The Lima Lunch Fiasco..

Ha! Ok, so I really wish I had some pictures to help do the following description justice BUT here it goes...

So, Derek and I took a flight out of Santiago at 8am on Monday, Feb. 18th after only 2 hours of sleep.. this is becoming an awful trend of ours. After a luxurious flight with LAN airlines (highly recommended if travelling through South America), we arrived in wonderful Lima, Peru.

The city of Lima has a current population of apporox 9 million and a taxi driver population of over 200,000!! It is a bustling coastal city with a rich history and endless character..

Oh and p.s., we were specifically told not to even think about even brushing our teeth with the water.. Apparently, Montazuma lives in the plumbing down here too..

So, anyway, we arrive at our hostel (Barranco Backpackers´Hostel is absolutley immaculate, they even give you a towel) around lunchtime and we are absolutely famished! Completely disoriented in the heat and humidity, we start wandering around in search of a place that serves pollo (the safest of foods in these parts). We came across a few different cafes which looked very dirty inside so we trudged on. Finally, after what seemed to be hours of wandering, we saw a menu posted outside of a small building which had "pollo" written all over it. Without even looking inside, we decided to enter.

Mother of God.

What an awful decision.

We found ourselves sitting in a windowless 10´x 15´room with a corrugated sheet metal ceiling that was completely eroded away in one corner. Immediately, a young Peruvian woman asks us if we want "Cerviche". Disoriented and famished, we respond with a "Hell yes", thinking that we´re going to get a couple of frosty beers.

Ha! What we got was the furthest thing from it..

She proceeds to bring out a plate of what looked like seaweed and vomit. It turned out to be a cold, raw, squid plate complete with onions and, of course, seaweed.

We began to feast.

After all, we were hungry and in no state of mind to make any sound decisions. However, we didn´t even touch the pitcher of lemonade that she had also brought out- I mean, we didn´t want to get sick afterall.

So, long story short.. We ate a fair amount of the vomit salad and the lukewarm pollo that accompanied it. The total bill was 8 Peruvian soles or 2 us dollars for the both of us. We paid the check and got the hell out of there- but not before our waitress asked us if we would eat there again- we screamed yes, in spanish, and ran out.

A few minutes later, we entered a legitimate bar and drank away the lukewarm memories of the Lima Lunch Fiasco.