica and to catch up! We met Aida's cousin and his family for lunch at Alfresco, a super yummy seafood place in San Isidro. Flounder ceviche, causushi (sp?) which is a potato and seafood terrine, of sorts, tacu tacu, octupus in a creamy olive sauce, yum - all kinds of amazing dishes! I have been eating one big meal a day, at around 2pm and then just having a light breakfast and dinner (if any dinner...last night was trail mix on the plane!) Packed my bags and drove around Lima one last time with V...we had some lucuma ice cream (mildly reminiscent of date flavor) and then drove by this park with tons of fountains (they light up at night), only to be hijacked by tons of taxis and families trying to see the Papa Noel exhibit at the park - the line was crazy long, so we just skipped it! I sadly said my thank yous and goodbyes to the Valdivieso family and took a taxi to the airport to catch my 9:55pm flight to La Paz. We had stopped at pharmacy earlier to get some altitude adjustment pills...who knows if they work, but it was worth a try. El Alto airport is at 13, 323 feet! That is nuts...and Lima is at sea level. Hmmm. Met some nice folks on the plane ride over, one girl, Sonia, from Chicago, is also going to be in Cusco fro NYE so she and her friend might try to find Veronica, Dustin, Divakar and I while in town...apparently the Plaza in Cusco is going to be raucous for the NYE festivities. Can't wait! The other side of me was an American family, from LA, who are Bolivian heritage, but haven't been back in 15 years. He was giving me tips on what kinds of foods to try...saltenas (seems like the Bolivian style of empandas, copied from the Argentinian province of Salta), some soups, and this peach drink called mochiniche (sp?) ...so I guess I have some taste testing to do after all! I just feel soooo wimpy right now, I don't want to do anything.
I got in to El Alto Airport at 12:45am and made it through immigration without any of the ado I faced in Lima (gracias a Dios!) and was met by this 5'2" man holding a sign with my name from the Hostel - brilliant! Was at the Loki La Paz hostel by 1:15am...but not without my heart pounding out of my chest from the altitude! Got checked in to my room (shared it with 2 other guys, but we have our own bathroom, which was good) and just started chugging water. Took another altitude pill, but at 5am I woke up and was feeling funny...basically my blood pressure dropped and I broke out in a cold sweat! Didn't faint, but was sure close to it. That thankfully passed and I was able to get back to sleep. Feeling really weak and spacey today, but that is all par for the course. I am laying low and will just grab a bite (you aren't supposed to eat too much b/c your digestion is out of whack at this altitude) ...then will find a travel agency to book a trip down to the Salt Flats in Uyuni. Really looking forward to that. I am feeling like I will have time to spend a night on Lake Titicaca (on the Bolivian side) before heading to Cusco on the 28th, so that is great. Well, people are waiting to use the computer, so I better sign off. Love the fact that everyone thinks I am 25 like them, here. Hostels are great for the ego boost! Hasta luego,
Miss Michele
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