01 May 2003, Cusco
Life continues to be a contrast between luxurious freebies and gritty reality. From being frozen to death on the cargo train, to sheer decadence in Inka Class on the Puno-Cusco train, from a fantastic dinner at El Monasterio (poshest hotel in Cusco), back to a shared (mixed sex!) dorm, with the loo across the courtyard, in a hostel appropriately located next door to the convent.
Cusco is great, very mellow, although we foreign johnnies must number nearly as many as the locals.
Have also now met up with my expedition team. I HAD been quite proud of my early morning yomp up to the Inca ruins on a hill high above the town (see photo above, of big stone, little me)... until I found out that Gary Ziegler (60 years young) runs up there on a regular basis. Can´t be natural!
This morning the team were getting to grips with the thermal imaging camera that we´re going to take up in a little single engine plane to recce for ruins - they were all looking at the monitor, and pointing the camera at me. Then they all start laughing, and I realise the camera was pointing at my chest. John Leivers says, ´Aha, now we can see what you´re made of´, which makes me very worried indeed!
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27 Apr 2003, Puno
I am now in Puno, after a rather unique journey, thanks to my friends at PeruRail.
Started off normally enough - overnight bus from Lima to Arequipa, about 16 hours. Spectacular scenery, marred only by the knowledge that 20 people have died in 2 coach crashes on that road... in just the last 2 weeks. Sincerely hoped things wouldn't come in threes.
Had to whizz through Arequipa, but will be going back there for longer at a later stage. My deadline was the 10pm departure of a cargo train for Juliaca, which I had to catch if I was going to make my connection to Cusco.
It's not normal practice for the average punter to be allowed on a cargo train. OK, so most people might not WANT to spend 10 hours on a deafeningly noisy cargo train, mostly in the pitch dark, with no heating, no seat, and most alarmingly, no toilets. There were moments in the wee (no pun intended) small hours when I really thought I had gone loco getting on this loco. But then the dawn came, and the world became a rosier place, literally. We were high up in the Andes, the air breathtakingly clear in the dawn sun, wildlife all around, blue, blue lakes and rolling mountains.
As we got nearer to civilisation, I went to sit on the platform at the very front of the train, so my toes were the foremost point of our locomotive plus 17 freight cars, the track whizzing by beneath my feet. I saw doughty Andean women plodding alongside the track in their characteristic outfits of bowler hats and voluminous petticoats, and little children waving to us as we trundled past.
As we got into Juliaca, there appeared to be a market in full swing, right across the railway line. Our driver was going crazy on the bell and air horn to try and avoid casualties. I was still standing at the front rail, and it was interesting to watch people's reactions - they don't get many tourists here, as it's not the most attractive of places, and they didn't know quite what to make of this pale stranger. Or maybe it was my clothes they were staring at - it had been bitterly cold during the night, and I was wearing just about everything I had. Some people just stared, some waved, some pointed and laughed. And I don't know what came over me, but I starting giving it the full wave-and-smile, wave-and-smile treatment. No matter that I looked like the back end of a bus - I was on the front end of a train and felt like a filmstar! I just about held myself back from blowing kisses... The people were lovely (or confused) - some looked at me like I was mad, but most waved and smiled back.
Almost without exception, I've found the Peruvians warm, helpful and friendly, and the image of that marketplace stands out for me as one of my favourite memories so far.
(Photos to follow when I get teched-up in Cusco.)
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24 Apr 2003, Lima
Really like Lima. Went down to the beach yesterday afternoon - the weather has been glorious, really hot and sunny. Unfortunately I've got a rucksack full of thermals!
This morning my hostel manager called on me to be a Spanish/English interpreter. Never thought that would happen - obviously it was a desperate situation.
I leave Lima tomorrow. Last night I went out for a couple of drinks in the bohemian district of Barranco. Made mistake of getting in an unlicenced taxi, purely because the driver was female and therefore presumably safe. As we drove the wrong way down a dual carriageway, I had cause to regret my decision. But I'm still alive to tell the tale.
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23 Apr 2003, Lima
I've made it to Peru! A bit later than planned - our v dodgy little plane had 'hydraulic problems' in Miami, so we didn't touch down in Lima until 11pm last night.
The promised driver from my hostel didn't materialise, so I got a minibus into the city, through the shantytowns with their ramshackle buildings and home-made shop signs, then past the anonymous urban strips of nightclubs and casinos, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC and Blockbusters. Then into the well-manicured suburb of Miraflores, where the top hotels would rival anything in the US.
Funnily, the passengers for the swanky hotels got dropped off early on, and my $3 hostel seemed to be rather low down the pecking order. And I was absolutely pooped. So change of plan - we pulled up outside a really pretty little hostel in Miraflores to drop someone else off, and it looked so nice, I decided a bed RIGHT NOW was the top priority. Or maybe it was the prospect of my own room vs a night in a dormitory that swung my decision.
They didn't speak much (indeed, any) English at the hostel, but I muddled through, although I suspect my Spanish teacher would have been less than impressed.
It had been a long day, but I felt the need to chill out and write my diary for a little while, so I sat in the courtyard garden and cracked open the miniature bottle of Baileys that my sister had given me in my Peru survival kit at Christmas - obviously, what no intrepid explorer should be without. It was very much appreciated, especially as American Airlines now charge $5 for an alcoholic beverage, so it had been a very dry flight.
Have now checked in with the helpful guys at the South American Explorers Club, and started to explore the city. I've already been touched by how friendly and helpful everybody is to this very novice traveller. Weather good, natives friendly, off to a good start.
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