The frustrations of travel in Peru...

Well, I’d have to say, Huaraz might be right up there as the rip off capital of Peru. A mecca for climbers and tourists, the population here, almost without exception, seem to be intent on extracting as much extra money from the gringos as they can. There’s the odd exception, of course, but it pays to know the going price of taxis, food and drinks. If you catch a taxi and ask at the end of the journey what you owe it’s likely to be twice what a local would pay for the same trip. Restaurants without a priced menu, the same. In one they handed me a menu that looked like it had rarely been used (usually they’re so worn and tattered from thousands of handlings by the locals you can hardly read them). I was immediately suspicious of the pricing and suspect it is the menu they only hand to gringos, with inflated prices on it. Hence, not worn and tattered like the rest.
After getting on the Linea coach at Huaraz I noticed that the windows all had a sun filter on them made of a material similar to that used on microwave oven doors - which meant you couldn't see out of them easily and photography was out of the question. This in what was probably the most scenic route in Peru, from Huaraz to Trujillo, through fabulous mountain scenery. How frustrating. So it was eyes closed most of the way. On arrival in Trujillo I discovered that Google Maps wouldn't load on my phone so I took a taxi from the coach terminal to my hostel. I'm guessing my phone has run out of data and needs a recharge. The taxi was another wreck and broke down only a few streets away from the coach terminal. The driver tried in vain to get it restarted and explained that his car had been stolen a few weeks ago and he'd rented this one only at midday and that it had been giving trouble since he picked it up. He phoned the owner who said he'd come and look at it and we waited on the side of the road for 20 minutes. Eventually a man did arrive and lifted the bonnet and hot wired the ignition to get it going (maybe he'd stolen this one himself!!). We resumed our journey which turned out to be a lot further than what had been indicated on Google Maps the day before. I had planned to walk the 7 minutes to the hostel but the taxi driver explained that the Linea Coach Depot Google Maps had found was only a ticketing office in the central city close to my hostel, and not the coach terminal. The frustration didn't end there - when I arrived at the hostel it was locked up and no one to let me in. I rang the bell several times but got no answer and finally gave up and checked into a hostel across the road where I got a single room with a private bathroom for less money. I hope to get a refund from the hostel I booked but I'm not holding my breath. I feel like I've seen enough of Peru and if I hadn't booked a non refundable flight from Lima to Santiago I'd probably terminate my travel here and fly home. I hope the next few days goes better for me.
It's now Thursday morning here and I'll check out of this Hostel and check into another Airbnb in Huanchaco which is a beach suburb not far from Trujillo. It looks like a nice area and I'll book any tours I want to do from there. I got a good night's sleep here, at least. This morning I went out for coffee and took my cereal hoping to get a bowl and some milk so I could eat it. I should have learned by now not to ever order coffee and milk at the same time - always order the coffee first and when you get the cup of boiling water and the liquid coffee concentrate to add to it THEN order a little milk to go with it. Otherwise you'll get a cup of boiling milk and the liquid coffee to add to it. YUK! Made that mistake again this morning and when the bowl and milk for my cereal hadn't arrived 10 minutes later I departed to look for somewhere else to have breakfast. The next place wouldn't help despite my generous offer to "rent" a bowl and spoon (I had the cereal and dried milk powder - just needed water) but the next place was even funnier - a stand up counter on the busy street which came up with a large cake mixing bowl! I asked if they had something smaller and eventually settled for the large glass jar  they offered! At least I got my cereal (better than the pastry option alternatives). All for now - I'll post again when there's something to post about (usually something every day).

Trust me, I'm not staying here!

Breakfast this morning was interesting - I've never had to eat my cereal out of a jar before!