I just picked up my motorcycle from the BMW shop two days ago. In the garage I put on all my gear and started her up. I revved the engine and I had the attention of all twenty or thirty people there, both customers and employees.

I was a bit timid riding it back to my hostel. I haven't been on it in about seven months now and my instinct of knowing where cars are wasn't fully functional. The roads swarmed with traffic and each time I was at a stoplight I looked at the car next to me and revved the engine - just for the hell of it. I got a few smiles. When I arrived I parked her in Frances' gated garden patio.

In January when I was in Buenos Aires with my friend Alex I picked up a small template of Che Guevara. I held onto it knowing that I'd use it to spray-paint Che on my bike's boxes. Today I got the chance to do just that. I bought a can of black spray-paint at a corner store (I didn't know how to say this in Spanish so I had to imitate graffiting a wall) and dug the template out of my bag.

I think it turned out pretty well being as I have never used a spray can before. I got a bit carried away and painted the whole of both boxes. I just hope I used the correct paint because it seems as though it could peel quite easily. The paint is thick in some places and runs down in others.

I'm getting very frustrated with the people at the Peru/Ecuador border. They were supposed to have sent my papers last Thursday but Frances called them today and they said it was just sent yesterday! So I probably won't be able to leave for a while yet.

There's nothing to do here during the day. If I knew I was going to be stuck here this long waiting for papers then I would have gone up to Bogota to visit some friends for a week or two. Of all the South American capitals to be stuck in I think Lima is the worst.