Back again. Not much to report this time. Has been a quiet few days. After posting my last email I had a surf lesson at Huanchaco just outside Trujillo. The waves were pretty tame so it was good to learn on. I managed to stand up so got a few rides, the waves were fairly short so nothing for too long. Was great fun though, I can see how people get addicted to it. I'll have to grab another lesson elsewhere sometime. Was great to jump in the water again and have a swim in the ocean, had been a while. That night I caught up again with Jodie, the girl from the volunteer program that I was travelling, we crossed paths as she continued north and I went south. That night was back in Trujillo but I was too buggered to head out so had a quiet night.

Saturday was also a quiet day. I was catching up with another friend from my travels that night and there wasn't much else to do in Trujillo so I took it easy and got a few chores done. Was a relaxing day. You need them every now and then. Next day down to Lima. The trip down took most of the day and I settled in the suburb of Miraflores about 20 minutes out of Lima. It was kind of good to be in a city again. Miraflores is a very modern, very western suburb that has a lot of atmosphere and conveniences, much different to Lima itself. I guess it's comparable to Glenelg in Adelaide or Santa Monica in LA, the major beachside hangout. It was great to walk around the parks that night and get a bit of a taste of life back home. I also figured that I really only went to Lima to catch up with friends and there wasn't much else so figured I was splash out for a decent hotel with some good ammenities. Mind you splashing out still only cost $25 a night, still cheap.

Hit Lima the next day, slept in so didn't have much time, there, no problem though as there isn't heaps to do. A nice place in parts but relatively overcrowded and less attractive than say Quito. The plazas were nice places though with there open spaces and colonial architecture, I spent some time in the Inquisition museum about the witch hunts a few centuries ago. Was good to look at though everything was in Spanish so a lot of it I didn't understand, nor did I have the patience to stand there and try interpret it all. Most interesting was seeing how they tortured people for confessions. After that I went to a bullfighting museum. All towns here have a ring and it was good to see what actually goes on in a bullfight. It may be barbaric, a blood sport or whatever else you may call it, but it is definitely an integral part of the local culture in South America. i also got to have a look inside the stadium and there were yougsters training (not with real bulls though). Was interesting but didn't take to long to have a look. Probably the most interesting part of Lima was the Police presence. They were everywhere, decked out in riot gear, backed up by the machine gun mounted armoured vehicles and watercannons. They were everywhere. There has been a teacher's strike on over here for a few months now and it is progressively getting more violent. They did a lot of damage in Arequipa that day during a protest march, damaging both private and government buildings. A bus crashed killing 20 people the other day when protesters threw a rock at the windscreen. It's probably a good time to be leaving the country before things get too bad.

Today was just looking around Miraflores. Not much really. Went to the beach expecting it to be impressive as it's where the locals go in summer but was disappointed to find it was a relatively ugly beach with cobbled stones, no sand and underdeveloped compared to the rest of the suburb. Overall, not a stressful few days. Heading to the airport in a few hours to fly out to Argentina early tomorrow morning. Hope all is well with everyone.

Cheers