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.
