Don't cry for me.....4 Oct

Los Pumas became Lost Pumas although they scored far more points than us in the second half. Fortunately the All Blacks had run riot towards the end of the first half and ensured that we could proudly wear our AB garb into the evening. The Argies were muted in the first 40 but were very vocal when there was some questionable rough stuff later in the game....our guys were booed vigorously as they left the field. We had first class treatment at the venue with pre game drinks all free for two hours and another two hours after the game... 
  Sunday morning saw the church service overlooked due to a lunch engagement with the CEO of Williment, the travel company we are travelling with. We went to a top class nosh shop in Buenos Aires where the owner was an ex football player and served steaks 2 inches thick! He had the good sense to have a number 7 All Black jersey amongst an extensive range of football paraphernalia. Always a touch of pride seeing things from home down little side streets in foreign countries.

Diana and I wandered for a couple of hours in light rain to walk off our steak lunch. We came across a free open air cultural concert in a closed off street so stopped by to watch the dressed up dancers performing with a squeeze box and brass orchestra. Blow me down if they didn't sing and play the only Latino song I know. Funiculi Funicula......I sang at the top of my voice, out of tune, out of tone, monotonous singing style, the only one in English.....was quite funny really. Took me back to Form 4 at NPBHS in 1968!

Early to bed on Sunday night as we had a 4.00 am start to fly to Peru. Buenos Aires was a great place to visit but the country is in a bad place. They have been in recession since 2001. They pay 21% GST, 43% personal tax and have inflation of 40% year on year. There are a lot of very poor people and numerous souls sleeping in doorways and parks....quite a sad state of affairs.

Lima, the capital of Peru with 8 million people is a totally different town to where we have just come from.

One interesting thing for sure is that it never rains in Peru. There are no water tables, no spouting on houses and no umbrella salesmen. While we wandered the town on a city tour it was heavily overcast and had the feeling it would rain within 30 minutes "...no chance...." said Fernando our guide.

Lima appears far more prosperous than BA. There is very little litter on the streets, graffiti is almost non existent and the people appear happier. We only had a short stay and made preparations to fly to Cuzco in the Andes. It is high altitude, only 150metres lower than the top of Mt. Cook, so some people have pills, very little alcohol was drunk and we have cut down on steak dinners. We'll see how it goes.