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.
