What a marvellous day!

Well, the toothpaste held out you’ll be glad to know and since I stood it upside down, by the time I came to open it this morning, most had settled to the bottom of the tube.  No pale green spatter.  But there was a shout from the bathroom this morning as my hero unscrewed the top of his roll-on anti-perspirant and the ball shot out across the room!  Ah, altitude has very peculiar and rather surprising effects.

I had a fright when I got into bed last night though.  I thought something had crawled in between the sheets but heaved a sigh of relief when I discovered a hot water bottle!  A full service hotel, for sure.

We’d heard it raining in the night – well, it is the rainy season, after all – and so this morning, there were low clouds settled on the tops of the hills.  But what a wonderful landscape this is, surprisingly green and with flowers everywhere.  Gorgeous.

We drove to the nearby town of Ollantaytambo where we were going to take a look at the archaeological site.  Ollantaytambo was an important Inca town and the central area is still built around a few Inca structures.

We drove through the market place and out towards the inca ruins, where our driver Marco dropped us off right by a rather interesting stall.

But we were not here to shop or to look around the market.  We were here to see this:

Terraces filled the end of the valley and beyond and were really well preserved.

Our guide, Adriana pointed out the significant features as we listened intently.  We had no idea that all of this was just up the road from where we are staying.

 

Here were some beautifully cut stones too, so precise and smooth.  I guess we were getting a taste of what we’ll see at Machu Picchu later in the week.

We took the steps up to a terrace about half way up the slope.  The stones were secure and dry, so they felt easy to climb.

From here, we could get a good view of the “larder” across the valley.  This construction had been built to take advantage of the winds, which would blow cool air around the different storage areas.  These Inca people were so clever.

Were we ok to go on, asked Adriana?  Well, yes, we thought so.  But the steps were a little steeper now and carrying water bottle, raincoat, camera and who knows what else, I decided that no, I didn’t need to go further.  I’d wait here for a while, might do some drawing, would certainly take some photographs and I’d see them when they returned.

At the top of the steps which led through the terraces, there were wonderful examples of those beautifully fitted and finished stones with which we are so familiar from TV documentaries and travelogues. Adriana explained that, as an anti-earthquake measure, the walls all slope inwards by about 10 degrees. To get the granite so smooth the craftsmen shaped them with ultra-hard hematite rocks, then rubbed the surface with sand,

The little trapezoidal niches would have held precious objects – statues or ceremonial plates.

Even the gateways echoed the trapezoidal look. The whole upper area was unfinished though, abandoned just before the Spanish conquest when rival sons of the dead Inca began a civil war to claim the empire.

The town at the foot of the ruins was beginning to bustle.  People were arriving from Cuzco to catch the train to Machu Picchu or simply to mooch around this charming small town.

Since it’s a stopping off point for so many tourists – it’s one of the starting points for the Inca Trail, too – the souvenir stalls were many.

But just across the road was a young woman wearing “the real thing” and Adriana asked if we may take her photo.  She agreed with a smile and stood whilst I tried to get all the detail of her felted woollen skirt, her bundle holding her 9 month old daughter Julissa and that amazing hat.

Typical of this region, the hat is hollow and the top has a central hole about two inches in diameter where, I was told, the ladies kept their money!  They sometimes put flowers in there, too, but today, Julissa’s Mummy had left it empty.

It was only when I took the photograph of the beaded chin strap of the hat that I spotted all of those safety pins.  I wonder if those are merely decorative, or if they will serve some purpose during the day?  With smiles all around – except for Julissa, who burst into tears, we thanked her profusely and went on our way.

Ollantaytambo is a very picturesque spot and we saw several people photographing the locals.  This woman was sitting chatting to a family, playing with the children but really, getting a few choice shots for her album.  I felt a little uncomfortable about this – not about Julissa and her Mum, who were simply going about their business and happy to pose for a quick photo, but more so about the families who seemed to have dressed up for the sole purpose of posing (and earning money, of course).  Later in the day, Adriana said that some mothers kept their children from school so that they could roam the market to attract the attention of visitors.  Hearing this made me feel all the more uncomfortable!

We stopped at the bottom of an Inca street to marvel at the water running down the side as it had done for centuries.  Simple stone bridges led to doorways through which clusters of three or four houses could be accessed.

These doorways were trapezoidal – as you’d spotted already and though there was in wooden door here now, in Inca times there would have been a decorative textile hanging there.

This doorway would have led to a house of some importance, since it has a double frame.

Turning off the main street into a side passage with a central waterway, Adriana asked if we’d like to see inside a house?  Oooooh……  Now, my hero looked a bit doubtful but once we’d stepped inside the courtyard and seen things for sale, he felt better.  Even so, it was me who was really curious.

We entered through an opening in the wall – not trapezoidal for some reason – doing our best not to trip in the water gully.

This was home to three families and their assorted cats, dogs and, if you can spot them by the brown door, a duck and her brood of yellow, fluffy ducklings.  Though the water was still flowing through those channels in the yard, Adriana explained that all of these houses now have running water and mains electricity.

The thatched house we were to visit had the traditional roof decoration I mentioned in my last blog post.

Inside was a similar mix of Quescha and Catholic symbols adorning the smoke blackened stone walls.  But of course, it wasn’t those walls which attracted our attention, was it?

No, it was the guinea pig family who all came out of hiding as soon as Adriana rustled the alfafa grass!  She explained that they live freely in the warmth of the kitchen and breed so quickly and easily that they continue to provide a rich source of protein for a family living somewhere like this.   So, cuy would definitely be on the menu here.  (Sorry Mrs Meeps!)

These two had their own private alfafa source!

Around the walls were niches containing small shrines to dead relatives, including their blackened skulls in some cases.  There were also more everyday items there beside them – a thermos flask, a coffee mug and right beneath one of the niches, a small bed where someone would curl up to sleep.

Was this real or merely preserved for tourists, we asked?  Adriana convinced us that though tourists certainly drop in here to see how people live, it was genuine and the family made their living in the same way as they had always done.  There are two sons living there right now who will inherit their parents’ home eventually, but whether they choose to continue living the simple life or to do as so many of their generation are choosing to do and explore the bright lights of a big city, who knows?

So much to take in.  So many visual treats already today and we weren’t even half way through.  I’ll continue in the next post, as usual.

On a high!

Rather an elegant breakfast time view to kick off the day.  Actually it was a case of style over substance, because although it was all beautifully laid out, we couldn’t find many of the bits and pieces that go with breakfast.  Juice?  Butter?  Spoons?  Never mind.  We had what we needed and with an early start to catch our flight to Cuzco, we weren’t too worried.

South American airports are quiet, peaceful places – not!  But our flight left more or less on time and flying over the beaches of Miraflores, I could recognise some of the landmarks we’d passed two or three times during the last couple of days.  Much of what we’ve been told was confirmed by an aerial view, too.  The surf is good, not because the waves are huge but because they start so far out.  It’s called the “Green Coast” because of the colour of the sea, not because of lush vegetation along the cliffs.  And yes, the coast does attract the cloud!

Soon though, we were flying over mountains.  Occasionally I’d see a small village tucked away in a small valley and wonder what life must be like there.

Even though it was a mere 55 minutes to Cuzco, we were handed a small snack and offered a drink.  Taking the advice of everyone who has offered it, we drank water.  As much of it as we could in the hope of avoiding any trace of altitude sickness.

The box contained a small packet of savoury crackers, a packed of peanuts and raisins and a chocolate wafer.  Quite tasty and passed the time away nicely – by the time we’d eaten it, we were coming in to land.

There was the airport down below, but the thing was, we were going to land in the opposite direction, so had to make a 180 degree turning manoeuvre.   Memories of coming in to land in Tblisi, many years ago when Russian pilots flew their planes like they were still in the airforce!  I very much dislike this part, so concentrated on something else…

Was it a little fairy trapped between the window layers in front of me?  How had it got there?  See how bleached it is by the sun, yet perfectly preserved in the vacuum. How curious.

We were nearly down and there was Cuzco, much larger than I’d thought.  (We later learned that there’s a population of more than 500,000)

It was greener than I thought, too.  We met Marco our driver and Pamela our “guardian angel”, as she described herself and set off down towards Urubamba (about 9000ft)  in the Sacred Valley.  We’d been advised to spend a couple of days at a lower altitude than Cuzco (11 200 ft) to acclimatise and since we wanted to do whatever we could to ensure we had a great time here, of course, we took that advice.

We drove through some small market towns, where Sunday afternoon trading was brisk.

We passed precariously sited homes, where the government had built flights of steps so the inhabitants could access them.  Just think of climbing those steps at sea level, never mind at 11000 feet! 

Most of all, we drove through wide green spaces, with dark green potato fields on each site and the Andes in the distance.  The scenery was lovely and not at all as bleak as we’d expected.

Eventually, we could see a valley way down below and were pleased to think that will be our base for a few days.  It wasn’t that we felt poorly, nor that we weren’t prepared.  But we were wary and yes, we certainly felt “different”.

Before she dropped us at our hotel, Pamela offered advice.  Drink water – lots of it.  The body dehydrates three times faster at altitude than at sea level, so alcohol isn’t recommended either. (Shame!  No pisco sours!)  Wear plenty of high factor sunscreen because the air is thin and the sun is strong.  Eat light meals – no red meat for a couple of days and above all, take it easy.  Don’t rush about but relax and spend a few hours reading (blogging!)

So, here we are.  Casita number 38 is home for a couple of days and we are happy!

Look how beautiful it is inside.

Oh, and look at our view!

We have two bulls by the fireplace; traditional Quechua symbols of farming and fertility since Inca times.  Actually, we have four bulls in total, because there are two on the roof as well.

Just around the corner from our sitting room, we have a dressing area where, in one of the cupboards is the mini bar.  Alongside two bottles of wine, one bottle of beer and several other alcoholic drinks are two miniscule (albeit complimentary) bottles of water.  Now, bearing in mind the advice which is given to everyone about drinking plenty of water, together with the fact that no tap water in Peru is drinkable, wouldn’t you have thought they could have stretched to a bigger bottle?   And, having drunk those two bottles this afternoon, the trouble of getting two more was incredible… ”we’ll have to put them on your bill, Mrs Thomas”.  Well, ok then, if you must!  The daft thing is, that whilst at dinner this evening, the Maitre d’ came over with a bottle from champagne for us, “with the compliments of the manager”.  We explained that we didn’t want to drink alcohol right now and perhaps he could chill it for us to enjoy in a couple of days time.  But thinking about it, perhaps we ought to have asked him to swap it for a few bottles of cold water!!

We’ll be fine tomorrow, because forewarned is forearmed and we’ll buy a couple of large bottles in town.  We might even stretch to a bottle of Inca Cola  

Such a fuss was silly, really, because this is a beautiful hotel set in idyllic surroundings.

There’s a colourful library with stacks of books about Peru and the Incas.

The restaurant is equally colourful!

It has an interesting menu, too.

But what’s keeping us both on tenterhooks is the state of my toothpaste.  Every tube and bottle has expanded almost to bursting point, but so far, thankfully, nothing has actually burst.  But I fear my toothpaste might blow at any minute.  Perhaps, tomorrow morning we’ll find  pale green spatter all over the bathroom walls?

In the meantime I’m playing safe and using a mini tube from the plane.  Much less potential damage from a 2 inch tube, I think.

Focusing on food

We were keen to be back to Hotel B on time because we had some great plans for the afternoon: cooking with Christian and Yurac in their SkyKitchen.  Before we did any cooking, though, we needed to know a little about some of the ingredients and so off we went to the market with Christian to see what’s what.

So, our first stop at the Market #1 was the fishmongers.  Christian identified several of the fishes and explained a little about each type; in particular, how they could be used.  Surprisingly, in view of the temperature, the shop didn’t smell at all bad, possibly because this was the freshest of catches and in a fairly wealthy area where the highest quality goods would be sold.

Having got to grips with the fish, we went inside where there was stall upon stall of fruit.

Now, this was where it became interesting, because though we recognised some, there were others which were totally unfamiliar to us.  Not only that, but there were different varieties of fruits which we’d consider to be everyday – half a dozen different types of banana for example – and Christian would explain the differences and how each could be best used.

Of course, there were some that he advised us not to eat raw at all!

Then, having exhausted the fruit, we moved onto the vegetables.  Now, these were mostly familiar to us though once again, different varieties were available for specific purposes.

I mean, a couple of thousand varieties of potato?  We could relax though, because only a couple of dozen or so are in regular use and readily available here.  Even so…

The choice of chillies was extensive too, though the popular one here is the small orange one which we don’t seem to have at home.

There was purple corn – we’d eaten sweets made from this a few times last week.

White corn, too, with really big kernels.

From there, we left the greengrocery behind and began to see more “ingredients” rather than produce.  The woman on this stall had several home made sauces and pastes available to buy, as well as a few specialised regional products.

There were dry goods stalls too, selling quinoa, rice, spices and herbs.

Then finally, by the door was one stall selling things we’d associate more with Chinese cooking.  Christian explained that there is a significant Chinese heritage here and many ingredients such as soy sauce, beansprouts and chinese cabbage are commonly found in Peruvian dishes too.

Well, I said this market was in a fairly upscale district, which could explain the “luxury” goods such as asparagus – though Peru grows most of the world’s supply of asparagus, it’s hardly eaten here.  Then there are brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and edible flowers!

Off we went, back into the car and through the streets of the city to Christian’s kitchen in the sky – where we’d meet Yurac and Carolina and do a bit of cooking.

The kitchen had quite a remarkable view!

Did I mention we’d enjoyed a fantastic lunch at the horse show the other day?  Well, when we heard we were going to learn to cook three of the dishes we’d enjoyed so much we were delighted.  Add ceviche to that list and we were happy.

First of all, a little tasting of those fruits we’d been introduced to in the market.  Whilst we were there, Yurac had washed and prepared some samples for us and we worked our way through several plates, me scribbling down names as we went.  The significant item on the first plate was the lucuma – the large orange-fleshed fruit at the bottom left.  This tasted perfectly good but had a weird texture and wasn’t in the least bit refreshing.  Christian told us it’s a popular flavour for smoothies and ice cream here – we must look out for it.

There followed plates of citrus, of mango and other reasonably familiar flavours, all beautifully prepared and very appetising!

Of five different varieties of banana.  Yes, they really did taste very different from one another.

And some rather different varieties of passion fruit which tasted almost the same as the deep purple wrinkly one we know, but different at the same time.  That little one was incredibly sour!

OK, now it was time to get cooking.  All the ingredients for each dish were presented so beautifully, it was a real visual feast.  Step by step, Christian and Yurac took us through each recipe whilst Carolina cleared up behind us and reset the table for the next course.

First, we made causa, which we’d enjoyed at the Hacienda and which Christian tells us we’d find on most Peruvian menus in some shape or form.  It’s made with yellow potatoes and avocados and in this case with chicken, though that can vary.  The sauce is from the orange pepper and the resultant dish is so delicious, we tucked in immediately.  That’s my effort in the picture – I had the blue chopping board!

Next up was ceviche, made with mahimahi and served with white beans, two varieties of potato, plantain chips, dried corn kernels and garnished with seaweed.  It was yummy too – though this portion was a little too much for me to manage!

Then it was to the stove, to create lomo saltado, one of these Chinese influenced Peruvian dishes.  Again, we’d eaten this yesterday and really enjoyed it, so needless to say, we were pretty pleased with the results.

This was served Peruvian style with chips and rice!

Last but not least, Yurac showed us how to form the pecarones.  These doughnut-like rings are made with a yeast dough which we’d put together as soon as we’d arrived, earlier in the afternoon.  Now, the dough had risen and was ready to be shaped in the hand, with the fingers and then fried in hot oil.

Yurac was very adept at this, of course; we less so – but triangular fritters taste the same, don’t they?  Served with a spiced molasses sauce, these really are the business and we enjoyed them Peruvian style by eating with our fingers.  Yes, very hot indeed, and yes, extremely sticky!

Feeling utterly stuffed and buzzing with all our new knowledge, we heard the phone ring and Christian return with the news that our driver was downstairs waiting for us.

There was just time to add to the visitors book, to take a quick photograph of the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and to offer our thanks to them all for a marvellous afternoon.

Guess what we’ll be cooking for our next party when we get home!?

Must. Keep. Up!

It’s now 7.50pm and we have returned to our lovely, elegant hotel in a rather historic area of Lima. We left the ship this morning and have had such a terrific day, it’s hard to know where to begin.

So, I’ll start at the beginning and maybe I’ll get as far as lunchtime?

It wasn’t the beautiful blue sea we could see over the bowl of Special K this morning, but a busy dockyard with lorries moving tons of grain from a ship just over the way. 

But, shortly after nine o’clock, we’d checked into the hotel, had investigated everything and realised that, in spite of our busy – and we thought, comprehensive – schedule, unless we hot footed it into the city centre this morning, we weren’t going to have chance to see some of the highlights of Lima.  The hotel manager said that, although we could hire a taxi, it would probably be easier to simply get a car for the morning and have the driver wait for us whilst we saw what we wanted to see.

Half an hour later, we were on our way to the Plaza des Armes.

We never did learn the drivers name and since we had no Spanish and he no English, it was a pretty quiet ride.

Once more, we passed a good number of people selling food by the side of the road though we were never quite sure what they were selling.

(I love the faces of the people here, by the way)

Once in the Plaza, we were dropped off outside the Cathedral and after a little difficulty, we managed to agree to be collected from the same spot in just over an hour and a half.

“Quarter past twelve….twelve fifteen…errrm, diec y dos…what’s fifteen in Spanish?….oh heck…show him your watch!!”

Much nodding all around and off we went.

We did a quick scan around the square, to decide where to begin and as we did, we spotted something going on in the yard in front of the Government House.  It looked pretty colourful too!

We went over for a closer look but as I stepped forward to take a photo through the railings, a policeman stepped forward and stopped me.  No closer than six feet from the railings, it appeared.

We heard speeches over the loudspeaker and the words “El Presidente”.  Oooh, was he there then?   We had no idea – and wouldn’t have recognised him anyway.  So, I took a photo and thought “I’ll google him later!”

But, excited though we were (though I was!) to see all the goings on, it was frustrating to be kept at such a distance and we decided that we needed to see what we’d come for – the cathedral and the other colonial buildings around the square.  No good standing here bemoaning the fact that we can’t get close enough to all of this when there was good, old fashioned sightseeing to be done.

The square itself is very spacious and there’s a wide pathway all around.

There’s also a covered arcade all around with lovely black and white tiled pavements.  So, we strolled around, enjoying being here and simply watching everyone around us.

On the steps outside the Cathedral, an elderly couple were sharing a snack.  I’d seen a woman dressed in traditional clothes yesterday but hadn’t been quick enough to catch a snap of her.  Here, I plenty of time to take the photograph I wanted.

Just along from them was another, younger pair.  I love the way women here dress in such bright colours!

Hearing a commotion from the other side of the Square again, we spotted that the police had gone and there seemed to be a free for all.  Did I want to go and have another look?  I thought about it and declined – far more sensible to go into the cathedral than spend our valuable time chasing around trying to see all of that again.

I was so pleased we did.  The interior of the cathedral was lovely.  Fairly plain for the most part, but along each side was a series of the most richly decorated small chapels.

We peered inside each one in turn, gasping at the richness of the pattern, the colour and the beauty of the figures.

The altar was set a good way back and framed by two lines of elaborate misericords. 

 

But most people here had come to see one particular chapel, containing a special tomb.

Francisco Pizarro is buried here.  The Conquistador who overcame the Inca on behalf of the Spanish and the founder of Lima’s remains are in a large, colourful chapel just inside the cathedral’s main door.

The walls are decorated with mosaic images of the man himself and if we’d had the place to ourselves, I might well have spent the next half hour looking more closely.  But, sharing the small space with a large group (not from a cruise ship, surprisingly!) wasn’t easy, so I did what I could and we moved on.

Stepping back outside into the sunshine, we saw the beginning of a procession right outside.  There was music, dancing and singing and we recognised the people from the celebration earlier as they moved towards us.

And we had the grandstand view!

Throwing themselves wholeheartedly into every move, the first group came by.

The men were wearing woollen ponchos and were swinging their arms inside them, wafting the fabric to the music and singing at the top of their voices.

The women, in their white, lace dresses took a gentler approach but nevertheless were enthusiastic performers too.

The next group were more colourful and more boisterous too.

They were laughing and shouting, having a thoroughly wonderful time as they paraded around the square, creating quite a din!

Every so often the procession would come to a halt and they’d dance on the spot for a while, turning around and laughing with their friends.

Their costumes were amazing!

And though it was really great having them all walk past, I’d have loved for them to have stood still for a while, just so i could take their photograph!

Bringing up the rear was the man with the dustpan and brush, sweeping up the streamers which some of the dancers were leaving behind. 

Was that it then?

Well, not actually, for another colourful group was over there on the other side.  Let’s go…

They were the most brightly dressed of them all.  Not only that, they were gathered, standing around chatting and sharing drinks and snacks and posing for photographs.  And guess what?  My camera battery died!  Not only that, but I didn’t have my spare one with me.

No. More. Pictures.

I know, I’ve often written that the best photographs are in my head and that is certainly true.  But here we were in the middle of one of the most photogenic places, surrounded by colour and faces and life and I just wasn’t sure I was going to be able to remember it at all.

So I did what anyone would do in this situation – I got out my phone.  As I did so, I cursed, because as we did our final pack up this morning, I realised that I’d forgotten to charge my phone overnight.  It had 16% battery life left but I’d thought nothing of it, thinking that I don’t use it on holiday anyway. 

Not like some…

Being able to get in amongst the dancers made all the difference, but as I faffed about in my bag, looking for spare batteries and switching my phone on, this bunch were assembling for their part in the procession.  And this man was in charge.

They hurried over – the little one holding tight to her Mummy’s shoulders as she went.

You’re right, that is a harp – fancy playing that in a procession?

The girls looked so pretty and the boys looked a great deal better wearing those hats with earflaps than people usually do!

They were off…and so was my phone.  This time, it was really the last photograph.  Never mind, I probably had enough.

We looked at our watches and noticed it was almost time to meet our driver.  But hang on a minute…we’d arranged to be picked up outside the cathedral and now this procession was going on, the road was closed!  We did a quick think about the best action to take, did a recce of which direction he might come from and worked out what to do if he didn’t appear somewhere at 12.15pm.  We stood on the corner and kept a look out for a black Toyota and for once, I was glad I’d worn my lime green T shirt – at least he’d see me!

12.10 and we’re wondering if we really are standing in the right place.  Would it be better if I went and stood in the place where we’d agreed anyway?  But no, it made no sense to split up.  He’d be along in a minute.

Wouldn’t he?

Just when we were beginning to panic slightly (we had to be back at the hotel for 1.15pm and it was now 12.15, we were sure) I spotted the roads had reopened.  The procession was over and it was back to normal.  We ran to the spot outside the cathedral and met our driver hurrying along on foot to the same spot.  I’m not sure who had the most relieved expression on their face!  He’d parked the car around the corner and we were soon on our way back to the hotel, where my hero was surprised when he asked for $10 more than the hotel had quoted us.  Oh well, he’d done as we’d asked, he’d got us back on time and maybe the extra was for the car park or something.

Shortly after we reached our room, the phone rang.  It was the manager on reception with the news that the driver had just returned to the hotel with $10, full of apologies that he’d made a mistake and charged us too much.

Those horses…

Even though we know nothing about horses, we were immediately captivated by this handsome man and his team.  Here we were in the sunshine, sipping pisco sours, nibbling on the yummiest of snacks in an elegant hacienda whilst five talented caballeros led their Paso horses through the most tricky demonstration of their skills.

The particular characteristics of this breed of horse, native to Peru, were explained to us.  Forgive me if I share only the most basic, for I’m sure those equestrian experts out there know a great deal more than I do!  What we learned was that the unusual gait of the Paso horse means that the rider doesn’t bob up and down but remains still and level, even when trotting or galloping.

They have a narrow face, hold their heads high and because they live in a sandy environment, are not fitted with horseshoes.  Their hooves are hard enough to withstand that.

Cue the “aaawwww” moment!  A one month old foal was brought to show us that these horses really do walk in this way from birth, that it’s not training or learned behaviour but a genetic characteristic.

A one year old was brought for us to admire.  These horses were so beautifully groomed and well behaved, it was impossible not to love them.

As they went through their paces, though, we smiled because number 4 was the skittery one, the horse which didn’t quite want to keep in step with the others, who preferred to do a little jump here and there.  We soon discovered why.

He wanted to dance!  We’d watched the couple perform a traditional dance our there on the sand, but now, it was the horses turn to dance with the beautiful young woman.  They performed a dance involving the waving of handkerchiefs which had been introduced to Peru by the slaves, most of whom originated from Angola.  (who knew?)

The show was brought to a close and it was time for lunch.  Well, it was around 4pm and yes, maybe we were a little peckish!  I loved the decorated tree on the buffet table – oh, those little hats!

Each one, no more than three inches in diameter, perfectly woven from the finest straw and a slight variation in shape from the panama hats we are all wearing.  Beautiful!

The dancers returned for another colourful show as we tucked into a fabulous assortment of traditional Peruvian dishes – quinoa, cornbread, a kind of quiche and the most delicious lime dessert which could have been a variation on a posset.  Need to investigate that one!

Before we left, there was time for those braver members of the party to have a go at riding one of these beauties.  Needless to say, we declined!

And that was that.  5pm and really, time to get back to the ship, along the Pan American Highway again, driving north against all the weekenders travelling to the beaches south of the city for the weekend.

Past the squatters settlements on the sand dunes – goodness knows what happens here when El Nino arrives?

And back to the ship for one last evening.  Those Tsunami signs are another reminder of how fragile life is in this part of the world.  Apparently, Lima experiences some kind of seismic activity most days.  I hope the big one doesn’t happen when we are in residence!

It’s now Saturday morning, our internet has been switched off and we are packed and ready to leave.  We’ll go and find some breakfast in a while, say goodbye to our friends and wish them bon voyage.  Whilst we’re envious of those who will stay on board until Buenos Aires, we’re also excited to begin the next part of our trip, to Machu Picchu.

I hope you’ll come along with us?