Lima, Monday

1221 Despite or perhaps because of or independent of last night's gorge feeling bit irrational and light headed this morning. Changed hotel, broke after paying for last four nights and this night, need to get cash and sort out bus ticket but come to some small restaurant for lomo saltado in case this feeling is related to being hungry.

1301 Bill 16, make it 18. Food not bad, some veg in there too, feel bit stuffed but better.

1733 At Mezzaluna, was just going to have beer but feh, will eat too. Went to Casa de Ricardo Palma but despite signs showing it was during opening hours it was shut. So went to Huaca Pucllana, just down road from first hotel, guided tour quite interesting and got to stroke a (recently shaved) llama. Guide said (can't remember which way round) llamas and alpacas were domesticated versions of vicuñas and guanacos, there were never wild llamas and alpacas so to speak. They also had a half-and-half (the llama I stroked was its father) though - perhaps due to recent shaving - it didn't look enormously different.

1929 At hotel, went to bar to get bill as v dead and no sign of waitress, bill 62 as expected, made it 68. Stopped off for fruit and Inca Kola Zero at shop nr new hotel on way back. Need to book Trujillo hotel and ideally also flight from X-Buenos Aires later this month but not rushing this instant.

0128 Should go to bed but not just yet. Not booked flight but have booked Trujillo hotel. Slightly peeved by response to one of the Galapagos discussion threads suggesting if I don't like spiders I shouldn't be in South America full stop (because obviously Torres del Paine and the Amazonian rainforest have identical flora and fauna) and should maybe think about a trip to Antarctica. Smug, missing the point it's not about spiders full stop, it's about encountering big ones in my fucking room. Some other comment (less smug) suggests slight cause for concern in eg Quito but it also rather seems to assume 'spider' is the issue, when 'big spider' is really the issue. Not pursuing the matter further. Am a bit worried about mainland urban Ecuador now and (when I think about it) here, for that matter, but I think/hope I am not taking enormous risks (while acknowledging probability is not 0) with what I have planned.

Do need to get that flight booked, I will have to look into it when I get to Trujillo. Also need to see about getting malaria medication if necessary, should perhaps have done it here in Lima but been lazy, it's not as if this is super obscure medicine, Trujillo is far from a backwater and if anything in a slightly smaller place I hope it will be easier (walking distance) and cheaper to see a doctor or whoever it is I have to see about this. (My UK experiences in past suggest malaria prophylaxis is treated like fucking heroin. Heaven forfend you should simply be given a prescription and go buy it at the chemist, nooo, you have to buy it off the surgery's travel clinic and of course they don't accept anything but cash and you suspect they're coining it in because it fucking ain't cheap. I hope it's better here. To be fair that was one experience back in 2009 pre the 2010 trip. I didn't need any for the pre-Xmas part of this trip and due to laziness, shortage of time and the route being a bit ad-hoc I didn't try to get any for the post-Xmas part back home.)

I asked the woman at travel agency where bought ticket (they charged me 10 not 5 extra for their services, can't help wondering if this is cos they are in Lonely Planet, it's Cruz del Sur ticket just as was in Cusco where the booking fee was only 5) and she said mosquitos but if I understood correctly no malaria in Trujillo. Looking at NHS online map now says she's right, Trujillo is low to no risk, antimalarials not usually advised, like most of Peru south of there. I will need some for Mancora, I think.

0143 Obviously hope to do some sightseeing tomorrow given bus not til 2245ish. I haven't done that well in Lima but meh, tis OK. I don't hate the place but I haven't fallen in love with it yet. I think in part it's so big *even in the tourist sense* and given my taxi doubts (+tightness more than safety fears, during daylight) and fact I haven't tried to use the local buses doesn't help. The walk to the centre other day was fun, the walk back less so. In eg Santiago and Buenos Aires I felt less need to travel long distances and if I wanted to there was the metro. Here the centre, Miraflores, San Isidro and Barranco all have things of touristic interest (even if I'm rather underwhelmed by the nightlife in Miraflores, to be fair I only tried once but then where was I going to find anything else?).

0245 FFS, bed.