Thursday 24th July - Lima Should Come With a Health Warning

My throat feels like it's been coated with tar and lined with sandpaper and have used about two packs of tissues today. Definitely not ideal timing as I prepare to leave for Mancora at the weekend. Pretty sure the climate of Lima is partly to blame. The stench of car fumes is almost overpowering and every morning I see thick plumes of black smoke being belched out from the cranes at the building site across the road. Not surprising that all this smog is making itself cosy in my lungs and throat - doesn't have much chance of escape with this cloud blanket that seems to engulf the entire city.