Angela's Andean Adventures.
Summer Holidays 2004 - Part 28.
Hello From Amsterdam.
I am starting this message now as I am stuck with a 2 hour delay in
Amsterdam but will finish writing it in a day or two from Bath. At 6 euros
for half an hour of internet access it seems rather expensive after the 20p
per hour in Peru!!!!
On my last evening in Cusco I took Neomy out and we went to the
restaurant Don Antonio which at 50 soles per head was the most expensive
restaurant visited in the whole trip! She enjoyed herself so much it was
worth it - the food was sensational with three separate buffet tables -
entrees, main courses and sweets, and the main attraction of the evening was
the folkloric show. This began at 8 pm with a series of different dances in
different costumes accompanied by musicians on quite unusual instruments and
was very impressive. Then at 9 pm for me the highlight of the show, Arco
Iris dressed in beautiful silky ponchos, with many of the songs classical
ones from their Joy album, distinctly different than their Kami Kase show
and excellent. Afterwards the Puneno member, Jesus, came to my table and
handed me a cassette of Arco Iris over 20 years ago - words cannot describe
how thrilled I was as this old music of theirs is unobtainable now. He wrote
a dedication and signed it as well. After Arco Iris another band performed,
this time more Latin music than Andean but enjoyable all the same. At one
point the musicians invited people to dance and Neomy and I were the only
ones to get up and dance energetically to La Bamba! About 9 pm after they
had finished playing at Kusikuy, Juan popped in saying they were playing
again at another restaurant but that he would come and see me off at the
airport next morning - Lucio too popped in to say goodbye before they all
disappeared.
Afterwards we walked to Fernando's bar so that I could say goodbye to
Fernando and his wife, sharing a litre of coca cola and listening to Arco
Iris's Milagro de amor CD which they always immediately put on whenever I go
there. A few days earlier Fernando showed me his latest project - he
purchased a huge barn of a building, several hundred years old, and is
currently renovating it and will be opening a pena there in the near future
and eventually one by one he will refurbish all the bedrooms on the first
floor which are on a veranda that is on 4 sides of the building. The pena is
in the courtyard below with bar and rooms for restaurants and salons, the
courtyard roofed over. With the help of the musicians this should be a
thriving venue by the time I visit Cusco again in two years time.
Then Neomy and I went to Kami Kase, arriving in time to get a table in
front of the stage - it was her very first visit to Kami Kase and she went
out of curiosity, knowing how popular it has always been for her son Aquiles,
and she agreed afterwards that she could fully understand the attraction for
me with all that lovely live music.
Qosqomanta were the band that night - including my friends Edgar and
Santiago - and we both thoroughly enjoyed the show and afterwards they let
me buy their CD at a 30% discount. Santiago and Edgar chatted to us both for
a while and all the band signed the CD cover before we left. Then we were in
a taxi and soon home and straight to bed bearing in mind the early start
next morning.
I was up at 5 am on Thursday and we made it to the airport at 7.45 and
were just sitting in the coffee shop after having checked in my case when in
walked Santiago which was a delightful surprise. He was booked onto a later
flight to Lima and thence to Piura and had decided to come to the airport
early in order to see me off and Neomy enjoyed chatting to him too. Then 15
minutes later Juan arrived and I was really pleased having three such dear
friends with me to see me off. At this point I remembered that I still did
not know the stops of the dance for Candelaria and asked Juan if he could
show me. We all laughed heartily at his alarmed expression 'what here?!
Then it was time to go through to departures and I hugged them all
goodbye ... only to find on arrival in departures that my flight had been
delayed an hour... time I could have spent with them! The reason was given
as mechanical problems which was rather an alarming thought. I wasn't
looking forward to the long journey as I was so heavily laden - wearing 6
skirts, 5 petticoats, four tops and two jackets - all the items that would
not fit in my suitcase - plus my huge holdall was so heavy I could hardly
lift it, plus a giant carrier bag of other items and a huge handbag filled
with all my heaviest items. I could hardly move with that little lot and
just walking for 10 minutes I was red faced and sweating with exhaustion. We
were all served coffee and biscuits because of the delay and eventually we
were all on board and on our way from Cusco to Lima.
Hello from Bath.
Correct title should be Hello from Bath! The flight from Cusco to Lima
was one of the worst yet with the most violent air turbulence - so much so
that the air hostesses went scurrying with their trolleys whilst serving
breakfast and some of us ended up without any drinks.
Arrival at Lima was uneventful and I immediately found Erika in the
crowd. I really am so very lucky that whenever travelling through Lima she
is always so willing to come and meet me at the airport - which is a long
way from her home - and then look after me until my next onward flight. I
arrived in Lima at 11.30 and we had the rest of the day to spend together.
Rather than lug my suitcase and heavy flight bag with us I paid for left
luggage on the case and a locker for the flight bag. Soon we were in a taxi
and it was lovely to see Renee again (Erika's mother and Elva's sister) when
we got back to the house. Our next stop was to a juice bar for the most
incredible mixed juice (strawberry, papaya, pineapple and a couple of other
fruits added in) and then to a local seafood restaurant where I enjoyed the
best seafood soup I have ever tasted in my life. Wherever you go in Peru the
food is distinctly different and unfailingly delicious.
Then back to the house to collect the rest of my luggage again and
another taxi ride to a sensational ice-cream parlour where we both tucked
into mountainous ice-cream sundaes (chirimoya, lucuma, pistaccio etc)
followed by another taxi back to the airport and collection of my luggage.
I was mightily relieved that we had arrived 3 hours before my flight
departure time because I only had 2 hours to report to the right departure
gate and the crowds in the airport were horrendous. I just could not believe
the length of the KLM check in queue and it took over an hour to get my
luggage checked in, all of it mightily stressful and anxiously clock
watching, knowing that I had a further queue to pay my airport tax and then
a further long queue to get through passport control before I could get to
that departure lounge. The plus point was being able to check my luggage
without being charged excess fees, but I had left some hand luggage with
Erika and knew that I had to get back into the waiting area of the airport
and change into the huge carrier bag full of clothes that would not fit into
either case or flight-bag. This took a while and on top of all the clothes
the belt containing camera, CD walkman, purse, document neck wallet and iPod.
By the time I got to the departure lounge (with only 5 minutes to spare
before the time limit) I was absolutely exhausted and definitely not looking
forward to the long flight home, but at the same time longing to sink into
my seat knowing I could relax for 14 hours.
Then finally boarding the plane, hardly able to carry everything up the
stairway into the plane, only to find when I got to my seat that I was in my
most dreaded part of the plane - in the middle of the row of 4 seats in the
middle area of the plane. I was so shattered by this time that kicking off
my boots, three sweaters, the jackets and just sinking into my seat was a
relief.
The flight was quite pleasant even though I was trapped into my seat by a
child sleeping on one side and the lady on the other side was asleep within
moments of departure. One thing I will say for those long haul flights is
that they look after you continuously from the moment you arrive on board
until you disembark all those hours later. Drinks and aperitifs immediately,
a hot meal, coffee etc and then the first stop at Bonaire in the Caribbean,
followed by another hot meal and drinks shortly after that second take off.
After that I managed to sleep until morning with only 3 hours left of the 14
and a delicious hot breakfast.
We arrived in Amsterdam at 5.20 pm with a supposed 2 hours until the next
leg - which disappointingly proved to be five and a half hours due to some
kind of delay - a delay I could have done without after the long haul from
Lima. I finally arrived at Bristol airport at 11.30 instead of the scheduled
8.30 and reached home finally at midnight.
So that is finally the end of the 8 week adventure and I am already
looking ahead to the next short 2-week jaunt to Peru in February. The whole
8 weeks were fantastic and definitely the best adventure of my whole life.
So until Feb 2005 and Fiesta de la Candelaria in Puno, bye for now and best
wishes from Angela |
