Blue Lagoon my @#$%!!

Clearly Peruvians are colour blind - I went to El Sauce today which is on the edge of a lake called Laguna Azul (Azure Lagoon). Well, maybe it was a few hundred years ago, but today it is just a murky, olive coloured, polluted cesspool. I'm glad I didn't plan to stay there overnight and didn't pay for a tour to get there. A tourist from Colorado I met in Gacto described it as a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. Neither is correct. The hills are not very high and deforested in parts for agriculture and the lake is no more than a large pond by Canadian standards. There was a modest hotel on the edge of the lake where I took refuge for the day as it had a nice swimming pool with sun loungers around it. The water was warm enough for swimming and I enjoyed a relaxing day there. A bar service to the pool would have been a welcome addition but they just don't get that here (unlike in Asia where the tourists can order a cool drink from one of the many waiters circulating around the pool). The road to and from is horrendous - no more than a goat track for much of the way. The smoothest part was crossing the river on a large barge which carried the bus and trucks as well. So I'm back in the Hotel San Antonio with hot water in the shower for another night. It's close to the Plaza and there's a noisy party happening there tonight, which may have something to do with the winter solstice. I may wander up there for a look later and if it goes on too long it will be another night with an earplug in.

If this colour is blue I must be colour blind!

Loading the barge to cross the muddy river, a tributary of the Amazon.