When I finished my last internet writing episode, I went to join Layla who was outside across the road from our hotel, chatting to some musicians. Whilst I was still online she said they had an interesting looking CD so I went to investigate. The musicians introduced themselves as Jose, who was with his three sons and a nephew and it was clear they were practising and that the sons were still learning. The CD on the wall next to them was Aire Agua Fuego y Tierra vol 3 which is a Jose Pajares production. I already have it in my collection so Layla bought it upon my recommendation. After listening to the guys play for about half an hour, which was great, sitting with them on the wall in the sunshine, the sound of the sea behind us, the andean music we love so much being played live right beside us. Then the guys had to go but asked if we could meet up again later, and we agreed to meet at the same place at 4 pm. Layla said if they played really well she would dance for them and they all enthusiastically agreed.
It was lunchtime by this time so Layla and I went off to a restaurant nearby where we knew they would play the CD. Seated on the upstairs open air terrace overlooking the sea, with a brilliant CD playing was lovely, whilst enjoying Ceviche followed by fish in a piquant sauce, and a Trujillo pilsen beer. I told Layla that the CD couldnt possibly be their own production as Jose Pajares was a well known musician in Germany and had produced three CDs with the title Aire, Agua, Fuego y Tierra, but that it was worth buying anyway as it was such a great CD.
At 4 pm we rejoined them on the wall by the sea, and were delighted when Ricardo came along with his guitar and joined us, the guy who had played so beautifully the evening we spent on the upstairs terrace of our hotel with Dora, Yerson and the others. They played music and after a while Layla got up and danced to it, which was greatly appreciated by them, and all the fishermen, street sellers, passing traffic etc. Even the people who own our hotel were up on the terrace looking over. It was really great. Thus we whiled away a good couple of hours until Jose and his sons had to go. He asked where we were going after Huanchaco and I said Arequipa for a few days and that we would be in Cusco the following week. At that he said he would be in Cusco as well by then and to contact him via the email address on the CD so that we could meet up again there. I was full of amazement then, realising we were actually with Jose Pajares and when I asked him he said he lives partly in Germany and partly in Peru, so I was really delighted to have met the guy responsible for those 3 brilliant CDs and asked him when the next volume would be out and he said hopefully by December!
Ricardo played on for a while, and then I suggested that the three of us went for a farewell drink, as in a couple of hours we would have to be back at our hotel, gathering up our things and into a taxi by 9 at the latest, in order to get to Cruz del Sur bus depot and our onward journey to Lima. Ricardo suggested taking us to a place where a fisherman and his wife also created ceramic ornaments and we agreed. It was only a 5 minute walk from the seafront, and when we got to the place one would never know what lay beyond it. We would have walked straight past, thinking it was just another house. He rang the bell and the fisherman came and let us in, first into a quite dark workshop where he obviously produces his ceramics, then down a dark corridor into a bar area, with tables and a room of it with dining tables laid up. We sat at a table in the bar area and the fisherman (who introduced himself as Luciano, and a few minutes later we met his wife Luz) went off to get drinks, Cusquena beer for me, Trujillo Pilsen for Ricardo. Layla didnt want beer so Luciano produced a drink which he had distilled himself from chicha which is made from maize. He gave me some to taste too and it was fantastic. He sells chicha in the bar but some years ago he began experimenting to see if he could produce something beyond chicha. Once the chicha had stopped fermenting he put it into demi john type vessels and let it lie for 5 years and the end result was a beautiful sweet tasting aperitif style drink. He went off to put on some music, beautiful andean music, which we were loving. He had an inventory on the table and Ricardo remembered there were a couple of arab songs on one of the CDs, so they put it on and it was one of Laylas favourite songs to dance to and she got up and danced. Luciano and Luz were absolutely mesmerised and really enjoying her dancing. Then he put on another CD by a musician called Rony who grew up in Huanchaco but now lives in Cusco. The music was phenomenal, one of the best CDs I have ever heard and I really wanted it badly. They referred to the musician playing as Chato, his nickname, and it took both Luciano and Ricardo half an hour to remember his name - Rony. Whilst listening to Ronys beautiful music it was lovely to chat to Ricardo who is such an interesting man. He spends alot of time with street children teaching them how to play instruments so they can earn their own living. He said that many of the musicians around Trujillo today were once street children but can now make their own way in life. He has four children of his own too and his 7 year old son plays cajon ' he gave me a web address where I could hear him play. He also wrote an introduction so that if I find Rony in Cusco, he will know that I found him via his old childhood friend Ricardo. I was enjoying myself so much in Las Totoritas, Luciano´s bar, that I had to literally drag myself away. Then it was a mad dash back to the hotel to gather up the rest of our things and get a taxi organised to get us back to Trujillo.
At Cruz del sur we were early, so were able to check in our luggage calmly and I was lucky not to be charged excess baggage fees there. About 10.15 Juan and Coquina arrived and we spent a last half hour with them. They are such a lovely gracious couple and I shall definitely be keeping in touch with them when this holiday is over. It was so sweet of them to come and see us off.
Then we were boarding the bus and relaxing into our super luxurious leather padded seats which recline into beds. The man looking after us came around with toothbrushes and mini toothpaste and wash cloth for each passenger, and then the bus was moving and we were on our way to Lima. Soon after we were all served supper with drinks and then relaxing back into our seats for the 9 hour journey. I got my iPod out and rigged up two sets of headphones and soon we were relaxed in our reclined seats driving away into the night and enjoying beautiful andean music. We in fact listened to the music pretty well all night long instead of sleeping as Layla was loving what I played as much as I was.
The bus pulled into the Lima depot about 8 the following morning where Erika was waiting to meet us. Soon we were in a taxi and on our way to the airport, deciding to have breakfast there and then we would be in the right place for onward travel. After an hour or so, Erika had to go and relieved me of two big textile bags full of things to help reduce my excess baggage and I will reclaim them when I am back in Lima on 12 Sept. Then we said our goodbyes and went off to check in. I was still 8 kilos over the 20K allowance but it only cost me 17 dollars excess, plus the 6 dollar airport tax on all domestic flights. The flight took off more or less on time and about an hour later landed in Arequipa. Layla was awestruck at the view when we got off the plane because the runway is right alongside Volcano Misti which is still active and snow capped - very pretty. As we walked from plane into airport we could see Elva and her son Hugo waving at us from a viewpoint, and soon we were out in the airport and being hugged by them both and then into a taxi and on our way to our hotel, La Casa de Tintin in Vallecito, an old colonial part of Arequipa, not too far from the centre. It proved to be a delightful little hotel, with lovely gardens with flowers, balconies etc, with wooden beams inside. We swiftly checked in, put our things in our rooms and were on our way again in the same taxi, and decided to go to one of Hugo´s favourite restaurants, specialising in trout, right next to a trout farm. We had a really delicious lunch there, accompanied by passionfruit fresh squeezed juice. I am really going to miss the juices served in Peru, in flavours many of which are unknown to us back home - passionfruit flavour is one of my favourites, along with blackberry that was so popular in Ecuador. Then they took us back to the hotel about 5 pm, and would meet again next morning as Elva had decided to accompany Layla and me on our Colca tour, which was starting with being picked up at 8 the following morning.
Inside we were just in time for a pisco distillery presentation - a company specialising in pisco made from pears were mixing up cocktails using different fruit juices, frothy egg white like in pisco sour, and all the guests were partaking of these delicious drinks along with plates of snacks dotted around the lounge area. The drinks were delicious and I would have liked a bottle of the pear pisco which is the base of the cocktails, had it not been for the fact that I am so overladen with things already, even discounting the two large bags awaiting me in Lima!
By 9 pm we were in bed and asleep, both feeling pretty tired after hardly sleeping the night before, knowing we had to be up, have breakfast and be on our way sometime soon after 8 the following morning. Breakfast was delicious, juice, coffee, two eggs with slices of ham and cheese, delicious bread rolls. We were travelling to the Colca Canyon with just an overnight rucksack and were able to lock the rest of our stuff away until our return.
The bus came for us just after 8, and were among 28 people setting off on the tour. Hugo was our driver and Peter our guide, and soon we were leaving Arequipa behind and on our way with a 4 hour drive ahead of us. Arequipa is about 7000 feet above sea level and the road became mountain roads ever climbing upwards, passing pretty litle villages, cultivated terraces, livestock and the ever present mountain scenery. The sun was shining, with a brilliant blue sky that got ever bluer the higher we went. We stopped about three times on the way at scenic points where we could take photos, have pictures taken with children and baby alpacas, look at artesania on display. At one stop were very primitive toilets, little stone huts on a hillside. All the way from Arequipa we had all been chewing coca leaves with some kind of gum made from volcanic ash, as well as eating coca candies, all to help us cope with the altitude as we were heading for an altitude of 4910 metres above sea level which is around 16000 feet. At another stop were ancient inca tombs high above us in inaccessible peaks. Before all this we stopped several times on the altiplano to see herds of vicunas, beautiful shy animals. There were around 5000 of them running free in the Colca Valley national park.
We arrived at Chivay on the valley floor of the Colca Canyon, a height of about 14000 feet and all had lunch in a nice restaurant - a buffet of typical colca food which was really delicious. My favourite was a delicious alpaca stew and I had a second helping of that. Then the bus dropped everyone at their various hotels and we had a couple of hours to explore before being picked up again to go to the hot springs. Having been told at Casa de Tintin that our hotel was a basic one we were imagining a place with no electricity or water (let alone hot water!), no blankets on the beds etc, imagining the worst so we would not be disappointed. The reality was nice comfortable rooms with 5 heavy blankets on the beds, ensuite bathrooms, and breakfast included next morning. Layla and I were in the shared room booked months ago in February and Elva in a single room on the floor below, but she was so unhappy being on her own that we swopped and Layla had the single room and Elva was sharing with me. We set off to explore Chivay and loved it. They were still celebrating the annual fiesta with dancers, the main square full of decorations, bands going by, whole troupes of harp players and dancers, lots of children with their cute baby alpacas posing for pictures at one sol a go, little artesania shops from which we bought souvenirs. Then at 5 we got back to our hotel - La Estancia Anita - and were then in the bus going to the hot springs. Elva and I accompanied Layla but were not planning to swim as neither of us had brought our swimsuits. The others would be an hour and a half in the hot springs and we were prepared to wait and have a coffee outside but half an hour later we decided to walk back instead. We found Hugo the bus driver and told him, and set off on the pretty walk back, surrounded by hills, the almost dry river bed below us. I was really enjoying the walk but after a while it started to get dark and poor Elva was really nervous. She was walking quicker and quicker and I could hardly keep up, and the walk was much much further than it had seemed in the bus. We were within sight of the town, but stll a long way away when a very kind gentleman stopped and offered us a lift. Elva was so glad to get back but at no time had I felt worried because vehicles were passing in both directions, bus loads going to the hot springs, taxis etc coming back, and I sensed that the whole place was safe enough.
We got ready and soon it was 7 pm and our driver was collecting everyone again as we were having dinner at another restaurant with the folkloric show. This proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening - an excellent three course meal - and a band playing right from the start, with a folkloric dancing show as well. We enjoyed a delicious hot drink made from pisco, andean herbs and pieces of orange with the meal. After the folkloric show the band played on and Layla and I were soon up dancing and really enjoying ourselves. A friendly Peruvian girl from Ica on the next table actually video´d me dancing and we exchanged email addresses and she promised to send it to me.
The evening ended about 10 pm and we were taken back to our hotels. We could hardly believe the drop in temperatures from the hot sunshine of the daytime to below freezing temperatures at night. Even with the five heavy blankets it wasnt enough - I had to get up and put on a warm alpaca jacket on top of my pyjamas before I could get to sleep.
Next morning when everyone assembled for breakfast they were all really cold. Hardly anyone had slept because of the intense cold and poor Layla was still feeling really cold even after a long hot shower. At least there was plenty of hot water. Then after breakfast we all piled into the bus again as it was a two hour drive to El Cruz del Condor, a look out point over the canyon where condors fly freely and come close to the onlookers. We stopped a few times on the way - we were on very narrow mountain roads continually climbing, which gave way to unpaved narrow mountain tracks and one did not dare look over the edge into the deep ravine below. At Cruz del Condor we had nearly 2 hours to enjoy ourselves and headed off to find a good spot from which to view the condors. Lots of other people were already there and other tour buses still arriving. I managed to find a good spot sitting on a wall high above the canyon, but felt really dizzy if I looked down and when some people jostled behind me I had to get down and stand in front of the wall instead - otherwise it could have been a long more than a thousand feet drop into the canyon to the river below. About 9 am the condors started appearing and we were treated to a brilliant display as various condors flew and glided over the canyon. It was really brilliant to see these majestic birds, the national emblem of Peru, with their enormous wing spans flying in their natural habitat - it was the first time in 5 visits to Peru that I had seen them flying in the wild - only having ever seen them in captivity before. We all took some brilliant pictures. We all then went on a 45 minute walk to see the flora and fauna of the area - beautiful flowers and varied types of cactus, andean parakeets with their bright green and blue plumage, the colibri which is one of the biggest hummingbirds, a couple of vizcachas which is something like a rabbit, and a few more condors flying. It was an exhausting walk but very invigorating and by the time we got back to the bus I was fit to drop. By this time the morning´s intense cold had given way to intense bright sunlight and deep azure skies and it was really hot. We drove back to the village with a couple of stops on the way in small villages. In one of them there was an eagle on a perch and a slightly smaller one, both of which were really tame - incredible to think of eagles being that tame. They would perch on the arm of one person after another for a picture to be taken, even climbing onto a hat perched on a person´s head for another photo. It was clear to see there was alot of affection between bird and minder. Layla who is particularly interested in birds of all kinds was enchanted. At another stop there were skirts for sale typical of the colca valley, beautiful fancy full skirts heavily embroidered. Unfortunately they were very expensive at around 800 dollars for a full outfit but the lady kindly helped Layla dress up in it so that photos could be taken. Then we were back in Chivay and had another excellent buffet lunch in a different restaurant which had a harp player who played some brilliant music and Layla bought his CD. Then around 1.30 we all piled back into the bus for the long drive back to Arequipa and most of us snoozed until the first of three stops on the way back. We got back to Arequipa about 5 pm and were dropped at our hotels and I stayed with Elva until her son arrived in a taxi to pick her up. I will see her again on 2nd September when I fly from Cusco bck to Arequipa, as we will both then spend the night with her son who lives and studies there, and get the bus to Ilo the following day as I am spending the last 8 days of my holiday with them.
A little later in the evening Layla was feeling hungry so we decided to get a taxi into the centre and have something to eat. Someone in the hotel had recommended a Turkish restaurant to her and we decided to go there. Unfortunately the only dish on the menu I fancied was not on that evening and everything else was either beef or veggie, so I ended up two sundays running having an icecream sundae instead! Afterwards we decided to walk down to Plaza de Armas for a look round and didnt get far when we heard andean music and followed the sound to the second floor terrace of a hotel on the corner. There we enjoyed the music of the band and had a drink and at our request they played a few of our favourite songs and we danced and at the end we each bought their CD. We learned they would be playing there again next day at lunch time and said we would come back and have lunch there.
This morning, our only whole day in Arequipa, after sorting out our cases ready for the early start tomorrow, we set off into the centre and spent a pleasant couple of hours looking round, and then went to the hotel and learned they were playing on the upper roof terrace four storeys up. We both arrived gasping at the top and the band were playing, the sun was shining brilliantly and the views over the plaza and the rooftops beyond as far as the distant mountains was phenomenal. We ordered a pisco sour each and chose lunch, opting for a la carte as menu del dia was mostly beef. I chose a fillet of alpaca in a coconut sauce which was really delicious. We lingered there a couple of hours. Later when the band finished playing they came and joined us and one of them, Miguel, wrote out the words of Layla´s favourite song El Sariri, as he could only remember the first two verses the evening before. When they left we went with them ... to their friend Amaru´s shop which was in a big covered market type area full of artesania shops. We spent a pleasant couple of hours there, chatting and Amaru was playing some brilliant CDs and the one I loved most was by Los Huaskys, another band in which Miguel and Amaru play along with two other musicians. Then a third member of the band arrived, Manuel, and he had his guitar with him and played us a beautiful song called Urpilay and sang really beutifully in quechua, the inca language, which sounds fantastic even though one cannot understand the words - it is really mesmerising. Later we went to a nearby cafe with them for a few beers and they continued playing for us and we had such a brilliant time. It was even better than the private band playing for us in Otavalo as this one was completely free and the music offered to us in a spirit of brilliant comraderie with lots of good humour. I got Manuel to play Urpilay about 4 times I loved it so much, and when we left them around 8 pm they presented me with the Los Huaskys CD with Manuel telling me Urpilay was on it. I was so thrilled to have that CD as having listened to it earlier in the shop, it had many beautifully played songs on it. Then it was time to say goodbye as we have a very early start tomorrow morning. Layla is packing her things as I finish this episode of our story which I started this morning, and then we have to get to sleep as my alarm will go off at 2.45 am, and we have to be ready by 4 as Hugo arranged for the taxi to collect us then and take us to the airport. Our flight leaves at 6,30 am and we will arrive in Cusco at 8.40 and will be met by Juan, a musician friend there who I have known about 4 years. He actually plays in the band who greet all travellers arriving at Cusco airport. Our first day there will be busy getting our rail tickets to Machu Picchu, the sanctuary tickets, the bus up the mountain tickets, all at different places all over Cusco, so my next screed will probably be in two or three days.
