After an arduous two day journey I finally reached my destination yesterday and still find it hard to believe that I am actually here. Left home around midnight on Wednesday, got to the airport 2 am but couldnt check in until 4.30 which was when I hit the first snag of the journey. My luggage was way over the limit and one of the cases was four kilos over the maximum weight limit for any one item, and I had to go over to a scale and keep taking things out of the case until it was below the 32 kg limit. This was quite a pile of stuff so I ended up putting on another four skirts one on top of the other, on top of the three I was already wearing, plus a further three tops, and just left a pile of toiletries on the floor. Next shock was to find that despite this I was 13 kilos over the weight limit and that I could take this but it would be expensive, and how expensive really was a shock. Because two flights were involved it meant paying double and at 20 quid a kilo cost me 259 quid in excess baggage fees. First flight left at 6.30, arriving Madrid a couple of hours later - then a three hour wait for my flight to Lima. By this time I was really hanging having had no sleep the night before so it was a relief to settle into my aisle seat knowing I could finally nod off.
After they had served a meal and drinks I got the iPod out, and fell asleep for a couple of hours to some great music. The flight was an uneventful one, quite boring in places because of it being so long, but fortunately no problems, not even a breath of turbulence. Everytime I walked down the aisle in the plane I must have looked like a ship in full sail with all those skirts which looked like a crinoline where there were so many of them!!! When we finally came to land at Lima, coasting down through a blanket of fog it was great to arrive safely on the ground, 5.40 pm their time, 12.40 am Friday ours.
There in Lima airport they are taking swine flu seriously as every single person working there was wearing a mask, and people were handing out leaflets and all arrivals had to fill out a questionnaire on their health in addition to the usual disembarkation cards. Exiting you press a button and if the red light comes on you get searched by customs, if green you walk straight out and I was glad that it was green in my case. Then a taxi to Ernesto´s father´s house in Miraflores which took about an hour to get there. It was fun to meet Ernesto at last after 9 years of correspondence and after enjoying some cold drinks and a good long chat he showed me to my room with adjoining bathroom, knowing I had to get a tiny bit of sleep before the airport taxi came back to take me back to the airport once more.
I was up at 1 am, and Ernesto was having a nap downstairs in the lounge in order to be there for me and help me with my cases. He was disappointed that my visit was so short and I felt guilty about that too but I promised to come back later on for another visit and stay a bit longer. Then back at the airport before 3 am, only to meet the third disappointment, that the three flights leaving for Cusco between 5 and 5.30 were all full. So another long wait and of course having to pay another lot of excess baggage but fortunately not nearly as expensive in Peru as it is in London. It cost me 71 dollars for that plus a couple of hundred for the flight leaving at 7.15. Whilst waiting in the departure lounge I struck up a conversation with a nice lady going to Puerto Maldonado which is a beautiful place in Manu national park in the rainforest and we are going to keep in touch and later on I might even go and pay a visit there because it is only a 40 minute flight from Cusco and it certainly helps to know someone when going somewhere new.
Arriving at Cusco airport was fantastic - even the journey flying over the Andes mountains, with clear blue skies and perfect weather so you could see everything below. Coming in to land at Cusco was especially nostalgic, remembering my utter anguish flying out of there 10 months ago. Then in arrivals the usual andean band playing and Juan a member of the band and he came over and gave me a hug and told me lots of others were waiting outside for me, including Alfredo, Aquiles dad with whom I am staying.
After hugs all round we all piled into a people carrier taxi and drove to Alfredo´s house in Cusco where he showed me into a lovely room he had prepared for me. Because I was anxious to press on to Urubamba, I just opened my cases and took out what I needed for a few days and left the rest behind to sort out a few days later. Then another taxi to get a ´carro´ which is a people carrier shared taxi and incredibly cheap at only 5 soles per person for a one and half hour journey, as well as being more comfortable than going by bus. By the time we arrived in Urubamba it was time for the musicians to go to the restaurant where they work but I said I would be back with Nohemy and Alfredo to have lunch there that very lunchtime and thanked them all profusely for coming to the airport to welcome me.
Arriving at the house in Urubamba it was great to meet Nohemy again and they showed me into the lovely room they had prepared for me, in a new building since I was last there, a huge two storey extension. In Peru, especially in country places, all houses are constructed around an indoor patio and courtyard which is open to the skies, with a verandah running around on the upper level. The new building had replaced a smaller one which used to exist there. My room is huge and has its own loo and wash basin, to save me having to go down the outer flight of stairs to get to the bathroom on the ground level where the shower and bath is. They gave me keys so that I could come and go and as you can imagine I felt immediately at home with these lovely people.
Within the hour we were piling into motos (a bit like rickshaws but with a guy riding a moped pulling us along). Two hefty people like Nohemy and me getting in, was quite funny as one felt that unless you climbed in or got out at the same time the whole thing would tip up!!! At the restaurant a guy dressed as an Inca welcomed all newcomers and soon we were installed at a table right in front of where the band plays. I treated Nohemy and Alfredo to an excellent buffet lunch which they really enjoyed but couldn´t eat a thing myself, feeling a bit delicate and shaken up after such a long journey. I was happy to just sip a couple of coca teas to help me with acclimitisation to the altitude followed by a few coca colas - which always tastes better here because it comes in glass bottles.
A few hours later Nohemy and Alfredo decided to go back and I said I would join them early in the evening as I wanted to listen to more of the music as well as have a chat with my friends afterwards. When they´d finished we piled into a couple of motos and went to Carlos and Lidia´s house and that was lovely as the first thing they did was put on some great andean music and we all sat around chatting and listening to the music until about 8 pm when I was struggling to keep my eyes open a moment longer and said I had to go but that I would come back to the restaurant and watch them play next day. Back at the house I stayed up chatting with Nohemy for an hour, Alfredo having gone back to Cusco as he had an early morning hospital check up the next day.
I slept like a log that night and it was only the next morning that I finally realised that yes, I was actually here in Peru and not just dreaming. All day since arriving I kept pinching myself to make sure it wasnt a dream and that I would wake up any minute. But this morning I woke at 5 am to the sound of cocks crowing all over the neighbourhood and you cannot get anything more Peruvian than that. You cannot imagine how thrilled I am to be here once again, knowing that this time it is for a longer than usual stay. The weather is absolutely glorious, blue skies and warm sunshine, although it does get pretty cool at night and is probably cooler still in Cusco. I have decided for the moment to stay in Urubamba because that is where Nohemy and Alfredo mainly live and it is so nice to be with them once again.
Today was spent pretty quietly - in the morning I went for a walk with Nohemy as I wanted to get shampoo etc that I had forgotten to bring from Cusco and we walked through the Plaza de Armas which is a great place to relax in the sunshine as it is full of tall palm trees and other colourful trees and masses of flowers everywhere. We also walked through part of the market but this mainly takes place on Wednesday and Fridays so I will see it more thoroughly during the coming week. Then back for some breakfast, including that fantastic ground coffee that comes from Quillabamba in the rain forest. I went to the restaurant for a while but didn´t stay long as it was busy and I was worried in case they needed the table I was sitting at. I said I would come back and see them again in a day or two. We had an excellent lunch today, a fantastic mildly spiced shrimp soup called Chupe de Camarones followed by Aji de Gallina which is hen breast in strips coated in a lightly spiced creamy cheesy ground peanut sauce, accompanied by lashings of chicha morada which is a delicious refreshing drink made from purple maize. Whilst eating the phone rang and it was Aquiles and we all had a chat with him and he was pleased to know I had arrived safely and was enjoying myself. It is because of him that I came to Peru the first time, 8 years ago. After lunch I sat in the inner courtyard with Noheny and Alfredo for nearly the whole afternoon, chatting and enjoying the warm sunshine, until it finally went beyond the rooftops. I then headed out and came here to this internet cafe to write my first blog entry so that friends and family back home know I arrived okay and am safe and well. I will probably write more in about a week when I have something to write about. Until then, if any of you feel like dropping me a line please do as it is always great to hear from people when away from home.
