It has been a few days since I wrote last because it has been so busy. Whilst still in Trujillo, saturday night, we ended up going out when we got back at the end of the day. Our lovely landlady Vanessa told us the name of a place where we could go and see some marinera dancing, phoned them and reserved a table for us, asking them to give us a table with a good view and look after us. We were expecting the show to be at 8 o clock but as it turned out it was much much later! Arriving at Pena Cananaas by taxi we were met at the door and greeted warmly and the waiter was ushering us to a nice little table on the edge of the dancefloor and the owner came over and said that anything we needed to just call either him or our waiter, and for us not to leave without seeing either of them first so they could see us safely into a secure taxi. I thought this extra care of foreign visitors was really special and nice.
Soon we were ordering a jug of sangria and enjoying the ambience of the place. The dance floor was a marble floor in shades of pink and grey and we could feel a breeze and realised when we looked up that the trees were real ones and four stories above us was the open sky! Pena Carannas was actually in a courtyard with decorative wooden balconies on each storey all the way round. A band appeared and were seated on the first balcony - it was a salsa band and although not really my favourite music it sounded good live and we got up and danced a few times anyway. Later the salsa band gave way to a black music band - musica negra is another form of music very popular in this part of Peru. We mainly watched this as it was too fast to dance to for long. The cabaret didnt start until 1 AM, and was really lovely. The first couple were no more than 10 years old and danced so beautifully, both the girl and boy real performers and everyone enthusiastically applauded them. Later there were teenage dancers dancing to the negra music and finally, the star of the show, the adult marinera dancers. The clothes they wore were absolutely stunning. It was about 2 am when we got up to leave, and we were put into a safe taxi and got home about 20 minutes later. We were sorry that we had already eaten earlier in the evening, as the pena was also a restaurant; we could see the chefs cooking in the open kitchen and the food looked good.
On Sunday we were collected by Juan and his wife about 1 pm. These are the parents of Jorge, my friend in England, and soon we were in a taxi and on our way to their home. Once there, his wife came to greet us and she was so happy to meet Jorges friend from England. They have a beautiful home which they have been building over the past 25 years, and a huge garden with a fountain, archways, trees and an outdoor seated area with barbeque. We had a lovely lunch with them and stayed most of the afternoon. When I told them about wanting to visit the family of another friend in El Porvenir but that I could not remember the number of the house, Juan managed to download a map of the area from the internet and said he would accompany us to find the house as they were worried in case we got lost or came amiss. When we got to the street, Francisco de Zela, it proved to be a very long street with part of it pedestrianised and with a security guard at each end. After searching the streets either side and me not recognising the house, the taxi driver and Juan asking loads of people, finally when we were just about to give up, someone knew the family and said it was in the pedestrianised bit. Having already enlisted the help of the security guards asking people for us, they moved the barrier and let the taxi drive in and soon we were pulling up outside and knocking on the door.
We were given such a lovely warm welcome. Dora, Johnnys grandmother, was away when I visited 5 years ago in 2003 and was really upset to have missed my visit. She had been learning some English in preparation for my next visit and the lovely loving welcome she gave me was unforgettable. Her son Marco was there, who I had last seen in London, who was so overcome with amazement to see me there in Peru, at their home, that he was rendered almost speechless - and then really surprised all over again at how good my Spanish was - he didnt even know I could speak Spanish as conversation in Flors home in London is always in English. We all went inside and were chatting for ages. I had particularly wanted to see Yerson, the nephew, who was only 8 when I was there in 2003, and accompanied me around the market looking for CDs, holding my hand so I would not get lost. I have written to him from time to time over the years, Ciro and Jorge being 2 of Doras sons and her daugher Flors son Johnnny in England) always tell me that Yerson asks after me whenever they call home on the phone.
Dora wanted us to have coffee with her before we went and set to making some really special coffee. She and Yerson went to a nearby shop and when they came back set up the table and we all sat around it, and were served chicken tamales with red onion and shredded cabbage accompaniment and fancy bread rolls, and the coffee was to die for, the most delicious coffee either Layla or I had ever tasted.
Finally it was getting dark and we were anxious to get back, and although they would have liked us to stay longer they accompanied us to get a taxi, and with hugs and kisses said our goodbyes ... until the following day as we had invited them to come to Huanchaco and have lunch with us.
Back in Trujillo we went into the centre of town looking for a restaurant for dinner; we must have gone to the wrong part as everywhere seemed closed, with only a chicken brasserie restaurant and an icecream parlour open. Having had chicken for lunch we decided to have icecream instead and ended up having 4 scoops each! We had 2 scoops of lucuma icecream (my favourite) and it was so good we ended up having another 2 scoops each.It turned out that on Sundays most of the restaurants are closed. Then back to our guesthouse and we packed up our things ready for leaving the next day. We had decided to spend our last 3 nights at Rubalong Guesthouse on Huanchaco beach, but still had Monday morning to do a few last things in Trujillo, as check out time wasnt until 1 pm. Our first port of call was Cruz del Sur bus depot as I had to change our internet vouchers for the actual tickets for our journey on Thursday night. This was accomplished easily and I was pleased to learn that excess baggage charges beyond 20K would only cost 1 sol per kilo, which on 41 kilos is only about 8 dollars. I had planned to buy a new simm card for my cell phone, in order to use a phone service here, so we went to a Moviestar shop in the nearby Mall, where a lovely young man dealt with us speaking perfect English. Unfortunately it turned out that a new simm card would not work in my phone without getting it unlocked first. He told us places where this could be done, but as the cost was 40 to 50 dollars even before the cost of a simm card, I decided not to bother just to be able to make a few calls whilst in Peru - as using public phone booths is really cheap. It simply wasnt worth such a big outlay just to make no more than half a dozen national calls here. We collected our laundry and it was good to see my skirts looking normal again - they were so dirty after the long bus journey.
About noon we were in a taxi and on our way to Huanchaco and were pleased to be able to have the room on the first floor with balcony as we had only reserved it for Tuesday and Wednesday night. Once unpacked we had a delicious lunch in one of the many sea food restaurants - my favourite dish here is Parihuela which is a sea food stew and really delicious (apart from the octopus and squid). The Trujillo pilsen beer is almost as nice as Cusquena too. We had a fair bit of hand washing to do and rigged up some washing lines on our balcony. In no time at all we had a line of washing strewn across it and wondered if we would get told off as we would never get a way with that in England at a seafront hotel!!! A bit later I looked down and the owner{s son was crossing the road in front of the hotel, looked up and laughed his head off when he saw all our washing. Luckily he did not mind. We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the beach. He tried to convince us to go for a ride in his totora boat - which is a boat made from reeds which he goes fishing in. It would probably be fun if the boat stayed real close to the shore but I might be too nervous to try it if he went out further. Huanchaco is a surfers paradise beach and there are very strong currents too.I cannot swim so never like to be in water out of my depth. It is fun to sit on the balcony and watch the young lads surfing though.
It is wintertime here now and Huanchaco is pretty quiet at the moment. It is a thriving and popular holiday resort for other Peruvians from Lima and inland towns in summer time and very hot then too. Before it got dark we bought a half bottle of rum and a litre of fruit juice, intending to make it last the 3 nights we are here. The people in the hotel provided us with a stack of ice and it was lovely sitting on our balcony enjoying the drinks, the sound of the surf, the totora boats in silhouette on the beach edge. After a while two musicians were passing with their guitars, looked up and saw us and stopped to chat. Next minute they were playing music for us - how nice it felt to be our age and have two young men serenading us. Layla got up and danced to the music and I joined in and it was so hilarious. Passing taxi drivers came to a skidding halt and were looking up at us and waving and people along the street had crossed to road to get a better view. It was such fun and made our first evening in Huanchaco really nice. Also by the time the musicians went on their way we realised we had finished the whole half bottle of rum!!! Before they went, they said they would be playing in a nearby restaurant called Qeros at 8 the following evening and we said we would be there.
Tuesday morning after a nice breakfast in a cafe nearby, we spent most of the morning on the beach until Dora, Yerson etcs planned arrival at 1 pm. By 3 pm we were still waiting for them to arrive so went into a nearby restaurant and had a drink whilst waiting. It was a really hot day. They finally arrived just after 3, late because although Yerson only had to go to school in the morning, he was unable to get away as early as he had hoped. Also, they were carrying huge bags full of food intended for a picnic lunch, whereas when we had invited them it was our intention to treat them to lunch in a restaurant! We soon sorted it out though, saying we could have the food they had brought later on. We then had a delicious lunch together, ceviche and other sea food dishes, accompanied by a few beers. Afterwards we took the food back to the hotel, Layla and I changed into swimwear and we all went on the beach. By this time the sun wasnt too evident and when we went into the sea the water was quite cold and a fairly cool breeze had started. Poor Yerson was probably disappointed that we didnt get more than our feet wet. We all went for a walk along the beach until it started to get dark and then headed back.
Back in the hotel we carried an extra table up to the second floor where there was a big terrace and room for us all to spread out. The hotel provided us with a boom box and we were very disappointed that the CD player didnt work. Layla had made an impromptu bellydance costume out of some pretty scarves she had bought in Otavalo and we soon realised that the music on the radio wasnt suitable for dancing. Yerson carried up a load of chairs, and the hotel gave us crockery and cutlery and soon we were all enjoying the picnic food they had brought with them. Yerson had cooked it for us, a popular local dish called Papa a la Huancaina, which is potato slices and hard boiled egg set upon lettuce leaves and covered in a delicious spicy sauce made from yellow chillis and a whole host of other ingredients including crushed crackers. By this time Doras oldest son Hernan had arrived, complete with two huge bottles of a delicious and sweet red wine produced in Peru called Borgonya and one of Glorias friends, a jewellry seller, had also joined us. Gloria phoned a musician friend, Ricardo and he arrived with his guitar, so there were 8 of us really having a good time. Ricardo played lots of music, including flamenca, and Layla gave us a brilliant bellydance performance which they all enjoyed immensely. Dora was especially delighted.It was lovely to see her enjoying herself so much. They all stayed until 10 pm and then we said our goodbyes and they all piled into a collectivo and on their way back to Trujillo. Dora had wanted us to come to the house again for a meal but we had to decline as we are only here until Thursday. Somehow we have to fit in a visit to Chan Chan, plus tonight we are going to Juans house again, and tomorrow we leave for Lima. Before we left Yerson gave us a present each of a totora boat ornament, which I thought was really sweet of him. Yerson and Gloria promising to come back at 11 am today to see us again.
Also, before they arrived yesterday, I was trying to buy our three internal flights online. Having seen the better prices by clicking Peru as the country of origin, I was shocked to realise that by doing the transaction in English the price of 3 internal flights added up to over 1000 dollars each, way more than we could afford. The price was alot less by clicking Peru as the country of origin but by the time we came to the point of paying for the tickets we couldnt do so as Visa wasnt in the list of payment options, only Peruvian banks. We ended up getting in a taxi and heading into Trujillo, having looked in the Yellow pages and I had found an agent for LAN airlines in the central square, Plaza de Armas.
There we were able to book all three flights for a total of about 400 dollars each, so although it was a hassle having to go back to Trujillo it was worth it as we got the tickets at less than half the price. Also, when I told my friends in Ilo about my luggage weighing 41 kilos they swiftly set to and thought of a way to overcome the problem of me paying excess baggage wherever I go. Erika, their niece, is going to be waiting for us at Cruz del sur bus depot in Lima when we arrive there at 8 o clock Friday morning, to see if we can put some of my things into storage there. If this proves impossible, she is going to take a couple of my bags to her home and keep them there until I get back there again on 12th September prior to my flight home on the 13th. This will make life so much easier as every time we move onward it is really difficult managing all my luggage. Our flight from Lima to Arequipa isnt until 13.45 so we will be able to spend a bit of time with Erika before that, and when we arrive in Arequipa at 15.10, my dear friend Elva from Ilo will be there to meet me and spend the rest of the day with us. It is annual fiesta day in Arequipa on Friday and should be really enjoyable. I think my friend Javi from Puno is going to join us there that day too.
When planning our itinerary before leaving England, the plan was to travel on to Cusco on Monday the 18th, but I discovered online there are no direct flights on Mondays. All of them go via Lima at more than double the cost and involve changing planes, a real hassle. But on Tuesday morning there is one early flight which doesnt involve changing planes. It still goes via Lima but one stays on the same plane. Worth getting up early to save over 100 dollars, but Layla groaned when I said we had to be at the airport at 4.30 am for our 6.30 am flight!!! I also have to make contact with our hotel in Cusco to say we will be arriving a day later, have written a letter but on our third day here we still havent been able to get to the post office when it is open. It looks derelict and the opening times are supposed to be 2pm to 6.30 pm, but it never is open. If I cannot post the letter today I guess I will have to phone them instead. We are not worried if we still have to pay for Monday night in the room as we are still 100 dollars each in pocket by going a day later.
After saying our goodbyes to Dora and her family yesterday, Layla and I went upstairs to get ready for bed. Next minute Layla said Hey, there is an andean band across the road - so we opened the door to the balcony, the three musicians crossed the road in their ponchos and Peruvian hats and were carrying panpipes, charango, flutes, guitar etc. It was the same two from the night before, asking what happened to us at 8 o clock and we explained. Then they said they were playing at the Wave bar 2 doors along from the hotel, so we said we would be there in 5 minutes. The owner of our hotel said not to worry, he would stay up until we got back to let us back in, and off we went with the musicians.
In the wave bar we were ushered to a seat overlooking the sea, in this open sided, thatched reed roofed bar, and the musicians set up their instruments all around the table we were sitting at, and as they played it was almost like having another private music performance, and we were so thrilled and enjoying the music so much. They played pretty well every song we requested. The Wave Bar is like a hippy bar, very informal, with Mexican and Peruvian food on offer and a small bar. We ordered chicken tacos and pisco sours to drink and ended up staying there until around midnight. Although Layla was exhausted from all the dancing earlier, she did manage to get up once or twice and dance to their music. A couple of other guys in the Wave bar played bongo drums and bombo drum to some of the songs which made the sound even better too. After the music performance one of the musicians got up and danced with Layla and it was really interesting to watch as he was dancing fast salsa and she was belly dancing. Everyone enjoyed watching this very interesting combination. Finally just after midnight Layla and I headed back to our hotel as we were conscious that the owner was waiting up for us before locking up for the night.
Well I guess that is all news for the moment and I will probably write again from Arequipa on Monday. Layla is writing a group message to her friends while I write this so later in the day or tomorrow I will add hers to the end of this episode of our adventure.
Fiesta En La Noche - Laylas impressions of last night
Buenas Dias Amigos!
As I rub the sleep from my eyes, struggle to focus, enduring the loud throbbing beat of the radio station the proprieter here at Hostal Rubalong feels compelled to play in the lobby at 8:30 am, I remember what a fun night we had last night. The Rodriguez family from Trujillo came to visit us yesterday afternoon, for what we had planned to be a day at the beach, but turned into a late night party on the upstairs lanai complete with papa a la huancaina (a potato dish), a musician, Vino Borgonoya, all supplied by various members of the family and their friends.
They all wanted me to dance, so I spent most of the night dancing for them. We had a very good time, and by about 10 pm it wound down, me exhausted, and feeling good, but with a bit of a head throb from the wine. The musician Ricardo was a very good singer, and played many of the old familiar latin stuff starting of course with Beso me Mucho. He got into some flamenco arabic for my dance, and Andean folk songs for Angela. We all loved it, and enjoyed a visit with this delightful family so dear to Angela.
Finally, after the last goodbyes, as Angela and I were retiring for the evening, we looked out over our balcony by the sea. And suddenly, materializing out of the night is a group of 3 or 4 young Peruvians all dressed in costume with colorful ponchos and hats, smiling and waving to us, with charrango, guitars, pan flutes, bombo! they are calling us to come down for a private concert! Two of them were the same guys who came by the night before and sang songs to us, and we had dropped them a 10 soles note. So what did we do? We scurried to redress oursleves and headed down to join them.
They took us to a hidden Mexican restaurant right next door, upstairs above a surf shop, where we all gathered around a low table in a tiny crowed room and they played wonderfully many of our favorite songs. We ate Mexican food and drank pisco sours, a great drink which tastes like a whiskey sour. I had a chicken taco unlike any other that was some of the best I´ve ever had. It was second wind for sure, and though my head was reeling I felt great. They had me up dancing in no time, I was loving some of my favorite songs, including Sariri, a song from Puno Peru in Aymara language about the Inca message runners, who used to pass messages all over the Inca kingdom by relay, running all over the Andes. Can you imagine??
After they finished playing for us, the salsa music came on, and Marco, the one who I took a liking to, was up dancing with me and he was a great dancer. Then he offered to give me shoulder a massage, which he did right there, and I him, with no "hanky panky" except for another guy trying to massage me with his guitar! Then we all left, and the guys walked with us the few yards to our door, and with hugs and kisses on the cheek, we parted. They were complete gentlemen the whole time. I was quite taken aback. Of course they had offered their cds, and I bought one, but what the heck. Just having a good time on a beach in Peru, far far away from anywhere I know!!!!
Just a few random interesting comments that I have missed:
Food:
Mostly very good, lots of great seafood dishes, such as fish stew and various ceviches in Ecuador and in Peru it is cebiches. In non tourist places the emphasis on chicken and pollo and pollo and chicken, only baked, got quite old, however. Breakfast: jugo (juice), coffee and tea with eggs fried or scrambled, plus butter, jam and toast. In both Ecuador and Peru the selection of fruit juices is extensive, filled with wonderful things we never hear of in USA, and they come blended and thick, often with every meal, and especially in the morning. In Ecuador I strayed from my usual morning coffee and began loving my "Te negro con limon y azucar" black tea with lemon and sugar. But when I asked for that in Peru, I got only blank stares. Come to realize that there is little black tea in Peru, mostly herbal. In Peru coffee is served in two ways: either a huge glass of Leche caliente, hot steamed or boiled milk, with a tiny carafe of of very strong expresso liquid, the coffee. sometimes it is a powder, never as good when it is powder. The expresso however is often really good. you pour that in the milk. Leche con cafe! other times it is a cup of hot water that you pour the expresso in. and add milk later. It is important for us to be sure the milk is boiled well says Angela.
Safety standards? Nada!
Our hostal is narrow and tall, about 5 stories, with scary open outdoor metal stairs to the last 2 floors. We are on the second floor facing the ocean with about a 2 to 3 foot wide balcony. The wooden railing consists of two rails with gaps between that even Angela could slip thru! It also slants outwards and with the two chairs we have, one has to step very carefully around them to manuoever up there.
Hostal Rubalong:
On our first day here we hung our washing out on the balcony, and the handsome young proprietor, with his spiked hair and silver jewelry in his eyebrow and lip, came out on the street and smiled up at us. We worried he would not appreciate our laundry out and offered to take it down. Wrong - he was most gracious and said it was no problem. Can you imagine that at the Marriott? A room facing the ocean, "frente de mar" for approx. $25? With a view of surfers and fishermen, and we can hang our laundry out? (of course at the Marriott, there would be washers and dryers or a laundry service, and the water would not quit in the middle of your shower, leaving you standing naked, body and hair all soaped up, so you have to run down the stairs, towel around you, yelling "Donde es la agua?!!!" )
Haunchaco Beach:
Weather: mostly overcast, some patches of sunlight, no rain, hazy, temp. pleasant, we are surrounded by desert, breezy but balmy, even in the evenings.
Old fishermen hang out on the wall between the street and the water, mending nets, tending buckets of crabs and strings of fish - smell of fish never far away - street vendors selling horrible looking sweets and cakes, hats, jewelry, sunglasses, trinkets. Tiendas de artesenia and many restaurants.
There is a long pier, costs half a sol to enter (about .15) and to walk it could be quite dangerous, long worn wooden planks that tremble as one passes, gaps here and there to look out for! Angela walked on the reinforced planks in the middle, sure there would be an almighty creeeeeeeak followed by a loud splash!!!
Dora and Peruvian Time
Just have to tell a little about Dora, the matriarch of the Rodriguez family who visited yesterday. She is a tiny round woman who has bourne and raised 10 children. 3 of the 10 were with us last night, the oldest who looks to be in his 50´s perhaps. 3 live in England, the ones who Angela is well acquainted with. The daughter in England is the mother of Johnny, one of Angela´s favoroite Andean music friends. 4 of Dora´s children we do not know. Though she walks slowly with a tremble, she is healthy and strong. Her face is full of charactor, and she is proud of her few English words, two of which are "sit down" spoken clearly with an authority that makes me wonder if she also knows 3 more English words "- and shut up!"
Yesterday afternoon we had her walking barefoot on the beach, climbing over rocks and steps, and finally up 2 long flights of stairs to the 3rd floor terrace where we had our party. She loved my dancing and would hardly let me stop!
Peruvian time:
If your Peruvian friends agree to come visit at 1 or 2 pm, do not expect any sign of them till 3 or 4. And they will bring food, and all the other available friends and relatives nearby of which there are bound to be many. It will be a fiesta, no doubt. Do not plan anything for later evening or maybe even the next day or two, because the party will not end till the food and drink you have provided and the food and drink they have brought is long gone.
If you stop by unexpectedly to say a quick hello and invite them out for the next day, the women will make great preparations for a meal or at the very least a coffee and snack, and 2 or 3 hours will pass while you are still trying to explain that you only have a minute and would like a visit mañana.
For those of you who are dying to read more, you can go to my traveling companion Angela´s website, www.angelasandes.blogspot.com
Here she has written in exquisite detail nearly everything we have done. I am not that prolific a typist.
