We met some guys from Whistler (orginally from Australia) on the bus from Cusco to Lima, they had been to a few of the places we are headed to so they relayed some tips for us that will likely be helpful in our travels. It was also nice to talk to someone about beautiful British Columbia. The bus trip was never-ending but the stream of spanish movies (with English subtitles) and bingo games kept us mildly entertained. We also used gravol to knock ourselves out for the night.
After the bus ride we were swarmed by pushy taxi drivers, non of whom spoke a word of English. We were trying to figure out where we were going when one of the drivers offered his phone for Tyson to use to call our friend who we were trying to meet up with for our bags. Tyson accepted the offer and made the minute and a half call. Immediately following the call, the driver asked for five soles to cover the phone usage. I tried to respectfully explain that he should have warned us that the call would cost money prior to offering his phone otherwise we have no way of knowing that there would be a cost associated with the offer and interpret the act as kindness. The man was not satisfied with my explanation and began to demand the money. At this point I have to admit that I lost my cool and tweaked a bit, mainly because I felt that he was trying to screw us. I said I may not speak Spanish but I am not stupid, and not only would I not pay for the phone call, but we did not need a ride from him either. Anyhow we caught another taxi to our lovely hotel. Now generally, I do go on about the fact that I can stay in grubby hostels and eat street food but I will be the first to admit that it felt wonderful walking into a clean, safe and pretty place. The hotel is in a very nice part of town and the room is beautiful! It felt good to take a hot shower and relax for a while. The only problem is we still do not have our bags so we have had two outfits in the last four days. We have been handwashing our clothes which never dry in time so we are constantly putting on damp clothing.
We left the hotel to find some dinner and watched a beautiful light show in the central Mirflores area. We had originally wanted to walk to the light show but were told by at least four other people that it would be impossible to walk the whole distance. So we caught another crazy bus that dropped us off at the park where the light and fountain show took place. The distance was quite reasonable despite what we were told, so we walked home.
We bought dinner from a street vendor we were not sure about at first, but we were quite cautious in doing so. Step one, we watched other people eat the food first. Step two, we bought one burger and shared it. Step three, we bought two more burgers and shared those. We are still alive and kicking so its all good. Then we bought a huge tub of ice cream and had to finish it because we do not have a freezer to store it in. As we were walking down the street a couple pointed to Tyson and said "gringo!". He turned around laughed and greeted them, they said hello in response and giggled. I think he finds it interesting to be the minority for a change. We had a nice night and a great sleep in a clean bed. Thank God for small wonders, we are starting to be more grateful for the things we used to take for granted like warmth, hot water, clean clothes, familiarity with our surroundings, food and much more.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"