On our way home

I’m sure that, like us, you’ve listened to the aircraft safety announcement and wondered how anyone really needs instructions on how to fasten and unfasten their safety belt?

It was time to leave this lovely place and using every spare minute to pop outside and take photographs whilst we waited for Marco to take us to the airport, I nearly came a cropper with the poser girls outside the church next door.  Spotting my camera, she grabbed the reins and I scuttled back inside, chased by lady and llama – it could have been a scene from a Benny Hill show!

Anyway, back to the story.  Whilst checking in at Cusco airport, we followed a super cool young man with backward facing baseball cap and ripped jeans though the security and on to the waiting area by the gate.  Clearly rather anxious, he came and sat next to us and asked in super fast Spanish, if he was in the right place (we think that’s what he asked, anyway!)  My hero looked at the paper he was showing us and seeing the same flight number, said “si” and indicated that we too were on the same flight.  Gestures of sticking together all round! 

As the time went by and announcements were made, he looked at his paper again and queried where he should go – Peruvian airport boarding gates have several queues depending on seat number, so we pointed out the line he’d need to join and went to stand in ours.  We waved and smiled when we boarded and finally called “ciao!” at the baggage carousel in Lima.  All ok.

From our seats fairly near the front of the plane, it was fascinating to watch as people boarded.  Alessandra, the flight attendant welcomed every single one of us as if we were family.  An unaccompanied child was given a hug and a kiss and gathered up to be taken to a seat, others were told where their seat number was to be found and advice was given about where to place their luggage.  Because clearly, for quite a few people – including, we think, our new friend - this was their very first flight.

Having noticed this, the announcements including the seatbelt instructions took on a new perspective. I thought about how strange everything would seem, how we fall into place and follow the usual routine when flying somewhere and just how much we take for granted.

So, I decided to do something different too and instead of my glass of water, I went for some chicha morada – an interesting alternative to some of the other sweet juices on offer.

An hour later, we were landing at Lima, having enjoyed our snack and a drink.  I’d got to an unputdownable bit in The Goldfinch so the flight had passed very quickly indeed.

As we stood by the baggage claim, a sack of corn cobs went by amongst the rucksacks and the other suitcases. 

Maybe a tale of the Town Guinea Pig and the Country Guinea Pig?

Friday afternoon

You knew I couldn’t resist waiting outside, didn’t you?

I suggested the men went inside whilst I sat on the steps with all the Mamitai, I promised not to speak to strange men and not to get caught up in any hooliganism.  My hero would learn all there is to know about the Cuzco school of painting and then, this afternoon, we’d return and he could share all his new found knowledge.  Agreed.

So, I found myself a seat on the steps alongside a few youngsters who were buying tubs of what looked like jelly and custard from the young woman with the tray (and a small child on her back)

No sooner had I sat down than they began to arrive – oh what a commotion!  A heated argument was going on in front of me between a woman who’d sat down on the bottom step and an elderly gentleman who seemed to think she shouldn’t sit there.

I looked across the road and thought of my promise!

I’m sure my cousins will be glad to know there was a Hull City supporter in the parade!

The atmosphere was really quite jolly, but I was aware that all of these people were gathering on the steps too and I feared being overwhelmed by them all.  Perhaps I’d better move to somewhere else.

I went and stood over in the line of policemen which actually gave me a better view of the goings on.  All the time, I was anxiously working out how I could spot the men as they left the cathedral, though.

Because, actually, the square was getting fuller and fuller.

Processions were coming from all directions now and I thought that I needed to move again, before I got trapped in the middle of the square.

I looked around for somewhere to stand and spotted a large stone step on the other side of the road.

So, taking one last photo of these colourful chaps, I made my way over there and stood on top of it.

It was quite a good vantage point!

A bit of “Where’s Wally” too, when they tried to find me.  But I’d spotted them immediately and having failed to catch their attention by jumping up and down on my stone perch, waving and shouting, I ran over and all fears of missing one another were gone!

 

We said goodbye to Francis, who was off to collect his two boys from their grandmothers in Urubamba, and sent our love to Adriana before walking back up the hill to our little haven of peace for a while.  Whilst it’s not as high as Chinchero the other day, Cusco is nevertheless a good deal higher than we’ve been these last few days and we were feeling the difference.

So, we left the refreshment sellers (and their assistants) and enjoyed a short siesta!

This afternoon, we’ve been out again, retracing some steps – yes, we went in the cathedral and I learned all about the Cuzco school of painting – guinea pigs at the Last Supper and all of that.

I watched to see how the women here tie their small children on their back – with the help of Mamitai, it seems!

And we watched as the groups from this morning posed for photographs before going home.

Oh, girls….you’re never all going to get in that car are you?

(they did)

Others stood on street corners, their elaborate costumes bundled into the pack, hoping for a lift back home.

The girls with the lamb made their way wearily up the street just in front of us and the city closed the doors and windows as the rain started.

We have loved being here, have really enjoyed exploring Cuzco and can’t think of a better way to spend the last day of our trip.  We are tired, but happy, and have booked a table in the restaurant of our super-duper, luxury hotel this evening to round things off in style.

It’s going to be a very long day tomorrow.

Distractions

What had I seen?  (or rather, heard?)

A procession!!  Woo hooo!  Today it seemed as though every country community had sent a few of its people to jump, dance and sing in a similar way to the event we saw in Lima last Saturday.

(ooer, was it really only last Saturday?)

OK, said Francis, take lots of photos, get in there with them (!) and we’ll stay here a while and watch.

So I did.  Actually he had been talking earlier about racial characteristics and the inca faces which are still seen on the streets here,  This was a fine opportunity to point out one or two of the things he’d mentioned.

These are shepherds, with their lambskins around their waists.  Look at the wealth of colour and texture though – the braids and the pompoms.   Many had small amulets around their necks, sometimes a simple little bottle with a few seeds inside, other times something more elaborate.

Young and old were in there, dancing along with huge enthusiasm.

Wait for me!

There were large banners, richly embroidered in silver and gold, ususally to be seen hanging in the local church, but for now, carried proudly by someone strong!

Every time I thought that we should move on, there was another lovely face, another colourful costume.  Oh dear.  The men were champing at the bit now.

So we walked alongside for a while.

I couldn’t resist taking more photographs of the braids, the scarves, the fabrics!

Even though, really, hadn’t we seen enough?

Well, yes, really.  Time for me to be sensible!

O-oh!  Just one more…look at these!!

Well, actually, the procession came to a standstill because it ran headlong into another protest for womens rights!  So, we left them there in the street, sitting down for a rest or nipping to a stand to buy a tamale or something, and we went on into the main square, the Plaza des Armas to go and see the cathedral.

Mind you, it was a bit of a squash to work our way though!

The square was bustling too, but fairly peaceful and with enough space (and few enough distractions) for us to learn a little bit about the architecture – those lovely balconies, for example; a colonial introduction which proved popular even though they are never used.  They’re simply a means of getting more air into the rooms inside.

People were gathering on the steps of the cathedral ready to welcome the procession and looking at them whilst doing a bit of weighing up in my mind, I juggled the options.  Should i join the crowd and wait for the procession, or should I go into the cathedral and see the Cusco School paintings and the magnificent chapels we’d read about?

You’ll find out what I opted to do in the next post!

One last day–in Cusco

Thinking of Adriana this morning, as she flew to Lima to be with her father, we met Senor Adriana – aka Francis – this morning.  What a delight to meet her “other half” –  handsome and impeccably dressed, his command of English was near perfect and we had a great morning with him.

We stepped outside the hotel to find this little group with a llama – would we like to take their photos?  No thanks…  Later in the day we came across them with a small herd of the things, leading them through the city offering to pose for a few soles.

Francis was taking us to show us the best inca remains in the city.  Just around the corner!

Here was a perfect inca street with a few colonial additions in places.

Oh look, there’s even one of yer actual incas standing there too!  (I don’t think so!)

We excused ourselves past groups of people having their photograph taken in front of the twelve sided stone and carried on up a little further.

But Adriana had warned her husband that I liked to learn a little about the people and that though my hero would be fascinated by every historical fact he’d care to share, I’d be easily distracted.  Well, wouldn’t you have been?

This lady was wearing a hat typical of the style of the women in the Titicaca region, Francis told me.  He also added that those plaits aren’t her hair but are made of black wool!

OK, here are another couple of “posers”, complete with lamb.  No thank you.

Right, come on Gill, time to focus!!

Another inca street, this time in between two structures and alongside a large archaeological excavation.  The walls here were so perfect, so high quality and the original street would have led to the convent of Santo Domingo.

Which happened to be where we were heading next, alongside this small boy carrying his valentine!

We looked around these lovely cloisters whilst Francis explained the importance of the building and pointed out some significant features.

Things like the small ridge on this inca-made building block, which was there to ensure accuracy when it was put in place.

The perfect proportions of this small passageway

where the 14-sided cornerstone  at the end was cut from a single piece of stone.

 

Once outside, we could see the rounded form of the inca altar clearly, too.

But oh, I’m sorry Francis, I can’t concentrate when I can see something interesting happening over there…

I’ll show you what it was in the next post!

Crazy evening!

It’s Thursday.  It’s WI night, or for my hero, it’s choir rehearsal.  But tonight, we’re in an altogether different place and oh my goodness, did we have fun!

Sadly, it was time to leave Machu Picchu and begin the journey home.  We were catching the train this evening from Aguas Calientes at 5.45pm.

Not just any old train though.  Oh no.  We had tickets for the Hiram Bingham and, by all accounts we were in for a treat.

We were in the waiting room (ahem) drinking a glass of champagne (not quite First Great Western, is it?) when the train pulled into the station.  Of course, I had to hop out and take some photographs.

Hmm.  Someone was hard at work preparing our dinner!

The train consisted of three carriages: the kitchen car, the dining car and the bar.  We looked around and counted just twelve passengers! 

As we sat drinking our champagne, we were asked for our tickets and one by one were escorted to our seats on the train.  Bags were carried for us. (Did I say we were feeling utterly spoiled at this point?)

The dining car was set with elegant linen and there was a rose at each table. 

Our table was simply lovely, and sitting there with so few fellow passengers, really we could have been quite alone.  No-one else was in sight.

The menu was interesting!

And as the train pulled slowly out of the station, the pisco sours were brought around.

Let the party begin!

An announcement informed us that dinner would be served at 6.30pm an in the meantime, we were welcome to visit the bar where there was some musical entertainment.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Picture the scene.  An assortment of nationalities sitting quietly at first, listening to this trio of lively musicians.  Having got everyone’s attention with a couple of numbers which seemed familiar but we probably couldn’t have named, they passed round the tambourines, the maracas, the rattling shells… “join in!” they said.  So we did.

Two glasses of wine (and the pisco sour) later, the party really had begun.  What fun!  I couldn’t possibly describe the next half hour but, suffice to say, we laughed, sang, danced and had so much fun.  At one point, my hero turned to me and said “this is so weird…here we are, singing “guantanamera” on a train in darkest Peru!”

I quickly switched my camera to video mode and may be persuaded to bring it out and show the maracas performance at some point

Then it got serious again – dinner was served!

Leek and potato soup.  Yummy, if a little salty for my taste – but then most of the food here in Peru is too salty for me.

Then, a short lesson on Peruvian products: from left to right, fava beans, kiwicha, potatoes and finally, quinoa.

Roast fillet of beef next, accompanied by a variety of potatoes served in a corn husk styled to resemble one of the straw boats on Lake Titicaca.

Chocolate strawberries with pineapple for dessert.

All the time, our wineglasses were being refilled by attentive staff.  This was such a special experience!

When we arrived just outside Urubamba at 8.30pm, Marco was waiting for us, with our “guardian angel” Pamela.  It took us just over an hour to drive to Cusco where we have settled into the most comfortable room in what appears to be another amazing hotel.

The route to get to our room was so tricky that we fear we might never find our way out.  Perhaps we’ll have to stay here a fortnight until someone comes to rescue us