How do they manage to play league football in Peru?

[afloatinclaret]

And probably other countries in South America too?
Whilst not managing to Turf Moor for the Bornemouth match today, I did see the first half of a Peruvian second division match in Puno between Deportivo Alfonso Ugarte and Sportivo Huracán from the city of Arequipa; The game wasn't great though Puno had a very fast No.7 and a tricky No.10 worth looking at. Anyway, the point that came to mind whilst watching was that this game was played at an altitude of close to 4000 metres and whilst today's opponents come from a city at about 3400m, half of the divisions teams are from in and around Lima which is at sea level.
We left Lima a week ago, spent a couple of days at Arequipa enroute and been here for the last three days, yet despite that steady acclimatisation, even now I couldn't jog the length of the Puno football field without at least one rest-stop, three days ago I could barely walk that far in one go. Those players will be whole lot younger/fitter than me to be sure, but Altitude Sickness isn't bothered about how young/fit you are, in fact some suggest that youngsters suffer more; those clubs from high altitude towns ought to have a massive advantage for all their home games.

[ganpati23]

And probably other countries in South America too?
Whilst not managing to Turf Moor for the Bornemouth match today, I did see the first half of a Peruvian second division match in Puno between Deportivo Alfonso Ugarte and Sportivo Huracán from the city of Arequipa; The game wasn't great though Puno had a very fast No.7 and a tricky No.10 worth looking at. Anyway, the point that came to mind whilst watching was that this game was played at an altitude of close to 4000 metres and whilst today's opponents come from a city at about 3400m, half of the divisions teams are from in and around Lima which is at sea level.
We left Lima a week ago, spent a couple of days at Arequipa enroute and been here for the last three days, yet despite that steady acclimatisation, even now I couldn't jog the length of the Puno football field without at least one rest-stop, three days ago I could barely walk that far in one go. Those players will be whole lot younger/fitter than me to be sure, but Altitude Sickness isn't bothered about how young/fit you are, in fact some suggest that youngsters suffer more; those clubs from high altitude towns ought to have a massive advantage for all their home games.

I went to Columbia a few times in the mid/late-90s and on one trip, there was an international, but it was being played in their 4th biggest city, Baranquilla, not in Bogota, the capital. I asked the locals why.

They said it was because of altitude. They were playing (I think) Bolivia which is all high up so they chose to play on the coast in Baranquilla. But when they play a team from low down, they play in Bogota which is over 2,600m above sea level.

The highest sport I've watched was Polo in Leh, the capital of Ledakh which is a region in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Ledakh's in the Indian part of the Tibetan plateau so Leh's at 3,500m. It's go the highest polo pitch in the world.

It was Saturday afternoon, between two teams from the army. {ITBF - Indo-Tibetan Border Force.} They used bricks for their goal posts, which is one up on jumpers, I suppose. From memory, it had concrete tiered seating on one side and that was that, so you didn't pay anything.

How long's your trip, mate? Are you staying in Peru or checking out any other countries? And what's it like. I only ever went to Ecuador other than Columbia. Me and the Scottish girl I was with got left to die in the Amazon there after an argument with the tour guide.

But how much does it cost in Peru? How much for a cheap room and for basic food? In Columbia, they had a Comida Corriente, which was soup, a soft-drink* and a main course of meat (beef/chicken/fish) with rice and plantain etc for about $1.5. {This was 20+ years ago, remember.} Or Carne Asada which means roast meet but was just a rough bit of fried beef and chips for $2. What does Peru cost to travel nowadays?

Are you enjoying it? Any highlights or recommendations?

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

*I don't like to eat grapefruit, but for the fizzy drink (gaseosa) with my meal, I had the grapefruit one. I think it's called Toronja or something. Can you get that there?

[afloatinclaret]

Barranquilla, now that's one of the world's great sh1tholes!
Comida Corriente's still only $2-3 a pop and travel/lodging's still cheap, but the Peruvian Govt is really sticking it to us on visiting the sites - they have a gringo-tax on everything! Heading to Machu Picchu in a few days and the day trip (only allowed inside the site for four hours) for return train/bus rides, entry and compulsory guide looks like being $300+ each!