Hi again,
It's Friday night and unexpectedly I have an hour free
to write my closing email bringing this latest
adventure to an end. I am in Lima and really enjoying
my longer than usual visit here.
After lunch on Wednesday we enjoyed the last of the
warm sunshine on the patio at home whilst the work men
completed their work. It was only later that I
realised that Neomy had taken all the CDs out of their
boxes and arranged them in the CD carrying case, the
boxes to be thrown away as excess weight. The only
problem being that we did not write the CD titles onto
the CDs first!!! Identifying each one with its cover
is going to be an awesome task later. I have two weeks
to do the best I can before seeing Carlos and Aquiles
on my next trip to London.
In the evening Alfredo came back to Cusco with me, the
work still being unfinished which meant that Neomy had
to stay on and supervise proceedings. She accompanied
us to the colectivos and three of us were waiting for
two more passengers to appear which didn't happen.
After about 15 minutes we managed to convince the
driver to drive down near the bus stop in hopes of
finding two more passengers. All of us were calling
'Cusco, Cusco' including me (much to the amusement of
locals waiting to get transport home!). Finally we
were on our way and the driver did really well getting
us to Cusco in 45 minutes which is about half the time
it takes by bus. When he reached the drop off point
and the others got out, he said he was now a taxi and
where did we want to go, and in no time we were back
at the house.
I had about half an hour to finish packing my suitcase
before setting out again. I arrived at La Retama in
time for that last show which lasted about an hour and
then waited outside and chatted to Juan's friend
Alfredo whilst waiting for the band to come out and I
was absolutely delighted that those little children
came to say goodbye. Their mother with baby on her
back held back and the children came running, the 4
year old straight onto my lap for a cuddle with the 6
year old trying to climb on too!! There were two
little brothers as well who were pleased to make
themselves known to me.I was so pleased that I saw
them one last time, not thinking I would do so having
been absent in Urubamba all day. When it was time to
go they all gave me a kiss and I gave them the cash to
buy one last icecream. Then it was goodbyes all round
to all the musicians with me admonishing Alfredo to
make sure Juan got to bed early and did not go
drinking and risk losing his flight the next morning!
I was home and in bed by 10 pm with two alarms set for
4.30 the next morning.As it happened I woke up at 3 am
and did not dare go back to sleep again in case I
overslept. I read for half an hour before having a
shower and getting ready. By quarter to five we were
having coffee and in the time we had left before
leaving at 5.45 both of us removed the munya from all
the little branches (all of which had been drying out
on the table all week) and secured it into a plastic
bag for the journey. I am going to really enjoy those
munya infusions when back home; it will take me
straight back to the wonderful times I have
experienced here.
At the airport I was soon checked in and Alfredo and I
had coffee and some breakfast while waiting for Juan
to arrive.Our plane was about half an hour late in the
end and we were in the air by 8.20 instead of 7.50 am.
I felt incredibly sad looking out of the window and
seeing Cusco for the last time until 2006. It always
affects me this way when I leave Cusco. I love that
little town so much. The flight was a pleasant one and
by the time we were served breakfast and drinks it did
not seem long until we were descending towards our
Lima landing. Also during the flight Juan and I
listened to my music on the iPod, sharing one set of
headphones, and one of the songs appealed to him so
much he was writing down the words with a view to the
band including it in their repertoire thereafter.It's
called 'Prisionero de Amor', a really catchy tune with lovely words. Although we had been assigned seats
separately I managed to convince the guy next to
me to change seats with Juan and in the process he
gained a window seat instead of being between window
and aisle so was probably just as pleased with the
exchange.
Coming down the steps of the plane at Lima the heat
hit us like a sledgehammer.We simply could not believe
how hot it was which made me really look forward to
our planned day at the beach the following day. When
we walked out into the airport I still did not know if
Erika had read my message so was consequently really
delighted to see her waving and we went straight over,
and soon negotiated a taxi to take us to San Juan for
30 soles. We were also planning to visit the embassy
that morning and as time was getting on we got the
driver to go straight to the embassy instead and Erika
waited downstairs with my things whilst I accompanied
Juan to the visa department to lodge his application
for a visa. This took about an hour and we were unable
to finalise his visa that day because he first has to
buy his return flight, with the return date
confirmed. Only once this has been done will the visa
be issued. My contribution was writing the invitation
letter without which the visa would not have been
granted. Juan will return to Lima next week after his
sister has bought his ticket. When Juan arrives in
England next month he will stay with us for a week or
two and then move on to London where there are lots
more opportunities for him. If he arrives on 25 March
as planned I will be on Easter holidays from work so
will be able to show him around a bit of the west
country before he moves on to London where most of the
Peruvian community live.
By 12.30 we were back at the house and it was lovely
to see Erika's Mum again who always makes me so very
welcome. Then Erika, Juan and I had an excellent
seafood lunch in a nearby restaurant before Erika had
to say goodbye for the afternoon and head off to work
for a 3 pm start. Meanwhile whilst waiting for our
food to arrive, Juan phoned Eva, the girl we met at
Agustin's house whilst in Puno, so that we could
arrange to meet her in the afternoon.Then before
setting off for work Erika put us onto the correct bus
to get to the University Park, saying it would take
about an hour to get there and we both memorised her
instructions on how to get back.
Amazingly we managed to get off the bus at the right
place and within 5 minutes Eva caught up with us and
she took us on quite a tour. I felt slightly
overwhelmed by Lima which is such a busy place with so
many people, and tourists like me very vulnerable. (I
stayed as close to Eva as I could with Juan walking
behind us to make sure we were all right. To begin
with he felt just as nervous as I did. Lima is a far
cry from the tranquility and cosiness of places like
Puno or Cusco, where one constantly bumps into people
one knows.
We visited el museo de la inquisicion y del congreso,
but this visit upset Juan somewhat as it detailed the
persecution and inquisition of the incas. I found the
dialogue a bit hard to follow as they speak so fast in
Lima, so alot of it went right over my head. After
that we walked for what seemed like miles until we
came to a huge central market area, the object being
to see what CDs were available.As it happened I found
a brilliant CD by a new band from Ayacucho called Los
Taytas, at an incredibly low price for an original CD.
I also bought a series of 3 CDs of San Juanitos and a
DVD about the Inca Trail. Eva suggested another place
to visit but Juan said it would be too risky for me
there so we gave it a miss. As the time approached 6
pm, I remembered Erika saying it would start to get
dark at 7 pm, and said we really ought to be getting
back as we would never recognise where to get off the
bus in the dark, and luckily did not have to wait too
long for a bus. By this time the three of us were all
dying of thirst in that hot humid weather, gasping for
every blast of fresh air coming in from the open bus
windows. On the outward trip someone got on the bus
with half frozen drinks but no such luck on the way
back. I know I would never have recognised where to
get off the bus but luckily Juan did. When I realised
we had got off at the right place I felt quite
surprised as initially everything looks the same. We
had a bit of time to spare, knowing that Edgar would
not arrive at the house for us before 8 pm, so the
three of us headed straight for the restaurant where
we had had lunch and proceeded to enjoy a couple of
iced beers each, made even more pleasant by the
waitress agreeing to put on one of the San Juanito
CDs! Then Juan and Eva walked me to the door and
handed me over to Erika's Mum before heading back to
the centre, Juan to come to the house to accompany
Erika and me to the beach at 8 to 8.30 the following
morning.
Edgar arrived and we had lots to chat about until it
was time to leave the house and go to meet Erika from
work. Then we got into a taxi and headed for Barranco,
the object being to have a few beers whilst listening
to some music before heading homeward again. After
making exhaustive enquiries we just could not find out
which pena the group El Polen play in and had to give
up on that quest. Maybe someone who reads this email
on my web page will be able to come forth with the
information on where this group plays. We ended up in
in a discotheque bar called Hakuna and enjoyed a
couple of hours there listening to the music, sharing
a couple of jars of Cusquena and ordering two plates
of sharing snacks - the one called Alitas Picantes was
yummy - pieces of fried chicken, a load of crisply
fried cheese straws and chips with shredded lettuce
and cucumber complete with very spicy guacamole dip.
The other plate - Tequenos - was a load more of the
crispy cheese straws with chips and the guacamole
without the added spice. These are obviously the
Peruvian equivalent of tapas in Spain. We finally got
home about 1 in the morning, by which time I was more
than ready for bed having been up 22 hours! All day I
had been suffering from a really bad cold which came
on in the evening on that drive back from Urubamba. I
must have got through a whole loo roll blowing my nose
every couple of minutes all day and never thought I
would get to sleep despite feeling so tired but
amazingly I slept through until 7 am without waking up
once.
A cool shower later we were having coffee and Juan
phoned to say he would be with us in about 45 minutes
so Erika and I went out to buy bread rolls and other
things to make a packed lunch to take to the beach
with us. We bought 9 French baguette style rolls,
sliced ham, creamy cheese and tomatoes to make the
rolls, crispy sausage rolls still warm from the oven,
lucuma flavoured drinking yoghurt to have with our
breakfast and then outside we enjoyed a large glass of
freshly pressed orange juice which was delicious. It
took the juice of 10 pressed oranges to make those 2
glasses of juice so you can imagine what that would
cost back home. Here in Peru where fruit is so
plentiful the cost per glass was just 20 pence!
Walking back we bumped into Juan who had just got off
the bus and he came in and enjoyed breakfast with us.
He had bought his return bus ticket the night before
and in order to get back to Cusco in time to play
tomorrow night he had to go on the 2 pm departure - a
journey lasting 23 hours, but at least he was
travelling with a reputable company - Cruz del sur -
with reclinable seats, meals and drinks served during
the journey, videos to watch etc. Whilst having
breakfast Erika and I prepared the rolls, wrapping his
into a separate package as he would only be able to
come to the beach for a while and have to make his way
back around 11.30 am.
Two bus rides later we arrived at municipalidad de los
churillos and the downward walk to the covered bridge
across the road with fountains each side and dolphin
statues to the beach I loved so much in 2003 - Agua
Dulce. We reached the beach about 10 am and although
the sun was hidden by the misty haze it was another
warm day. Soon we were ensconced in deck chairs right
by the edge of the sea complete with sun parasol,
which cost just 2 pounds to hire for the whole day.
Juan was enchanted with the sea and whilst he was
still with us we took various photos, only convincing
him to take off his shoes and roll up his trousers and
go into the water for a paddle, by promising to take a
couple of great photos. All three of us had fun in the
water. Poor Juan could hardly bear to drag himself
away when it was time to leave, he was enjoying
himself so much. Although not many people were there
when we first arrived as the day progressed the beach
got more and more packed with people, and soon vendors
of every description were plying their wares back and
forth among the crowd, and I was enchanted as before
by the sheer chaoticness of Peruvian beaches. We had
icecreams three times from various vendors and other
snacks as well as all the food we had brought with
us.Going past were vendors of hot tamales, sugary
donuts called churros, crisps made from potato or
camote (yams), candy floss, toffee apples, bags of
sweets, fried broad beans, peanuts and other snacks,
plates of marinated seafood (Cebiche), cake, spicy
yellow potato and egg snacks doused in green chilli
sauce, pots of jelly and blancmange, etc etc. Interspersed among all this were
photographers dragging huge pictures of dolphins
covorting in the sea, decked with climbing flowers,
blow up toys and goodness knows what else, as
backgrounds for photos. Each one more rediculous than
the last so that we were in fits of laughter. Other
vendors were laden with buckets and spades or bathing
costumes, even beach outfits. Being on a Peruvian
beach is a really fascinating experience and I enjoyed
every single moment. At one point even a cart carrying
a bread oven was dragged past with hot rolls and cakes
being sold.
We stayed on the beach until 5 pm and both of us were
reluctant to leave then except I had to get to a bank
before they closed, not wanting to risk putting my
card in an ATM machine outside banking hours. At least
the banks when open have patrolling vigilantes (bank police) outside
which is some protection against being robbed or
machines being rigged. We stopped at an icecream
parlour on the way and had an enormous icecream sundae
each and icy cold cokes before getting a bus which got
us all the way home about 40 minutes later.
Indoors we were working out how to spend the evening.
Having decided to go to Brisas de Titicaca pena, we
were disappointed to discover there were no
reservations available left for that evening, so
phoned La Candelaria at Barranco instead and were
luckily able to reserve a table. I am really looking
forward to it. The folkloric show starts at 10.45 and
continues until 3.15 tomorrow morning - a series of
andean bands and folkloric dances. I will write one
short email telling you all about it once I get home.
Despite the late night Erika and I plan to be up early
and on the beach again by 9 tomorrow morning. We will
be able to stay until 1 pm before heading homeward and
Erika having to be at work by 3 pm. Edgar is coming by
for me at 4.30 to take me to the airport and help me
through the chaotic procedures until it is time to
board my flight home. I leave Lima at 9.30 tomorrow
night, with the 14 hour flight via the Caribbean to
Amsterdam.It will probably be quite exhausting and not
so much fun as it was on the way here with the
exciting prospect of landing in Peru!With the 6 hours
lost in time zones I won't get home until around 9.30
sunday night. Then it is back to reality and up early
for work on Monday morning!
Hopefully I will be able to write a short closing
email on Monday evening. As you can imagine, having
enjoyed myself so much here, I will be saving hard and
looking forward to my next trip to Peru in a year's
time. Between now and then I will write occasionally
about andean events back home whenever they occur.
So until soon, bye for now and best wishes from Angela
