Peru Diary 4
Sept 23
After a hectic
day travelling through fire and forest to Machu Picchu,
this was a day of rest for the group in Cuzco. Not for me, but after
visiting five museums I did
have a rest, to contemplate the complex history of the pre-Inca
Peruvian civilisations as portrayed with varying effectiveness in the
different museums! The Inka museum had the most coherent account - and
the most English translations too. Sitting on a balcony overlooking the
main 
square, & drinking Cusquena beer, was a great place to watch
people: the masked street-sweepers,
the whistle blowing policewomen, and not forgetting the nun and the
bear! What were they doing?
As darkness came, with clear skies, the main square took on a magical
quality, the lights just highlighting the sand coloured buildings
against the still luminous sky. The sounds were not quite so magical -
it was a festival of youth, and a rock band was blasting out from a
stage erected in front of the cathedral. The big screen - a king size
sheet over a framework - was showing a Microsoft ® error message.
The
ordinary folk of Cuzco
Later, when we came out of Don Antonio's restaurant - after a
good buffet (yes, including a very bony guinea pig), loud blasts of
Bach and Handel on the pan pipes and a power cut, this screen had gone
and the music had taken on a more folky air
Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus, Cuzco
Sept 24
Off to the Amazon! One of the annoying things about long-distance
travel is the amount of time you spend in airports - this was the big
day in that respect - marked only by the odd interesting moment, such
as when the bus on the way to Cuzco airport turned a corner into a
housing area and an aircraft taxied past just (seemingly) metres away!
There was a perimeter wall in the way, but we didn't notice that at
first. Small excitement to compensate for the five hour gap between
flights in Lima. As before, though, we had clear views of the dry
Andean highlands on the way to and from Lima, with their islands of
peaks dusted with snow and the few green ribbons of river valleys.
Also, as usual, the low clouds lapped against the hills on the coastal
strip, so we saw nothing of Lima until approaching low over the port of
Callao.
En route to Iquitos the dry brown of the mountains gave way to
seemingly endless dark green of the tropical forest. It was only as the
sun was setting that we saw the reflections of the winding rivers, with
their tight curves, ox-bows and occasional dotted settlements.
You expect it, but it is still a shock - the heat and humidity as you
exit the aircraft! Between that moment, and the moment of jumping into
the tiny hotel swimming pool, the air was filled with the put-put sound
of the three-wheeled motor-bike taxis. They were everywhere, including
in the wrong lane at traffic lights facing the on-coming fast lane.....
Iquitos roofs
Awkward choice at night - be cool and be kept awake by the air
conditioning, or be quiet and be kept awake by the sweat!
Sept 25
We were picked up
at the hotel by our guides, Victor and Beder, and taken by bus to
the port of Bellevista where we boarded a small but fast boat. First
stop was a Bora tribe village on the banks of the Rio Nanay -
previous groups had noted how bored the villagers/performers looked -
and certainly the teenagers amongst the villagers looked as though this
was the last place they wanted to be. I guess it is economic
necessity that allows us to intrude in the village, although the
dressing up and dancing might have some parallels with Morris
sides leaping around English villages.
Freighter
on the Nanay river
After the inevitable
purchasing of crafts we headed back to the Amazon, and over a hour
downstream to the Heliconia Lodge, where we were allocated simple rooms
(i.e. no satellite TV, or indeed electricity except from 18.00-22.00!)
and had a buffet filled with local fruits and vegetables. The lodge had
the inevitable Macaw in the rafters, and bunches of bananas hanging
here and there for handy snacks at any time. So began a new routine of
around 2-hour activities like walking in the jungle or boating across
the river to walk to a lake, bird watching or walking at night -
followed by a break (time to swing in a hammock) and more food.
The sounds of the frogs (at night) and the birds (during the day) were
continuous - as was the sound of one of the lodge staff playing the
guitar & singing....
Fungi in rain forest
Sept 26
As we were divided into two groups we all got a chance to participate
in each activity at some point - but there was inevitable rivalry about
who saw what first (or at all) - the sloth was the first object of
contention, followed by humming birds and iguanas! The honours were
roughly even in the fishing activity - our catches of piranhas and
sardines being pathetic compared with the guides' tally! After the hour
of dangling bits of meat into the water (during which even our sole
vegetarian, Linda, got quite competitive), we went in search of the
river dolphins. We were (sort of) rewarded with tantalisingly brief
glimpses of both the pink and grey dolphins - if you happened to be
looking that way at the time!
There was a constant flow of traffic on the river - mostly small long
narrow boats loaded with bananas, or people, and worryingly low in the
water. Occasionally a larger boat - a two-storey boat with hammocks
slung or stores below, and people above - would chug up the sides of
the river (or down the middle). More rarely a pusher tug would be
nudging a couple of barges loaded with containers or construction
equipment upstream.
Lake lettuce
Huge catch from the Amazon
Sept 27
Our last
morning in the Amazon, our last morning of getting up at 05.00 to go
bird-watching too! At last I felt justified in having spent £30
on a book of Peruvian birds - a purchase I wouldn't have made if I had
realised that the book weighed close to 1 kg! Note to Amazon - put the
weight of the book on your web-site...
If you are into lists, click here for
the birds seen!
Dawn
on the Amazon
Morning family chores on the river
The early bird-watch was followed by a trip to an adjacent riverside
farm where sugar cane is the main crop and syrup and liquor the main
outcome. I found it encouraging to see that the method of
production had remained the same - horse-turned press for
crushing the sugar cane, a kind of dug-out canoe vessel for fermenting
the sugar. Pre-industrial, but very sustainable. The tasting was the
highlight, of course - burnt throats with the raw spirit, soothed by
the various blends that followed. A number of bottles were purchased,
and then it was back to the lodge for the last lunch, fast boat back to
Iquitos to pick up our luggage at the hotel, then a flight off at
sunset back to the mist and crazy traffic of Lima.
Sept 28
The last full day for the Ramblers group, and a conducted tour of Lima
by Ursula, a diminutive guide of German ancestry and uncertain (but
old) age. She directed the coach, and us, firmly to the centre of Lima
where, being Sunday, she couldn't give us the usual tour in the
cathedral. Phew! We did get the works in the San Francisco monastery -
and it was worth it - a huge impressive building - stately in contrast
to the other monastery we visited in Arequipa, which was simple and
rustic in comparison. The highlight was the catacombs - largely
empty brick lined vaults under the church - vents and openings meant we
could hear Mass quite clearly going on above, and occasionally see the
legs of wandering worshippers. The alcoves that were not empty were
filled with the dusty and sorted bones of thousands of dead souls - a
fusty ghoulish display of disrespect for the dead (or a neat display by
a long gone librarian-undertaker of earthly remains of departed
spirits?).
Masked street cleaner in Plaza de Armas,
Lima
End
of Mass at San Francisco Church
Mass had ended as we came out - the plaza was filled and at the
open-air café in the church courtyard lunch was in full swing.
On
reflection perhaps we should have eaten there, but our guide inflicted
the Peruvian version of McDonalds on us - Bembos. Well, it was quick,
and tasted OK, but the noise, TV and the children's play zone
didn't lead to an atmosphere of calm!
After that it was off to the Gold museum - a bewildering collection of
fantastic objects in gold (mostly) - bewildering because again it was
hard to follow a thread of development through the different tribes
inhabiting Peru prior to the Inca & the Spanish - perhaps because
Ursula dodged around to her favourite pieces, rather than in a
historical order. Or perhaps because it was one museum too many on this
trip! Either way, the most impressive pieces for me were the large flat
face masks in gold - which seemed to have personalities of their own.
Oh, and the Nazca dried heads....
Sept 29
The last day for the group, and a free day for me as the group members
did their own thing. My own thing was to move hotels (for the next
three days, until the next group arrives) and, more pleasantly, to walk
,with Linda, south along the shore from Larcomar. Although the
cliff-top in this area of Miraflores is neatly manicured, planted with
flowers and tall hotels, the shore line below is a mess. Backed by the
crumbling conglomerate cliffs and main road there are only short
stretches of the shore that are pleasant to walk on - not just because
of the pebbly beach (with the odd sea-urchin & plastic debris at
the tide-line), but because most of the road/shore line resembles a
tip/construction site. A pity, as it would just about make a
pleasant promenade otherwise - and enhance the occasional restaurant
and surfer base that manage to survive there.
Then, for the 6th time in three weeks, it was back to the airport to
see the group off - and pay the $30 departure tax on Ramblers behalf!
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