Well I have undertaken the first part of the long journey home and am now in Lima airport with nearly 7 hours to wait until my flight departs for Madrid tonight. We were awake early and had a light breakfast and arrived at Cusco airport before 9 am.There it was easy to check in with no crowds, and a delightful surprise to learn that I could check in for the whole trip from Cusco to Lima, from Lima to Madrid and Madrid to London and get boarding passes for all three flights. The second even more welcome news was that my luggage would be taken care of all the way to London, without me having to worry about it in Lima.
One of the cases wouldn´t close properly so I decided to get it wrapped in cellophane, where I discovered that for just 25 soles, around a fiver, it was also covered by an insurance policy all the way to London, and one could claim if the case went astray en route. Alfredo got it wrapped whilst I checked in, and when I realised about the insurance policy I paid another 25 soles and got the second case wrapped as well. Both came back well wrapped and with a big SEGURIDAD notice on it, so hopefully this means extra care will be taken getting the cases from one flight to the next all the way home. Well worth ten quid I reckon to journey halfway across the world. The two cases weighed 47.90 kilos, with the larger one weighing 27.90 so it was a relief it didn`t go over the 28 otherwise I would have had to jettison things. As it was they let me off paying excess charges on the 1.90 over the limit. Just as well that I reluctantly decided not to take the litre bottle of Pisco and litre of Goma de Jarabe. Yet again I am going home to England without a bottle of Pisco. If anyone knows where I can get it in London please let me know!!!!
We then entered a lounge but when Nohemy saw the price of a cup of coffee was in dollars instead of soles she said it was way too expensive and before I could look around she was on her way out the door! I guess she was right when 3 cups of coffee would have cost me 18 dollars. Instead we walked out of the airport and across the road and in a nice little cafe ordered three large bowls of Caldo de Gallina (a soup containing a chicken portion, whole egg, spaghetti etc, which you flavour to taste with squeezes of limon and spicy aji paste). These were a much better bargain at 5 soles each, less than two dollars per bowl, when compared with the dollar price of the coffees. They then accompanied me as far as departures and we hugged each other and said how much we would miss each other. Fortunately we can keep in touch by email and letter and with any luck I will see them again in England within the coming 6 months.
Whilst seated on the plane before it took off I took a few photos - as I had been allocated a window seat. I also took a few when the plane took off with views of the mountains. It doesn`t take long once you hit the air to leave Cusco behind and fly over uninhabited mountains. As we climbed higher we hit some quite violent turbulence as we entered the thick white clouds but luckily this did not last long.
Coming in to land in Lima just over an hour later was interesting as the plane angles out over the sea, flying quite low, so that you can see the movement of the waves below, then angles back over the dockyards and a couple of cultivated fields before coming in to land at Lima airport moments later. Here it is an extremely hot day and I could hardly wait to get some of my clothes off to cool down. As well as 4 skirts with pleated and flouncy petticoats (which feels like a crinoline there is so much material involved!), I am wearing a long sleeved top, two thick cardigans and a leather coat. This plus my heavy walking boots and socks is unbelievably uncomfortable in this heat.
Having paid the airport fee on arrival (91 soles) and phoned Alfredo and Nohemy to let them know I had got here safely, I soon found this internet cafe and will probably spend the next two or three hours catching up on all my email as once home I will have scarcely any internet access until I get around to buying a decent computer. Then a nice dinner in one of the restaurants sometime this afternoon and some time reading the two books I brought with me for the journey, until I can board the airplane for Madrid which departs at 8 pm tonight (2 am Friday British time).
My last few days in Urubamba were poignant knowing my visit here was coming to an end so soon. I was lucky in that there was no rain either in the day or night in my last days here, whether in Cusco or Urubamba, and made the most of my sunbathing opportunities knowing I was going home to really cold weather with the possibility of yet more snow. (It appears I missed a really hard winter this year).
We got up exceptionally early on Wednesday to get to Cusco early, dropping off my other suitcase at the house there and then arriving at Immigration by 8 am where I was able to get the formalities taken care of regarding slightly overstaying my permitted leave to remain - something which could have caused me considerable problems in Lima had I left it until then.
We then visited Lan offices where I realised it was a good thing I had booked my flight back in December because with the recent terrible drop in tourism with Machu Picchu closed, return flights to Lima are now available for under 50 dollars and all planes are fully booked until the end of the month. I paid 138 dollars for my single flight back in December when tourism was still booming. I was unable to book the airport lounge with them but was glad to know that because I was taking an international flight on the same date as the national one, my baggage allowance was automatically doubled. Only one case is allowed on national flights. So anyone contemplating a stayover in Lima on the way home from Cusco should be aware that the baggage allowance is half and there would be excess charges to pay on a second case.
There was another bit of a farewell yesterday when Metoya treated the three of us to a really excellent lunch as compensation for his band Trio Imperial de Cusco being unable to play for me - one of the musicians is still away on holiday and Metoya himself still cannot play his guitar due to his severely stitched finger from when he had the recent accident falling off his roof. We then all enjoyed some chilled beer on Nohemys patio and were just about to leave for Cusco when Rusbel, the hairdresser tenant arrived and treated us to cakes from the nearby cake shop. He is sorry I am leaving and said lots of people are going to miss me. He is keen to come to England and it is highly probable that when Nohemy and Alfredo come to Europe on a visit later this year that Rusbel will accompany them.
I decided not to leave the airport whilst in Lima because it isn´t a safe place like Cusco and also there is always heavy traffic and thus the risk that one might not get back in time and thus miss the flight home. I was invited for lunch with Ernesto and his family in Miraflores but reluctantly declined the kind invitation because of Miraflores being an hour away by taxi, and my fear of being delayed on the way back.
Once aboard the long flight (12 hours) I am hoping to get some sleep. I already feel tired now so I am sure I will. There is about 3 hours stopover in Madrid and then another couple of hours flight to London where I will arrive at 6 pm on Friday (which will be midnight of Friday/Saturday here). Fortunately my son Justin is collecting me from Heathrow airport because the final leg of the journey is another couple of hours by car.
So this is the end of my 2009/2010 Peru adventure and I will now be looking ahead to the next one which will hopefully take place in summer of 2011. All my photos up until 16th February are available to be seen on the old link to my photo album, reachable via the list of blog entries on the righthand side of my blog page. I hope my blog entries made interesting reading, and contained useful elements for anyone else contemplating a trip to Peru.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
My last photos of this Peru trip
I hope this link works to view my photo album which is now complete. If not you can still see the pictures from the old link - scroll down the list on the RH side of my blog - which states 506 photos but in actual fact there are now 1178 covering the period October to February. A final blog entry about the trip will be written from Lima airport on Thursday.
http://www3.truprint.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1991123011/a=2650070011_2650070011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=truprint/
http://www3.truprint.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1991123011/a=2650070011_2650070011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=truprint/
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Only a few days left of my visit in Urubamba
Well I have less than a week here before flying home and thought it was about time I wrote another blog entry – the next one will be the last entry covering this 2009/2010 Peru visit, and will probably be written at Lima airport on the day I fly home. I have almost 8 hours to wait at Lima before my evening flight departs and unfortunately will be unable to spend time with my friend Ernesto as he teaches that day. He invited me to take a taxi to his house to have lunch with his Dad and his girlfriend, but I am a bit wary of leaving the airport. I am hoping to book the airport lounge by visiting the main office of Lan airlines whilst in Cusco this Tuesday – I have to go to Cusco that morning to pay the fine for staying slightly over the time granted me on arrival – far better to get that formality out of the way in advance and avoid any complications or anxiety in Lima.
Since my last entry I have been to Tunupa restaurant twice, a delightful hacienda style restaurant situated on Rumichaca, a few miles outside the main centre part of Urubamba. Tunupa is situated at the top of a sloping garden which goes down to the River Vilcanota below - it is the most beautiful setting, the garden full of flowers etc with Daniel and Wilber playing their music in the open air and the artists pictures and lots of artesania on sale alongside.They have two parrots there now, untethered, so I took a few pictures but neither of them are talkers. I then proceeded into the restaurant and was pleased to see my favourite table was vacant as all the others were taken up by tour groups on the verandah terrace. Both Wilber and Daniel waved at me even though they were playing. I tucked in really well at the buffet - got the chef in charge of the ceviche to give me a big portion and had that as my starter (mixed fish and shellfish marinated in lemon juice instead of being cooked and is one of my favourite dishes here). Then I filled a plate from the hot buffet - mostly alpaca stew and a few samples of the other dishes. I struggled to finish the amount on my plate so then had a breather, and chose fresh fruit salad and coffee for afters plus you are given a free pisco sour on arrival. I really enjoyed listening to the music - there is no better setting than Tunupa with the view to the river below (and I could see where it had overflowed as there was no grass and when I saw it closer later the river had deposited a thick layer of sand over the previous grass).
Once the main lot of tourists went the musicians put a CD on and came over to chat and then we walked down to the river and took several photos - some of the ones I took of them will be included in the cover of their next CD due out next year, but I suggested that if they were to get a new cover done for the existing CD even more people would buy it as a souvenir of their Tunupa visit. Later they packed up and we walked up to the main road and waited for a passing bus which took us back to Urubamba and I then went with them to Dinnos and Daniels wife and children joined us as well as another couple of musicians and their wives and we shared a few litre bottles of coca colas first and then 3 cusquena beers and I left them at 6 pm.
One of the good things about living in the Sacred Valley is that my appetite is much smaller here, probably due to the warm climate. Also here I dont mind walking and only catch a moto if I am pushed for time or if the distance is too great - eg to Tunupa which is a 4 sole fare whereas normally anywhere within Urubamba is only 1 sol.
I´ve been to Cusco again the past two Saturdays and finally managed to find the bitters to add to pisco sour - 8 soles here whereas it would probably cost 8 quid back home. I also bought 4 jars of aji amarillo and 2 jars of pureed black mint, neither of which can be found at home - maybe the aji amarillo in London but I have never seen the black mint which is called Huacatay here. Because of having to carry these bottles and jars in my suitcase it is going to weigh them down a bit, plus I have a package for Aquiles and another for Mabel from Nohemy, so it will mean leaving a lot of my clothes here. I certainly dont want to pay any excess charges on the way back and will just dump stuff at the airport if either case is overweight. I just hope they dont sting me on the flight from Cusco to Lima as normally on internal flights only one case is allowed. I hope allowance will be made for the fact I am taking an international flight the same evening. I also bought 25 sachets of assorted fruit drinks each of which makes up into 2 litres and are delicious if chilled in the fridge. The one item still to find is the Hamilton Light cigarettes as I have promised to take 300 back for Aquiles for his birthday and want to take some back for my sons as well. They only sell cigarettes in supermarkets in packets of 5.
My second visit to Tunupa was also enjoyable although poignant as it was the last time – with only two clear days next week left there won´t be time to go there again. Looking at the view from the verandah and enjoying the warm sunshine felt especially exquisite knowing I wouldn´t see this again for well over a year. At Tunupa there were less than a dozen other people dining. The whole of Cusco is suffering from lack of tourists - with Machu Picchu closed for another couple of months tourists are not coming to Cusco so all the restaurants and hotels are suffering - both there and here in the Sacred Valley. There are hotels and restaurants actually closing and the musicians are suffering too. No one bought their CD today. I bought one at a previously agreed price of 10 soles and with this they were able to eat afterwards. After leaving Tunupa I popped home for an hour and then met them again in one of the cafes and we shared a litre of inka cola followed by a couple of beers which I paid for as they were so skint - the whole lot only cost me about 1.70.
Last night was enjoyable because Daniel had arranged a bit of a get together at his house so that I would have some kind of farewell party. His wife Nohemy came and collected me mid afternoon, bring a large bunch of flowers as she had visited her Mum´s chacra that day and she decided to pick some for me. Back at their house in the countryside on the outskirts of Urubamba we cooked the soup for supper – one of my specialities so that Nohemy could learn how to make it too. We were then watching a dvd of Kalamarka live in concert when Daniel and several other musicians arrived home and we spent an enjoyable few hours sharing beers both before and after the food, listening to andean music for a while and then later some of them got their instruments out and played for me which was great. And Nohemy strapped a pretty bracelet of blue stones on my wrist saying she wanted to give me a present as I was leaving so soon. I stayed until 11 pm and then Daniel accompanied me home, retaining the same moto to get back in as they are pretty scarce at that time of night. Many of the musicians are going on a tour of the Northern beaches and are leaving in a day or two so it was nice to have the opportunity to say goodbye before they go. With tourism so low they are really struggling to make ends meet and hope to fare better by playing as a band in places where people are holidaying, it being the height of summer here right now.
Since my last entry I have been to Tunupa restaurant twice, a delightful hacienda style restaurant situated on Rumichaca, a few miles outside the main centre part of Urubamba. Tunupa is situated at the top of a sloping garden which goes down to the River Vilcanota below - it is the most beautiful setting, the garden full of flowers etc with Daniel and Wilber playing their music in the open air and the artists pictures and lots of artesania on sale alongside.They have two parrots there now, untethered, so I took a few pictures but neither of them are talkers. I then proceeded into the restaurant and was pleased to see my favourite table was vacant as all the others were taken up by tour groups on the verandah terrace. Both Wilber and Daniel waved at me even though they were playing. I tucked in really well at the buffet - got the chef in charge of the ceviche to give me a big portion and had that as my starter (mixed fish and shellfish marinated in lemon juice instead of being cooked and is one of my favourite dishes here). Then I filled a plate from the hot buffet - mostly alpaca stew and a few samples of the other dishes. I struggled to finish the amount on my plate so then had a breather, and chose fresh fruit salad and coffee for afters plus you are given a free pisco sour on arrival. I really enjoyed listening to the music - there is no better setting than Tunupa with the view to the river below (and I could see where it had overflowed as there was no grass and when I saw it closer later the river had deposited a thick layer of sand over the previous grass).
Once the main lot of tourists went the musicians put a CD on and came over to chat and then we walked down to the river and took several photos - some of the ones I took of them will be included in the cover of their next CD due out next year, but I suggested that if they were to get a new cover done for the existing CD even more people would buy it as a souvenir of their Tunupa visit. Later they packed up and we walked up to the main road and waited for a passing bus which took us back to Urubamba and I then went with them to Dinnos and Daniels wife and children joined us as well as another couple of musicians and their wives and we shared a few litre bottles of coca colas first and then 3 cusquena beers and I left them at 6 pm.
One of the good things about living in the Sacred Valley is that my appetite is much smaller here, probably due to the warm climate. Also here I dont mind walking and only catch a moto if I am pushed for time or if the distance is too great - eg to Tunupa which is a 4 sole fare whereas normally anywhere within Urubamba is only 1 sol.
I´ve been to Cusco again the past two Saturdays and finally managed to find the bitters to add to pisco sour - 8 soles here whereas it would probably cost 8 quid back home. I also bought 4 jars of aji amarillo and 2 jars of pureed black mint, neither of which can be found at home - maybe the aji amarillo in London but I have never seen the black mint which is called Huacatay here. Because of having to carry these bottles and jars in my suitcase it is going to weigh them down a bit, plus I have a package for Aquiles and another for Mabel from Nohemy, so it will mean leaving a lot of my clothes here. I certainly dont want to pay any excess charges on the way back and will just dump stuff at the airport if either case is overweight. I just hope they dont sting me on the flight from Cusco to Lima as normally on internal flights only one case is allowed. I hope allowance will be made for the fact I am taking an international flight the same evening. I also bought 25 sachets of assorted fruit drinks each of which makes up into 2 litres and are delicious if chilled in the fridge. The one item still to find is the Hamilton Light cigarettes as I have promised to take 300 back for Aquiles for his birthday and want to take some back for my sons as well. They only sell cigarettes in supermarkets in packets of 5.
My second visit to Tunupa was also enjoyable although poignant as it was the last time – with only two clear days next week left there won´t be time to go there again. Looking at the view from the verandah and enjoying the warm sunshine felt especially exquisite knowing I wouldn´t see this again for well over a year. At Tunupa there were less than a dozen other people dining. The whole of Cusco is suffering from lack of tourists - with Machu Picchu closed for another couple of months tourists are not coming to Cusco so all the restaurants and hotels are suffering - both there and here in the Sacred Valley. There are hotels and restaurants actually closing and the musicians are suffering too. No one bought their CD today. I bought one at a previously agreed price of 10 soles and with this they were able to eat afterwards. After leaving Tunupa I popped home for an hour and then met them again in one of the cafes and we shared a litre of inka cola followed by a couple of beers which I paid for as they were so skint - the whole lot only cost me about 1.70.
Last night was enjoyable because Daniel had arranged a bit of a get together at his house so that I would have some kind of farewell party. His wife Nohemy came and collected me mid afternoon, bring a large bunch of flowers as she had visited her Mum´s chacra that day and she decided to pick some for me. Back at their house in the countryside on the outskirts of Urubamba we cooked the soup for supper – one of my specialities so that Nohemy could learn how to make it too. We were then watching a dvd of Kalamarka live in concert when Daniel and several other musicians arrived home and we spent an enjoyable few hours sharing beers both before and after the food, listening to andean music for a while and then later some of them got their instruments out and played for me which was great. And Nohemy strapped a pretty bracelet of blue stones on my wrist saying she wanted to give me a present as I was leaving so soon. I stayed until 11 pm and then Daniel accompanied me home, retaining the same moto to get back in as they are pretty scarce at that time of night. Many of the musicians are going on a tour of the Northern beaches and are leaving in a day or two so it was nice to have the opportunity to say goodbye before they go. With tourism so low they are really struggling to make ends meet and hope to fare better by playing as a band in places where people are holidaying, it being the height of summer here right now.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Things are Returning to Normal in the Sacred Valley
Radio Urubamba was full of news of the disaster last Monday and by then many of the houses built from adobe bricks were collapsing into the flood water and it was sad to see so many families trying to rescue their belongings, themselves sitting amongst their furniture in the backs of lorries or pushing handcarts - none of these people believe in insurance so it was a real disaster for them. We heard about the mudslides in the suburbs of Cusco - many people build adobe homes perched on steep hills and many of these were destroyed. Alfredo paid two visits to the house in Cusco last week and the road was still passable to get to Cusco okay from here apart from many new large potholes appearing in the road - which I saw for myself when I went there for the day on Saturday.
Urubamba has the best climate in the Sacred Valley and despite heavy rainfalls at night during this flood disaster it was warm and sunny as usual in the daytime. We knew we ourselves would not be affected as we are far enough away from the river for it not to reach us had the situation got any worse. Although they were talking on the radio about what a disaster it would be if the reservoir up on Mount Chicon overflowed, which is where all our water comes from.
We went and took another look the following afternoon and things were worse even though the water level remained the same - many more houses had collapsed - some of them totally with just the roof tiles perched on top of a pile of mud which is all that remained of the adobe brick walls - other houses were listing dangerously and looked about to collapse, and one restaurant on the opposite side of the road from the river, where we have sometimes gone for lunch, was just about collapsed - see the photos I took which are being uploaded now as I write.
Fortunately after seeing all this on Tuesday the heavy rains stopped. After torrential rain all night long for 3 or 4 nights which brought on this disaster the rain stopped and we then had 4 days and nights of warm sunny weather and no rain at all and because of this the river levels receded leaving even more disaster in its wake. Nearly all the fields of maize were destroyed which is the main source of income of many families, maize almost on the point of being ready for harvest. So not only did their homes collapse they lost their livelihood as well. Local councils have helped - housing people in schools, town halls etc until other living arrangements could be made, and when I travelled to Pisac yesterday there were many people camped out on the side of the road in tents supplied by the military, and making a start on rebuilding their homes. A disaster like this hasn´t happened for 40 years and no doubt they will build on the same spot and hope it doesn´t happen again.
As I said we went to Cusco on Saturday and between Alfredo´s last visit on Wednesday and Saturday water ingressed into the house there and lifted all the parquet flooring in the dining room – Nohemy was devastated when she saw it and hopes that when it has all dried out properly that it will be possible to scrape off the old adhesive and stick them back down again. Whilst in Cusco we passed some opticians and I checked out the cost of glasses and when I realised how reasonably priced they were compared to back home I ordered a pair as they only had to look at my existing ones in the laboratory to know my prescription. I chose a lovely designer frame which only cost about 30 quid and had I gone for ordinary lenses the total cost was only about 50. I instead opted for variafocals and the total cost is about 125 quid and they will be ready for me to collect when I go back to Cusco tomorrow. I paid 360 for the pair I am wearing now so you can see what an incredible saving it was. With the two pairs I already have and these I can probably last out until I come back here again next year, maybe just having an eye test next year in case my prescription has changed.
On Sunday we decided to go back to the same restaurant for the roast duck lunch and were pleased to find it still standing and lunch on as usual - they had just reopened that day and had rented a nearby kitchen as their own had been destroyed. Some of their cooking is done on an outdoor mud stove but they had to borrow a nearby oven in order to provide the sunday roasts. We were shocked at the amount of homes that had been completely destroyed - in one still flooded area only the frame and the metal doors were still standing, the rest having collapsed into the river. I took a few more photos then as well, all of which can be seen from the link on my blog which will already be in place when I have written this entry – I am then nipping back home to change, and going to Tunupa restaurant for lunch as I have been meaning to go back there for 3 weeks but for one reason or another didn´t make it because of other things on each day.
I decided to go to Pisac yesterday to check out the damage, knowing that the river levels had receded. I had 8 books to exchange - I keep exchanging them so that I will leave 25 unread ones here ready for my visit next year. It was heartbreaking to see the extent of the disaster all the way to Pisac, and was especially worse in Qoya and the outskirts of Pisac itself. The bus didn´t go all the way into town either and there was a scramble for motos and colectivos so I decided to walk knowing it was no more than a mile and not being in any particular hurry. I took a few photos of the bridge and the damaged police station in front of it but couldn´t get close as the way was blocked with piles of sandbags to prevent people passing and a mountain of huge boulders which are obviously going to form part of the reconstruction of the bridge - knowing how slow things happen here I cannot imagine the bridge reopening for several months. One has to cross this bridge to get to Cusco which is about an hour from Pisac by bus. The only other way to get to Cusco is an hour´s bus ride to Urubamba and then either 2 hours on a bus to Cusco from there, or an hour by combi (shared people carrier taxi).
From the bridge I walked up to the Plaza de Armas and it was a different picture that met my eyes - only about a third of the market stalls were in place and the whole area, normally thrumming with activity and tourists, was practically deserted. I went to Ulrikes and exchanged my books and then had lunch, and visited Beltran in the jewellery shop, who said it was an unmitigated disaster for all the shops and market stalls as there were virtually no tourists. It started to drizzle with rain so I did not linger long and made my way back down to the bridge from where I was able to get a moto out to where the buses were waiting for passengers - along with colectivos and combis touting for passengers. I got on the bus but had to wait half an hour for it to start back as they wait until the bus is full before it makes its journey. I got back to Urubamba about 3 pm.
Nohemy and I then went to visit Metoya, an elderly musician who had had an accident 10 days previously, by falling off the ladder whilst doing something to his roof. He was still in quite a bad way, covered in cuts and bruises, some of which had required stitches. Nohemy had seen his son that morning and told him we would pay him a visit in the afternoon. His band are called Trio Imperial de Cusco, and they play guitars and sing. He gave me 3 DVDs of the band and said he was arranging for the other two members to come to Urubamba and give a concert just for us, mainly so that I had some kind of despedida (farewell party). We agreed on the date Saturday 13th February, and will all go and have some lunch, then come back and the band will play for us. I thought that was really kind of him to want to do that. Before leaving we said we would come back again this Thursday and bring my Spanish version of Scrabble so that we could play a couple of games and he liked the sound of that. Being virtually unable to walk and thus housebound any visitors are especially welcome.
Because of the flooded river, 2000 tourists were stranded at Machu Picchu which is probably why this disaster reached world news. Two even lost their lives, a guide from Cusco and an Argentinian tourist when a rockslide landed on them. All the Europeans were rescued and taken out by helicopter leaving the Chileans and Argentinians to be rescued by their own governments. Peruvians have no love for the Chileans since they were robbed of part of their land and many Peruvians massacred, in some war, I am not sure when
They tend to talk about Machu Picchu as being part of Cusco but in fact it is about 70 miles away. Ollantaytambo, the next village in the direction of Machu Picchu from Urubamba has a train station and one can get to Machu Picchu from there. Some people take the train all the way from Cusco and others go by bus or combi to Ollantaytambo and get the train from there. There is no road to get to Machu Picchu, and the train follows the river to get to Machu Picchu. The only other way in is by helicopter and that is prohibitively expensive. Even the train is very expensive for tourists, around 100 dollars or more return fare depending on which train – this compared to 2 quid for Peruvians on a local less luxurious train. It can be reached from Quillabamba by road, but that is a 7 or 8 hour bus ride from Cusco and few tourists go there as they would never stand the long bus trip. Okay if you are visiting Quillabamba anyway but not on if you have to get there from Cusco first.
I have only two weeks left here and although it will be nice to see all my family again I feel really sad about leaving - the warm climate being part of it, but also the tranquil worry free life and being able to live without having to work. When I go home I will have to look for work immediately as the cost of living is much higher there. I plan to return in early June 2011, in time for the Inti Raymi ceremony and the lead up festivities as I was only able to get here in June once previously on my first visit to South America in 2001, so will be nice to see it all again 10 years later. The journey home starting in Cusco with the layover in Lima, time in Madrid, time in Heathrow, will be around 33 hours long so you can imagine I am not exactly looking forward to it. We will stay in the house in Cusco on the night of the 17th so that we are handy for arrival at the airport on the morning of the 18th. My flight leaves Lima that evening at 8 pm. I am hoping I can arrange for someone in Lima to come to the airport and spend a few hours with me to take the boredom out of the long wait. Lima is far too dangerous to risk venturing out alone.
Urubamba has the best climate in the Sacred Valley and despite heavy rainfalls at night during this flood disaster it was warm and sunny as usual in the daytime. We knew we ourselves would not be affected as we are far enough away from the river for it not to reach us had the situation got any worse. Although they were talking on the radio about what a disaster it would be if the reservoir up on Mount Chicon overflowed, which is where all our water comes from.
We went and took another look the following afternoon and things were worse even though the water level remained the same - many more houses had collapsed - some of them totally with just the roof tiles perched on top of a pile of mud which is all that remained of the adobe brick walls - other houses were listing dangerously and looked about to collapse, and one restaurant on the opposite side of the road from the river, where we have sometimes gone for lunch, was just about collapsed - see the photos I took which are being uploaded now as I write.
Fortunately after seeing all this on Tuesday the heavy rains stopped. After torrential rain all night long for 3 or 4 nights which brought on this disaster the rain stopped and we then had 4 days and nights of warm sunny weather and no rain at all and because of this the river levels receded leaving even more disaster in its wake. Nearly all the fields of maize were destroyed which is the main source of income of many families, maize almost on the point of being ready for harvest. So not only did their homes collapse they lost their livelihood as well. Local councils have helped - housing people in schools, town halls etc until other living arrangements could be made, and when I travelled to Pisac yesterday there were many people camped out on the side of the road in tents supplied by the military, and making a start on rebuilding their homes. A disaster like this hasn´t happened for 40 years and no doubt they will build on the same spot and hope it doesn´t happen again.
As I said we went to Cusco on Saturday and between Alfredo´s last visit on Wednesday and Saturday water ingressed into the house there and lifted all the parquet flooring in the dining room – Nohemy was devastated when she saw it and hopes that when it has all dried out properly that it will be possible to scrape off the old adhesive and stick them back down again. Whilst in Cusco we passed some opticians and I checked out the cost of glasses and when I realised how reasonably priced they were compared to back home I ordered a pair as they only had to look at my existing ones in the laboratory to know my prescription. I chose a lovely designer frame which only cost about 30 quid and had I gone for ordinary lenses the total cost was only about 50. I instead opted for variafocals and the total cost is about 125 quid and they will be ready for me to collect when I go back to Cusco tomorrow. I paid 360 for the pair I am wearing now so you can see what an incredible saving it was. With the two pairs I already have and these I can probably last out until I come back here again next year, maybe just having an eye test next year in case my prescription has changed.
On Sunday we decided to go back to the same restaurant for the roast duck lunch and were pleased to find it still standing and lunch on as usual - they had just reopened that day and had rented a nearby kitchen as their own had been destroyed. Some of their cooking is done on an outdoor mud stove but they had to borrow a nearby oven in order to provide the sunday roasts. We were shocked at the amount of homes that had been completely destroyed - in one still flooded area only the frame and the metal doors were still standing, the rest having collapsed into the river. I took a few more photos then as well, all of which can be seen from the link on my blog which will already be in place when I have written this entry – I am then nipping back home to change, and going to Tunupa restaurant for lunch as I have been meaning to go back there for 3 weeks but for one reason or another didn´t make it because of other things on each day.
I decided to go to Pisac yesterday to check out the damage, knowing that the river levels had receded. I had 8 books to exchange - I keep exchanging them so that I will leave 25 unread ones here ready for my visit next year. It was heartbreaking to see the extent of the disaster all the way to Pisac, and was especially worse in Qoya and the outskirts of Pisac itself. The bus didn´t go all the way into town either and there was a scramble for motos and colectivos so I decided to walk knowing it was no more than a mile and not being in any particular hurry. I took a few photos of the bridge and the damaged police station in front of it but couldn´t get close as the way was blocked with piles of sandbags to prevent people passing and a mountain of huge boulders which are obviously going to form part of the reconstruction of the bridge - knowing how slow things happen here I cannot imagine the bridge reopening for several months. One has to cross this bridge to get to Cusco which is about an hour from Pisac by bus. The only other way to get to Cusco is an hour´s bus ride to Urubamba and then either 2 hours on a bus to Cusco from there, or an hour by combi (shared people carrier taxi).
From the bridge I walked up to the Plaza de Armas and it was a different picture that met my eyes - only about a third of the market stalls were in place and the whole area, normally thrumming with activity and tourists, was practically deserted. I went to Ulrikes and exchanged my books and then had lunch, and visited Beltran in the jewellery shop, who said it was an unmitigated disaster for all the shops and market stalls as there were virtually no tourists. It started to drizzle with rain so I did not linger long and made my way back down to the bridge from where I was able to get a moto out to where the buses were waiting for passengers - along with colectivos and combis touting for passengers. I got on the bus but had to wait half an hour for it to start back as they wait until the bus is full before it makes its journey. I got back to Urubamba about 3 pm.
Nohemy and I then went to visit Metoya, an elderly musician who had had an accident 10 days previously, by falling off the ladder whilst doing something to his roof. He was still in quite a bad way, covered in cuts and bruises, some of which had required stitches. Nohemy had seen his son that morning and told him we would pay him a visit in the afternoon. His band are called Trio Imperial de Cusco, and they play guitars and sing. He gave me 3 DVDs of the band and said he was arranging for the other two members to come to Urubamba and give a concert just for us, mainly so that I had some kind of despedida (farewell party). We agreed on the date Saturday 13th February, and will all go and have some lunch, then come back and the band will play for us. I thought that was really kind of him to want to do that. Before leaving we said we would come back again this Thursday and bring my Spanish version of Scrabble so that we could play a couple of games and he liked the sound of that. Being virtually unable to walk and thus housebound any visitors are especially welcome.
Because of the flooded river, 2000 tourists were stranded at Machu Picchu which is probably why this disaster reached world news. Two even lost their lives, a guide from Cusco and an Argentinian tourist when a rockslide landed on them. All the Europeans were rescued and taken out by helicopter leaving the Chileans and Argentinians to be rescued by their own governments. Peruvians have no love for the Chileans since they were robbed of part of their land and many Peruvians massacred, in some war, I am not sure when
They tend to talk about Machu Picchu as being part of Cusco but in fact it is about 70 miles away. Ollantaytambo, the next village in the direction of Machu Picchu from Urubamba has a train station and one can get to Machu Picchu from there. Some people take the train all the way from Cusco and others go by bus or combi to Ollantaytambo and get the train from there. There is no road to get to Machu Picchu, and the train follows the river to get to Machu Picchu. The only other way in is by helicopter and that is prohibitively expensive. Even the train is very expensive for tourists, around 100 dollars or more return fare depending on which train – this compared to 2 quid for Peruvians on a local less luxurious train. It can be reached from Quillabamba by road, but that is a 7 or 8 hour bus ride from Cusco and few tourists go there as they would never stand the long bus trip. Okay if you are visiting Quillabamba anyway but not on if you have to get there from Cusco first.
I have only two weeks left here and although it will be nice to see all my family again I feel really sad about leaving - the warm climate being part of it, but also the tranquil worry free life and being able to live without having to work. When I go home I will have to look for work immediately as the cost of living is much higher there. I plan to return in early June 2011, in time for the Inti Raymi ceremony and the lead up festivities as I was only able to get here in June once previously on my first visit to South America in 2001, so will be nice to see it all again 10 years later. The journey home starting in Cusco with the layover in Lima, time in Madrid, time in Heathrow, will be around 33 hours long so you can imagine I am not exactly looking forward to it. We will stay in the house in Cusco on the night of the 17th so that we are handy for arrival at the airport on the morning of the 18th. My flight leaves Lima that evening at 8 pm. I am hoping I can arrange for someone in Lima to come to the airport and spend a few hours with me to take the boredom out of the long wait. Lima is far too dangerous to risk venturing out alone.
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