Roundtrip in Peru.
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I went to bed early at 21:30 the previous day. It wasn't easy to fall asleep since I worried that something, of all the things I had planned, shouldn't go as planned. My alarm bell woke me up in the middle of the night at 02:50. My father came and fetched me at 3:30 and I reached the airport in good time for the check-in which started 4:30.
I traveled with KLM and everybody had to make an on-line check-in at a terminal before you went to the check-in desk. It is important to know that you can do the check-in from your computer at home already 30 hours before the departure when you travel within Europe and 24 hours before departure if you travel to America. I mention this because almost all seats on the plane to Lima were already reserved. I wanted a seat at the aisle and was lucky to get one. Next time I hope I will remember to check in earlier from home. I prefer a seat at the aisle if I travel long distance since then you can for instance get to the toilet during the night without waking other people. To Amsterdam I booked a window seat. They told me the gate number for the flight to Lima already when I checked in my baggage for Amsterdam.
The flight to Amsterdam departed 6:25. I fall asleep directly and woke up 7:10 when they collected the garbage after the meal. Shit, I missed the meal which I had looked forward to.
I bought licorice candy at the airport in Amsterdam which I like for 2.25 euro. I also bought a bottle of Coca-cola for 1.5 euro. I regretted that I didn't seal it so I could take it with me on the plane, or at least drink it after I had passed the security check at the gate.
The gate should open 9:00 for the plane to Lima but didn't open until 9:10. Boarding was 9:35 and the gate should close 10:05. I had to remove my belt and even my diving watch to be able to pass the metallic detector without giving a signal.
Most people who traveled to Lima seemed to be prepared for outdoor walking since they were wearing Gore Tec shoes like me. There were almost only European people and not many people from Peru.
The plane departed 10:40 and the estimated fly time was 12 hours and 5 minutes. Each seat had a video screen with a remote control. It was interested to see the flight data during departure. The speed was 300 km/h when we took off until we reached 1000 m height. It then increased to 500 km/h when we reached 3000 m height and the light with fasten seat belt was turned off. The temperature was 13 degrees at the ground and 0 degrees at a height of 1500 m. The speed was 733 km/h when we reached 6000 m and the outside temperature was - 33 degrees (Celsius).
The first thing you got on the plane was a headset to the video. You started by selecting one of the 8 languages. You pressed a green button to get the following menu -
1. Full Preview. Movies 2. Movies The submenus were KLM Latest, KLM Library 1, KLM Library 2, Classics, Family and World Cinema. Each one contained 10-15 movies. 3. TV The submenus were News, Sport, Comedy, Drama, Lifestyle, Culture, Nature and Travel. 4. Music 5. Games 6. Kids 7. Flight tracking 8. SMS and e-mail You could send a SMS or mail and get a SMS response on the screen. You had to use your credit card which you had to push into the side of the remote control. 9 Market Plaza 10. Info & Fun 11. Screen off
It didn't take long before someone asked if you wanted anything to drink. I took a vodka and cola beside the smoked almonds which everybody bot. Everything you eat and drink is by the way free on board so you don't have to pay for a drink.
We passed over London at 11:15 on our way to Oxford. The speed was 811 km/h at a height of 10.363 m and the outside temperature was - 46 Celsius.
I started to watch the movie "Narnia & Nim's world".
At 11:45 they served something to eat. You could choose between chicken and beef. 12:30 it was time for tea and coffee.
Observe that you have to fill in a tourist visa on board the plane so make sure that you have your passport number and a pen.
At around 5 or 6 p.m. it was time for tomato soap, salad and a cake.
At around 7 p.m. Swedish time we reached the South American coast and it was 3.5 hours left before we reached Lima. I tried to sleep but couldn't. I found that you can go and get candy at a place and started to look at a good movie from Netherlands which had English subtitles.
Half an hour before we landed we got a sandwich. It is incredible how fast time goes by. I could have traveled some more hours without trouble.
When you arrive at the airport you follow the "Immigrants" signs and then pass by one of the 14 desks for passport and visa check. Afterwards you just fetch your baggage and pass through the customs. There was no security check if I remember correct.
Outside the customs I met the taxi driver who should drive me to the hostel. The taxi was very old and looked as it was falling apart any minute. The trip to the hostel cost 45 soles and the driver drove like a maniac.
My first impression of Lima wasn't so good. It was cloudy as I had heard that it usually was during the season I was there. I had booked a hostel at the sea and expected that it should be the loveliest part of the city as it used to be in European cities. There was however no real connection between the city and the sea. The city was not located at sea level so you had to go down to the sea and even cross a big road, almost a highway, before you came to the sea. The sea was cold and the water was dirty. It was the first time I saw the Pacific Ocean but it wasn't calm at all. There were waves which you could surf on.
The hostel was okay but nothing special. I had booked a bed in a 4 bed dorm which cost 33 soles per night. In the room was a nice couple from America which I talked a lot with. They were going to Arequipa where they should study Spanish. They told me that it could be dangerous to go out on your own when it was dark outside. I didn't go out since I was tired. I just wanted to rest since I was going to the Amazon early in the morning.
I went up five o'clock just to be sure to arrive at the airport in good time. The taxi was a little better and I had to pay another 45 soles. I forget to check how long time it took to the airport but I think it could be around 40 minutes.
There are at least three different air companies which have flights inside Peru. I had previously been advised that LAN is the best and that you should not take the other ones. At the airport I first had to check in at a monitor. Luckily they had an English menu but there was a problem when I tried to write the first three letters of my country. SWE didn't work. You had to write SUE. I could then check in directly although I was there more than 2 hours in advance.
After I also checked in my baggage and went up a stair to some shops. At the entrance to the gates you had to pay the department tax. After that there were some persons who checked that it was paid and then I quickly passed the customs and security check. I arrived in an area which only had a couple of shops.
I had read in the Lonely Planet guidebook that you had the best view if you sat on the left side in the plane. There were some nice views of snow covered mountains but not as spectacular as I had expected. Most of the time the landscape was quite flat.
I was on my way to Puerto Maldonado but the plane made I short stop in Cusco before it continued to the town in the Amazons. The landing in Cusco was a little spectacular since the plane came in between two mountain peaks and had to turn quite a lot to get the right angle for the runway. It felt like one of the wings pointed straight downwards. You could sit and wait on your seat while people went of the plane and other people arrived. I think that some persons went off the plane by mistake because they counted all people who remained on the plane several times and the number wasn't correct. They fetched a list and checked who was missing. Luckily they solved the problem somehow so we could continue to Puerto Maldonado. On the plane to Puerto Maldonado each passenger got a tiny piece of candy.
At Puerto Maldonado a really nice guide waited on me and some other persons. She told me that she should be our guide during the stay at the lodge. Normally there are two flights each morning. I was on the earlier flight so we had to wait for the other flight. We spent the time by visiting a reptile park just a few kilometers away from the airport. It was very simple and I was told that the park was mainly for teaching children something about reptiles. They didn't have any poisonous snakes. Afterwards we fetched the rest of the people at the airport and headed for their office in the town. At the office we spent a lot of time rearranging our things. You had to take out all the things you needed and pack them in green bags. You are not allowed to take with you any hard suitcases or any hard rucksacks. Luckily I could keep my things in my handbag since it was just a soft bag like their green bags. All the bags are then put into some really big plastic bags and they are pushed into the bags really hard so make absolutely sure that you don't have any things in your bag which could break. Take with you all expensive things in for instance a smaller rucksack if you have one together with water.
Afterwards we took the bus down to the river where we changed to a long boat. We traveled for maybe half an hour. We got a lunch on board the boat. It was rice wrapped in a palm leaf which was very nice. We passed by some places where they were looking for gold. After the boat trip we had to walk 3 km through the jungle. It was very exciting and you heard a lot of sounds from birds, insects and frogs.
We were going into a national park so at a building, on the way, we had to write our names and passport numbers in a book. In another building close by you could see a family of bats hanging if you looked up at the ceiling.
After the walk we reached a channel where we took smaller boats. The guide told us that one of the local people had been digging the channel to the lake. He had almost been killed during his work by a big anaconda. They had later been forced to kill it with a gunshot. It was 5 meter and 20 cm long.
After some hundred meters we reached the lodge. I think I had read somewhere that the water should be crystal clear but that was in such a case a lie. You could just see some decimeters down into the water. We paddled across the lake until we reached our lodge.
It was almost evening when we arrived so one of the first things after taking a shower was to go on a night walk at 18:30. We saw a lot of really big tarantulas.
At 19:30 it was time for dinner buffet, fish or chicken.
At 4:30 in the morning we had to wake up since there was a guided tour, onboard a boat, around the lake in the morning before breakfast. You saw a lot of the prehistoric birds in the tress around the lake. At the lake shores you saw a lot of different kinds of herons and egrets. At some trees, surrounded by water, where bats sitting. The guide told us that they were nectar eating bats. We also saw the heads of some small alligators sticking up over the water close to the shore. The most interesting were probably a lot of monkeys traveling in the trees in search for food. There were two types of monkeys which used to be together and it could be over 100 of them. At another place we also saw a third type of monkey. It wasn't dark outside but unfortunately the light wasn't enough for my digital camera. You could take ordinary photos but there wasn't enough light for zooming.
We had breakfast at 8 a.m. Each group had its own table so our group ate the meals together with our guide. I was lucky and came in the best group, and got the best guide, I think. We had most fun at our table and laughed quite a lot.
After dinner it started to rain heavily. It rained more than usual since it was still the dry season even if it was the end of it. We had to postpone a guided tour and looked instead on a video of the 2 m long otters which lived in the lake. After the video we could rest which was actually really nice.
At 3 p.m. the rain had stopped and our guide had a botanic tour in the neighborhood. She showed us different medical plants and for instance a "walking" tree. The tree could actually move to catch more sunlight by creating new roots up in the air.
In the evening we went on a night tour on the lake by boat. We crossed the lake to the opposite shore and were lucky to run into the giant otter family which lived in the lake. On our way we saw a smaller alligator swimming at the surface. There were 5 adults and one younger otter. We followed them during quite some time along the shore and watched them catch fishes. We couldn't go to close, maybe the distance was 20 - 30 meters. The adult is around 2 meters long and can weight 30 kilos, like a Labrador. They have to eat 4 kilos fish each day if I remember correct.
After spending time with the otters we crossed the lake again in search for the big, black caimans which lived in the lake. Close to the shore we saw a lot of monkeys again. They were on there way to high palm trees where they should spend the night.
From a distance we saw a big alligator, like a huge log, floating in the middle of the lake. It became quite dark so we had to use our lamps. It was easy to find smaller alligators along the shore if you used a lamp. Their eyes glowed red in the dark. At one place we counted 8 small alligators. They were probably less than a meter in length. We visited one of them slowly by boat until we were just a couple of meters away. It was not scared and you would have been able to catch it with your hands if you went a little bit closer.
On our way back to the lodge you saw a lot of fishing bats flying over the surface looking for fishes. There were and awful lot of white insects flying in the air so it was almost impossible to have lights on for more than some seconds. If you turned on a lamp they circled around you until they were everywhere, even in your mouth when you breathed. They fell down on the boat so it was covered with the white insects.
There was another man in my group who came from Stockholm in Sweden. We decided to go out for a walk with our lamps to see if we could see any interesting animals such as snakes or frogs. We met another guide with his group. He told us that we were not allowed to go out on our own when it was dark. We pretended that we were going home again but we continued our walk when he had gone.
We saw some insects and a little pig like animal. We also saw a frog. It had landed on the head of my friend. We saw an opossum in a palm tree close to the lodge.
Afterwards we had dinner and told our guide about the guide who had told us that it was forbidden to go out. Our guide said that it wasn't so serious to go out. She said that she liked to follow us out on a tour after dinner.
At 8:15 p.m. I, our guide and the other Swedish guy walked out and had a very interesting tour until 21:55. We didn't see any frogs or snakes but instead an awful lot of interesting insects, a gecko and a crab.
I went up around 5 in the morning and walked the path we had walked before without seeing anything special. At 6 a.m. it was time for the other people to go up and 6:30 it was breakfast.
At 7 we left the lodge. You can walk 5 km or cross the lake and just walk 3 km. We crossed the lake again and on the path to the river we saw a huge, blue butterfly. The guide said that it was the second largest butterfly in Peru. We also saw some big parrots fly by and army ants crossed our path. High up in one tree you could see the contours of a sloth ( "sengångare" in Swedish ).
There were a lot of trunks in the river due to the heavy rainfall the previous day. The boat driver went right through them in a very high speed while the guides did their best to make him slow down. He almost forgot to drop me off at my next resort on the way to Puerto Maldonado and the airport with the other people.
The lodge was very lovely and more luxury compared to the first lodge.
They had packed my ordinary bag and the green bag in a bigger bag, or at least I thought so. When I opened it I saw that my ordinary bag was missing. It contained almost all of my important things such as clothes and battery charges. It was stupid that I didn't check it before since you cannot completely trust other people. I wondered if it was left at Sandoval Loka Lodge or if it was on the way to the airport. I talked with a man at the place I stayed at who phoned the other lodge. His English wasn't good but it seemed that I should get my bag later. I had also been told that my other suitcase, which I had left at the first lodge, should be delivered to the place where I stayed but I didn't see it anywhere. Hopefully it would come together with my other bag when people arrived from the airport. I have to admit that I was worried that my things would get lost and I didn't enjoy waiting for them. It had been better to go with the other people to the airport since the whole morning was ruined. I was in no mood of exploring the surroundings until I had all my things. Luckily all my things arrived safely together with the new people from the airport.
There were five or six domesticated parrots flying around at the lodge and another funny bird. One of the smaller parrots, which was green, all of a sudden landed on my shoulder. I didn't see where it came from. It was almost impossible to get rid of it. It liked when you scratched its neck.
It rained almost the whole evening but at 4 p.m. the weather was quite okay and there was a botanic tour in the forest. We saw army ants and in many trees you could see termite nests. The termites had built a tunnel on the tree from the ground all the way up to the nest. A lot of animals eat termites, including ants, so they need protection.
At one place we saw fire ants which live in symbiosis with a tree. They protect the tree from animals and also from other plants and in return the tree produces something they can drink.
It is incredible how little the guides know about snakes. He told us that there was a snake which could kill you in three minutes. He told us about a garlic tree which smelled like garlic. The smell would scare away snakes. Nothing of that was true.
On our way back to the lodge we passed by a house which was used for rituals. You ate something called 'Aya huasca' and could go into a trance.
There where a lot of bamboos growing and you could cut one of them if you wanted to drink water. He told us about a lot of things but I cannot remember all of it. It is however quite interesting.
The guide spoke both English and Spanish, but mostly Spanish. It was better at the first lodge where the guide only spoke English.
I asked if I could go into the jungle when it was dark but it was forbidden due to the snakes. Stupid!
There should have been a caiman tour on the river that evening but it was postponed due to all the tree trunks and other things which were floating in the river after the heavy rain. It was therefore both dangerous to travel on the river during the night and difficult to see the caimans.
It was normally much warmer but if it started to rain then it rained some days before it was over according to the guide.
We should meet 7:30 in the bar and 8:00 it was time for dinner.
I had brought a mosquito net with me on my holiday but I didn't need it. There were not many mosquitoes and there was no malaria. Both the first and the secons lodge had nets anyway.
A French couple sat at my table during our meals at the restaurant.
I asked about the guided tour to the parrot clay-lick (colpa) the next morning. At least there should be such a tour according to the schedule I had read on Internet when I booked my visit. The guide told me that it depends on me if I wanted to go or not. He told me that it had rained a lot and it was probably better to go there the following morning just before I was leaving. The guide I had at the first lodge was really enthusiastic and wanted to show us things but the guide I got obviously wanted to do as little as possible.
It was cold during the night and I put on a lot of clothes. It didn't help so I had to put on a blanket too.
I had got used to all the different jungle sounds but a horse that was eating just outside my cabin woke me up. One of the macaws made also a lot of sound at my balcony.
I went out and walked to the clay-lick myself. There were a lot of paths in the jungle but somehow I managed to guess the right way.
At the clay-lich I scared a lot of green parrots who set of and landed on the neighboring trees. There was one parrot which was quite colorful. I waited for 20 minutes but the parrots didn't fly down to the clay-lick which was located close to a little river.
On my way I had marked each path crossing with a line on the ground which indicated that I had passed that way. I still lost my way on my way back. I found a path crossing where I couldn't find one of my lines on the ground. I obviously hadn't been there before so I went back and found the path where I had come from. It was hidden behind a tree so it was difficult so see from the direction I came from now.
During breakfast I got cold, roosted bread slices which were very hard. I also got scrambled egg and a little fruit. A quite lousy breakfast in other words. It was a pity that they didn't have a breakfast buffet.
At 10:30 it was time for the guided tour to Monkey Island. You could borrow rubber boots and ponchos. You had to travel some time on the river to reach it.
On Monkey Island they had released capuchin monkeys which were half tame. One of the guides gave them food.
We continued our boat tour after the visit to Monkey Island. We got off the boat at the path leading to the first lodge.
At the registration house you could still see the bat family hanging above under the roof. We went the 3 km long path which I had been walking two times before. We passed the channel to the lake and walked another 2 km until we reached the lake at a place very close to the first lodge. On the way you could see some macaws on a distance. Close to the lake we saw some squirrel monkeys and another kind of monkey. We crossed over a little bridge at one place where the guide fed pirayas biscuits. They are more known to eat big animals down to the skeleton in only a few minutes. There are however a lot of different species and I suppose that the pirayas we passed by normally fed on falling fruits.
We passed another lodge where I talked with a guy who had just arrived. He had met someone at the airport who had offered him guided tours during two days and one night for 100 USD. The place looked quite lousy and not at all as good as the first lodge. He had really been fooled.
You heard frogs everywhere but you couldn't see them. I took a photo of an Indian family which arrived with a boat after having crossed Sandoval Lake. A person in my group told me to put down the camera since you should not take photos of the Indians. They believe that a piece of their spirit is taken away if you take a photo of them.
We ate lunch at the lake. It was rice and chicken packed in a palm leaf. It tasted really good. After lunch we went on a boat tour along the shore of the lake. A little caiman came swimming and we saw the head of a big black caiman from a distance. You could see a lot of different kinds of birds, for instance a lot of Hoatzins. There were also a lot of squirrel monkeys and on three trees you could see bats attached to the trunk.
We left the lake when it started to get dark. On our way through the channel to the jungle path we saw three smaller caimans. I also saw a yellow, flat leaf frog attached to a leaf. Unfortunately we passed it so quick that I didn't have time to take any photos.
We walked the jungle path quickly since it was getting darker for each minute. It still took 50 minutes. On the way I took a photo of a lizard on a leaf. At three occasions I saw the light from fire flies flying in the dark.
We boarded the boat which should take us back to the lodge. On our way back the guides searched for caimans along the shore with strong lights. We saw a couple of smaller caimans in the water and one bigger. We also saw a one meter long caiman on the shore which crawled down to the water when we were maybe five meters away.
I had searched for frogs the whole day but had just seen a very small one, maybe a cm long and it was looking like the frogs in Sweden. When I came home I found a tree frog sitting on the wall in my shower. It was quite funny since I had been looking for them during so many hours.
At 6 o'clock in the morning we went to the clay-lick. The parrots need to neutralize the food they eat by eating clay once a day in the morning. At the clay-lick, or golpa, we were going to visit were only smaller, green parrots. There was another golpa deeper in the jungle where you could see macaws.
We saw a lot of green parrots eating the clay.
On our way back, the guide showed us a sleeping flower with rose flowers. If you touched the leaves it unfolded them and it took 30 minutes before they were folded out again.
I put my suitcase outside my cabin before I went to lunch. Someone carried it down to the boat and I made sure that I saw it before the boat departed to the airport 8:30. It was a slow trip. We visited the office where I paid 220 USD for the stay. I had given them a dollar bill which had a 5 mm jack in it. Due to that she asked for a better one which was "whole". Make sure that you have new, fresh dollar bills with you.
We paid a 15 minutes visit to the market which was very nice.
Some people who worked for the lodge helped us with our luggage. You just had to go to the check-in desk and when it was your turn they handed over your luggage which they had carried all the way from the bus.
The plane should depart 11:30 and boarding time was 11:00. After check-in you had to line up in a long queue to pay the departure tax and then there was another queue for the security check and passport check. I saw that one person had paid the tax for several people while the others where standing in the queue for the security check.
The time was 11:15 when it was my turn for the security check. It was really stressing since I had no idea when the boarding gate closed, and the other people seemed to be going with a later plane.
Luckily there was no problem. The departure was delayed until 12:00.
I got another piece of candy on the plane to Cusco. It was raining heavily in Cusco so I just took the first taxi I found. It cost 45 soles to the hostel.
I got an upper bed in room 123 on the upper floor. There where boxes under the beds where you could lock in handbags. There were also security boxes at the reception where you could lock in values. You therefore needed two lockers. The nice thing was that inside the security boxes at the reception was an electric outlet so you could charge for instance your mobile phone while it was securely locked inside the box.
I had to fetch my ticket toMachu Piccho before the office closed 16:00. You had to fetch the bus ticket from Cusco to Puno 2 days in advance which was the next day. I would be in Machu Piccho the next day so I also had to fetch the bus ticket.
I asked in the hostel reception for directions but the addresses where outside their maps. The best way to go there was to take a taxi. The problem was that there was a strike going on so no taxis were going. The good thing was that there were a lot of illegal taxis. The whole city was actually crowded with taxi cars which had taxi numbers and everything. Were they illegal?
It only cost five soles to the place where you fetched and paid for the train ticket. There seemed to be a problem because the man at the ticket-desk couldn't find my booking. He asked somebody else who luckily found my name so I could get the ticket.
I took another taxi for three soles to the bus ticket office. It was closed due to the strike. Luckily a person opened a window nearby on the second floor. He didn't understand English when I tried to explain that I couldn't fetch them the next day. I was however very lucky since he came down and I got my ticket even if he shouldn't do it due to the strike.
I think that the high altitude affected me quite a lot. When I arrived I had to walk a lot of stairs with my luggage up to the hostel. It wasn't easy and it felt like I should faint. I also had a terrible headache during all the days I was at Cusco. Due to this I therefore did as little as possible. I just packed my things for Machu Piccho the next day, took a shower and went to sleep quite early.
There was a party going on at the hostel but my room was a bit away so the sound was not disturbing. My room had 6 beds and I shared it with a couple from America and three other girls. I talked with the woman from America and she told me that they would go the Inca track on Thursday.
I didn't have to book a taxi since one was waiting outside the hostel. It took only 5 minutes to SanPedro train station.
The train to Machu Piccho departed in time, if I remember correct. It went slowly upwards until it stopped and started to go backwards again. I wondered of course if something was wrong. A person working there walked around to all people onboard and explained what would happen. The trip to Machu Piccho would take 4 hours. The train has to zigzag 4 times to be able to get over the hill.
Outside you saw how poor people lived on the hills around Cusco. The houses where built with clay reinforced with straw.
The landscape the first 1.5 hours was nothing special. It was however interesting to see the country side. They had no fences around cattle so people were herds and walked with their cattle. I saw no tractors, instead I saw people who ploughed their land using oxen. I saw people strew seeds on their acres by hand. Other people where harvesting for instance corn by hand. It was difficult to take photos from the train which was a pity.
The last part of the journey was most beautiful. The train went in a valley along a river and there were high mountains on both sides.
When you arrive at Aguas Calientes you first pass through a market and after that you have to go over a bridge to get on the other side of a river. You will see the busses which go up to the ruins when you are on the bridge. A return bus ticket up to Machu Piccho cost 42 soles. Don't make the mistake and take a bus directly even if other people do it. You first have to buy the ticket to the entrance of Machu Piccho which cost 122 soles. The buss ticket and almost everything else you can buy in both soles and USD. The entrance ticket you can only buy with soles. If I remember correct you also need your passport. You can also buy the entrance ticket in Cusco and therefore a lot of people went directly to the busses from the train. You have to pass the busses and walk a couple of hundred meters into the village to find the place where they sell the entrance tickets.
The road upwards to Machu Piccho is narrow with meeting places since the road is only wide enough for one bus. All busses going up also come down the same way so there is a lot of meetings on that road. The road has no railings so it can be a bit nervous if your bus has to back out close to the edge of the steep mountain to make way for another bus in the other direction.
I bought a souvenir, a picture of Machu Piccho, on a magnet which you could put on your refrigerator door. The man I bought it of came to me some minutes later when I was queuing at the entrance to Machu Piccho. He explained that the 10 soles bill I had given him was false. Luckily I could just give him another one.
I read in the guide-book that you were not allowed to bring food with you but they didn't check your rucksack at the entrance to Machu Piccho.
Muchu Piccho was really astonishing. Just have a look at my photos. It rained a little all the time but it was no problem. You hardly needed a raincoat. At a quarter to two when I was on my way out it started to rain heavily. I was really lucky that it hadn't started earlier.
I took a bus down to the town and ate a medium sized pizza for 28 soles. I spent some time in the market and waited a long time for the train which departed 18:05.
I had booked the train ticket two months in advance but already then most tickets were sold out. I therefore only had a ticket to Ollantaytambo where I somehow had to find a bus or taxi for my way home to my hostel in Cusco.
Directly when I came outside the train area an awful lot of people wondered if you wanted a taxi to Cusco or some other places. I asked one how much a trip to Cusco would cost and he said 40 USD. I thought about it a long time and told him that I will probably see if I can find a bus first. He then said 30 USD and told me that it was an official taxi. I then agreed which was probably a good choice since he was very kind.
When we were leaving the area at the train station he backed into another taxi car. The other driver went out and looked at his car but we just drove away. The area where the taxi cars are parked at the train station is guarded by a man. The taxi drivers have to show the guard some kind of identification to be able to enter or leave the area. Hopefully this makes taxi journeys much safer since you know that you are going with a real taxi.
On the way the driver said "gato mi casa" or something like that. I was afraid that he wanted me to come inside his house for some reason. He just stopped the car on the side of the road and run away into the dark somewhere. He came back with equipment you use if you want to change a flat tire. The road had been blocked yesterday when there was a strike. People had put big stones in the middle of the way and at many places part of the road was stilled blocked by stones. He was probably afraid that he would run into a stone and get a flat tire. What a luck that I didn't go yesterday. I gave him 30 USD and 5 USD extra when we came to the hostel. He was really thankful for the extra money and thanked me by shaking hands. The trip took at least on and a half or maybe 2 hours.
I woke up when I heard a couple whispering in the room and you could also hear the girl moaning. I heard movements in a bed close to mine. I had an upper bed and couldn't see the lower bed where it came from. It was obvious that a couple was making love or at least was in the middle of a foreplay. When they started to do the real thing it sounded quite high in the otherwise quit room and I suppose that was the reason that they stopped quite fast. I could then hear the girl jerk of the guy by the sound from the beats against the blankets. Afterwards you heard more moaning so I suppose the guy also satisfied the girl. I would like to go to the toilet but luckily it wasn't urgent. I just lay still in my bed since I didn't want to disturb them in the middle of it. I must have waited an hour until I heard slow, heavy breaths, almost snoring. At least one of them was sleeping so I went to the toilet. They were sleeping in each other arms and it was quite cute to see them.
I went out after breakfast but it started to rain almost immediately so I had to walk back to the hostel. I rested an hour and after that the weather was a little better and it had stopped raining. I visited a market and took some photos in the city centre.
I searched after Peru Adventures tours office but couldn't find it on the street where it should be situated. I had booked one of their tours from Arequipa. I phoned and was told that it had moved. I took a taxi to the other address but couldn't find it. The taxi driver thought that the address seemed odd, almost like they didn't want anyone to find the office. The woman who answered the phone also said that there was no sign outside.
I wasn't feeling so good and had still a headache.
I was hungry and ordered half a chicken for 18 soles. It was just too much and I regretted that I hadn't ordered a quarter of a chicken. Chicken soup was included in the price. I found a whole chicken foot in it and almost lost my appetite.
I rested a little more when I came back to the hostel in an attempt to get rid of my headache.
I had previously ordered dinner at the hostel which only cost 10 soles. It was quite okay but I was not hungry after forcing down half a chicken. I paid the hostel which cost 91 soles for 3 days including the dinner.
In the evening there was a masquerade party. You could make your own mask and there was a group playing.
I went up 6 a.m. and took a taxi to the Inca Express bus. I arrived 6:45 and the bus departed 7:30. It was a first class buss and the guide was good who spook good English beside of course Spanish. A woman served something to drink on board, for instance coffee and tea, which were included in the tour price. 3 entrances, 21 soles in total, were also included in the price.
Cusco had been the capital of the Inca Empire. We passed by an ancient Inca gate where people had passed through when they went in or out of Cusco. We also passed a place where they made building stones for Cusco during the Inca Empire. It was situated 40 km outside Cusco. Today 90% of the houses in Cusco were made of mud-bricks heated in fire.
We visited a church. A lot of things were covered in gold. The organ had been imported from Germany a long time ago.
Eucalyptus trees were very common. The trees were originally imported from Australia to prevent eruption along the river. The trees grow very fast and have a massive root system. They also need a lot of water.
You don't see any tractors, instead most farmers seem to use oxen.
We visited the biggest temple of the old Inca Empire. The weather was lovely and very hot. It was really nice that it had stopped raining. The guide told us that part of the temple was made of mud-bricks. During the Inca period they had mixed cactus oil in them and dried them in the sun. It was effective since they remain after 600 years. Around the temple was a 6 km long wall which you see up on the neighboring hills.
Around 12 it was time for buffet lunch. I ate something although my stomach hadn't been so good during the morning. Unfortunately my stomach medicine was in my bag stored somewhere in the bus baggage store.
We stopped at a high mountain.
You could see a lot of lamas and alpacas along the road. They are common at heights above 4000 meters. The guide told us that lamas, which are bigger, has their ears up while alpacas have their ears more to the sides. The people put fire on the grass, when the animals cannot eat it, so there will grew new green grass instead.
We visited a museum and a church.
There was a river along the road and at some places you could see flamingos.
I took a taxi for 4 or 5 soles to the hotel when we arrived at Puno. We passed throw a crowd of people dancing in the street. I had a terrible headache. I got a cup of coca tea at the hotel before I dropped dead in the bed around 6 and slept for 12 hours.
I relaxed for a change and had breakfast around 9. Afterwards I walked around in the city to the marked and Plaza de Arms. I walked down to the harbor and checked the prices for visiting the floating islands and the Taquile island. They had a longer tour which cost 40 soles and started 7 a.m. They also had a shorter tour which cost 25 soles and started 8 a.m. The difference was just how long time you could spend on the islands. I just talked with one man, maybe other companies had other prices and departure times.
Jenny had previously booked a tour for me which cost 45 soles.
I bought a 500 ml Fanta which cost 1 sol.
I took a tricycle without engine home which cost 3 soles. It was an old, tired man who cycled. It didn't feel right to just sit there. I would have liked to jump of and push at difficult places to make it easier for him.
I ate dinner at a china restaurant. I ordered fried rice with chicken and vegetables which cost 9 soles. I also ordered 1 liter of juice and got it in the original container.
I had breakfast 6:20. A buss should come and fetch me 6:45 outside the hotel. It arrived 7:00. I had been told that the boast should go 7:00 so I was worried that I should miss it but everything was okay.
The guide aboard the boat talked a lot in booth Spanish and English. It took 25 minutes out to reach the Uros islands. There were 41 of them. Five to ten families lived on each island. The total population was around 2000 people.
The guide described how they made the islands by sawing out pieces of reed ( "vass" in Swedish ) including the roots and tied them together. They then put reed above. The first island we visited was nine years old. They build a new island when it gets so thick that it reaches the bottom of the lake. The people live all their lives on the islands, at least according to the guide but they get buried on the mainland. They also empty their toilets on the mainland.
We sat in a circle when the guide told us about the floating islands. Afterwards the Indians came towards us and showed us how they lived. A young woman showed her house for me and I could take some photos of her and her house. She lived there together with her husband.
Afterwards she showed me the things she had made and was selling. They looked really nice and I bought one thing of her for 50 soles. I got an Inca cross as a present. I also bought some postcards from a young boy. Before we left the island the girl came to me with newspaper pages and packed the thing I had bought more carefully. She was really sweet. I wondered how old she was. She looked very young but she was, as I said before, married.
We also visited another of the islands where they had a restaurant. You could go there by the boat we came with or with a catamaran made of reed. I think everybody wanted to go with the catamaran which cost 6 soles per person.
At the island with the restaurant they had a fish breeding. I bought a table-cloth for 25 soles and got another little present.
We went to Taquile Island after we had visited the Uros islands. It took almost 2 hours to reach the island. We went up to the village on top of the island where we could look around for 20 minutes before it was time for lunch which cost 15 soles. For lunch we got soup followed by rice, French fries and fish. I think somebody said that there are 13 restaurants on the island and all of them take 15 soles for a lunch. Maybe the lunches also are the same in all the restaurants. The food could have been better if you got some sauce to the rice. They didn't even have ketchup to the French fries. There wasn't anything special with the island so I was glad that I didn't spend the night there. What would you do there during so many hours?
It was interested to listen to the guide when he talked about the people on the island. Men had a special cap on their head. Married men had a completely red cap with different patterns on. Men who were not married had a cap where the top half of it was completely white. There is a council on the island which consists of 12 men. They have a hat above their cap. You get married when you are 15 - 20 years old. It can be difficult for a girl to get married if she is older than 20 years. The community is communistic where you take turn in doing the main activities which are fishing, working at the restaurants, transport people to and from the mainland and sewing. It is the men who are knitting things. I passed by some very old men who seemed to have passed the age fore retirement many years ago. I was astonished to see that those men were knitting with 4 knitting needles.
We arrived back at Puno at around 5 in the evening and the bus drove us back to our different hotels.
I was not feeling okay. Brenna made a thermos with hot water for me so I could make some coca tea. Brenna came from USA and had been together with Jennys son since last year. The whole family lived up on the third floor. On the middle floor were the bedrooms. Brenna worked at the hotel and also taught English at the nearby institute. She also had private lessons.
I went to bed early in an attempt to get rid of the headache.
People danced outside on the street while I ate my breakfast. I was told that it was university students who practiced for some dance performance later that week. I said that I wanted to try a pancake instead of the scrambled eggs and the girl made a pancake with a piece a banana in the middle.
After breakfast I went down to the handicraft market at the Titicaca lake and bought a painting for 43 soles and a thing made of alpaca for 95 soles.
I went back into the city centre and passed by a place where you could cut your hair for 1 sol! A lot of men asked me if I wanted a drive with the tricycles for 2 soles. I went up to Plaza de Arms and checked the restaurant before I went home around 5 p.m. when it started to get dark. It was then also cold even if you wear a jacket. The headache finally seemed to go away.
Later in the evening I ate a dinner at a restaurant which was quite nice. You could read that it had received an award for being the best restaurant in town. The most expensive dish cost 25 soles.
I asked once, at the hostel, about the nightlife in Puno. There is no cinema or theatre and just one disco.
I ate my breakfast and told the people at the hostel that I wanted a taxi to the bus station. It just takes 5 minutes to order a taxi so you don't have to do it a long time in advance.
Jenny who owns the hostel took farewell and wished me good luck on my journey. She gave me a big hug. Jenny talked with the taxi driver and made sure that I should just pay 3.5 soles for the taxi to the bus station.
You have to be at the bus station 30 minutes before departure so you, among other things, can check-in your luggage. The luggage weight was written down and you got a receipt just like on an airport.
Don't forget that you also have to pay a departure tax for the bus to Arequipa which is 1 sol. When you go aboard the bus you have to show your passport and one man is carefully video filming everybody when you go aboard and also when you sit inside the bus. In the Lonely Planet guidebook I read that there have been robberies on busses when some people have pretended to be ordinary passengers. I suppose the video-film and passport check should prevent that and I must say that it felt really safe. My hand baggage, I could just squeeze into the hat-rack above.
The bus from Puno to Arequipa cost 43 soles.
The scenery outside was amazing as always. It looked like you were in the Wild West. After we had been traveling for some time we passed a security check. A person went inside the bus and checked the bus ceiling by knocking at several places. I suppose that he was searching for cocaine. It is produced in the jungle and it seems that they make it difficult for the dealers to transport it over the Andes to the coast.
You saw lamas and alpacas from the bus. We passed by a large lake where you could see a lot of flamingos. After traveling 3.5 hours in the Andes the bus headed downwards to Arequipa. We got orange juice, two muffins and some biscuits before we reached Arequipa an hour later. I took a taxi to the hostel for 5 soles.
At the hostel I said that I had booked I tour to Colca Canyon for 93 USD including everything. I wondered if the woman had heard about the tour company. She wasn't sure but said that it was really expensive. I could book I tour, at the hostel instead, for the next day if I just did it before 6 p.m. which I did. It cost only 78 soles but the two lunches and the dinner was not included. The 35 soles to enter the canyon were also not included and you also had to pay an extra 5 or 10 soles if you wanted to go to the warm bath. Another difference was that you had to spend the night at a hostel in Chivay instead of a hotel. I was told that I needed a copy of my passport on the trip which I already had prepared at home.
Before I went to bed I walked a little in Arequipa and ate a dinner at a Mexican restaurant for 10 soles. I also sent an e-mail and cancelled my previous booking to the Colca Canyon on a computer at the hostel. It was free to use Internet.
I had breakfast 7:00. The bus should pick me up at the hostel between 7:30 and 8:00. It arrived 8:15. It was a big, modern bus.
The first stop was just before leaving the city at a place where you could visit a toilet and buy water, candy etc. for the long trip. The second stop was after around 1-1 1/2 hour. We stopped at a place where you could drink some coca-tea which should be good for altitude problems since we were going up to 4.810 meter. I got my headache back but just for a short time.
On the way we stopped several times so we could go out and take photos of lamas and alpacas which were domesticated.
We also stopped at a place where you could take photos of one of their wild relatives. I have forgotten the name of the animal. I felt sorry for a young girl who sat together with her mother on the seats in front of me. The girl got sick and threw up several times during the journey.
They road went in zigzag down to Chivay.
In Chivay we first ate a buffet lunch for 21 soles. We arrived at our hotels/hostels after 15:00 or something like that. Afterwards I got a nice hotel room, much better than expected since I thought that we would stay at hostels. All people on the bus were spread out on different hotels or hostels so I don't know what kind of rooms the other people got.
At 16:00 the bus should fetch us again for the tour to the hot bath. It cost 10 soles if you wanted to bath or 5 soles if you just went there without bathing. The bath was warmed by hot springs but it was not much to look at, just ordinary swimming pools. It would have been much better to stay at the hotel and rest until dinner. If you go to the bath you have to stay there until 18:00 when the bus returns to Chivay. A couple of girls walked all the way back to the village and I think they said that it took something like 45 minutes.
19:00 the bus picked us up again for the dinner. Three guys played music at the restaurant and a couple danced some special Peruvian dances. It was nice but nothing special. The dancers and musicians went to all tables afterwards and wanted money so be prepared to give them some extra soles if you think they were worth it.
It took ages before the dinner arrived sometime after 21:00. My dinner cost 21 soles and another 3 soles for the soda water in a bottle. Be careful when you open a soda water bottle because it will otherwise more or less explode and you will have water all over your place.
The couple who performed the dances grabbed people who were eating and who had to join in some strange dance. The female dancer gave for instance an apple to a man and he was then supposed to lie down on the floor and pretend dead. She then beat him with a rope and he should continue to be dead. She then took her skirt over his head I think, I couldn't see exactly from my seat, and then he woke up. I suppose by excitement.
After dinner the bus drove us back to our hotels and hostels.
We had breakfast at 5:30. It was a really simple breakfast with just one bread. You got some hot water in which you could put some coca leaves and you also got a little glass of juice. The breakfast is actually better at most hostels.
The buss should pick us up at 6:00 but was 15 minutes late, probably because it picked up other passengers first.
The road to Colca Canyon was not the best but the views were really good. We stopped at one place where you could take photos of the terraces. There should be 25.000 of them in the canyon, many of them from the Inca time and earlier.
Due to the bad road I almost thought that the bus should shake to pieces. Luckily nothing happened with the bus but someone had put a ceramic pot on the shelf over our heads. It fell down on the head of one of the ladies and all of a sudden it was chaos inside. The bus stopped and I heard someone say that we have to go take her to a hospital. People searched for bandages etc. I didn't see her from the place I sat but I think she bled quite a lot. Luckily she recovered and we could continue our trip after 15 minutes or something like that. I saw the woman when we stopped next time and I saw that a big portion of her grey hair was slightly colored red.
On our way we stopped at a place where you could see ancient graves up on the mountain.
When we were close to our destination someone spotted a condor flying outside. The bus stopped so we could all hurry out and take some photos before we continued and arrived at the condor spotting place around 8:00 in the morning.
I never thought that it would be so good. I thought that you would be able to see some condors circle up in the sky and maybe if you were lucky see some fly over on a distance of 50 meters or so. Now I saw the first one around 8:15 fly right over me, maybe 10-15 meters up. I had too much zoom so while I desperately tried to decrease it the big bird came closer and closer. When it was just over me I lost my balance, when I tried to take a photo, and missed the opportunity. I got however some photos from a longer distance. We should stay until 9 a.m. and during that time one or two more condors passed by really close. I went to our buss around 9 o'clock when I saw on the people that there was another condor coming. I rushed back and got some nice photos of it. It passed by several times. On the first photo you see our guide during the whole tour from Arequipa.
The beautiful view of the canyon was also astonishing.
The bus departed around 9:15 a.m. We stopped at a place where you had a beautiful view over the valley, we stopped at a church and afterwards we went back to Chivay were we ate a buffet lunch for 20 soles.
On our way back we also stopped at the highest point, 4.810 meters over sea level where you could take some photos of the volcanoes far away. The weather was not good and it started to hail. The Indians who were selling handicraft started to pack there things in big sacks.
The weather was however nice when we were back in Arequipa around 4 or 5 o'clock.
I went to the market and couldn't resist buying half a kilo strawberries for 2 soles. I also bought a glass of mixed fruit juice for 5 soles. The girl filled up the glass a second time for free. I started to eat a couple of strawberries when a local woman warned me that I have to wash them first. I suppose that it isn't so good to eat them directly if even local people don't do it. I gave them to a beggar since I didn't want to carry them with me. I hope he had a strong stomach.
The street from Plaza de Armas towards my hostel had a lot of restaurants which were not expensive. I ordered a beef which cost 11 soles and soda water cost 2 soles. The same meal with chicken cost 8.5 soles and with pig cost 12 soles. It is in other words cheaper to eat cow compared to pig.
I went to Jerusalen street where I actually found the office of Peru Adventures. A tour to Colca Canyon cost 93 USD which I had been informed of previously by mail and read on their homepage.
I went to the church Santa Catalina but the entrance cost 30 soles which I thought was a little too expensive so I didn't go inside. I visited instead Museo Santuyy where a guide talked about the Inca sacrifices and we could also have a look at Juanita who was one of them. She was still frozen in a box of glass.
At around 8 I went out and had a dinner at Plaza del Arms. There were a lot of restaurants so it is best to compare the prizes. I had a pepper steak for 28 soles together with Cola for 3 soles. Observe that it was quite cold to sit outside and eat after sunset. Maybe it is better to eat there when the sun is up.
Afterwards I took a taxi to Dolores Avenue which should have a lot of nightlife according to the girl at the hostel. The taxi cost 5 soles. The taxi passed some poor people and a couple of typical prostitutes at a street corner. I spotted Munay's Salsoteca and told the driver to stop there. The entrance was 5 soles and you got a receipt which you could use in the bar to buy a drink for.
The dancing was a BIG, BIG disappointment. The people couldn't dance salsa which was a surprise. They could of course step 1, 2, 3 and pause, 1, 2, 3 and pause etc. but calling that dancing salsa is comparable to say that you can drive car just sitting in the front-seat turning the wheel without the engine on. They didn't dance together holding each other. I had hoped that I could ask someone if she would like to dance but I had to give that up immediately.
I put my jacket in the wardrobe which didn't cost anything. I went in with my grey Nike sport jacket which had kept me warm during the whole holiday. I put it on my chair, which I use to do in Sweden, just to make sure that nobody take my seat when I am up dancing. I could instead have bought a drink and left it at my seat to indicate that it is occupied. I however don't like to leave drinks unattended since someone can put drugs in them and later rob you when you leave the place.
I danced a little alone like everybody else. A guy came and told me that I danced really good. At first I thought that it was some kind of scum but he meant it and didn't try anything else. I hear quite often that I dance well but that guy should see me when I really dance salsa and not "salsa-disco".
When I returned to my seat, after I had been up on the dance floor the second time, I found that my Nike jacket was gone. First I thought of course that someone had thrown it away just to take my seat. I searched but couldn't find it. It took some time before I realized that someone had actually stolen it. Luckily it was something which could easily be replaced and I was one life-experience richer. Back in Sweden I found that it was more expensive than I had thought. A new jacket cost over 500 SEK. I left directly afterwards and took a taxi to the hostel for another 5 soles.
I ate breakfast at the table and asked how long time it took to the airport by taxi. I was told that it takes 15-20 minutes. I then asked how long time it takes if there are traffic problems like for instance an accident. The girl told me that they don't have traffic problems which wasn't exactly the answer I had expected. We have it daily in my city, especially when people go to work and when they leave their work in the evening. People in Peru drive like maniacs, especially taxi drivers. It is said that Italian people drive fast in Europe but they drive like angels compared to the people in Peru. Don't even think about renting a car in a city if you are not used to the traffic. Every time you crossed a road your life was at stake. There are a lot of dogs running lose and it is incredible that they don't get killed. Another thing I thought about is that people don't drive slower when there are children close to the street and I never saw a car stop to let children cross a street which is natural in Sweden.
I had nothing to do so I went to the airport quite early. The taxi cost 13 soles and took around 15 minutes. Arequipa is a big city so I thought that it should have a big airport. When I arrived I saw that there were only 5 departures between 6:50 in the morning and 17:00 in the evening. Some more turned up later in the evening while I waited. All shops were actually closed when I arrived and opened up around 2 hours before my departure. I had again to check-in at a computer terminal before I could go to the check-in desk and leave my suitcase.
I saw canyons in the Andes during my flight from Arequipa to Lima. Maybe I also flew over Colca Canyon. In the plane you could watch a TV program called "Just for laughs" or something like that. It was very funny and you had many good laughs on your way to Lima.
I had previously sent a mail to the hostel and arranged so a taxi could fetch me at the airport. It was probably the worst taxi I had ever been traveling with and it wasn't even parked inside the airport area. I am not even sure that it was a taxi now when I think about it. Maybe it was just a relative to a person working at the hostel. The man really drove like a maniac and it seemed to be more luck than skill that we didn't have an accident. The drivers in Peru always use safety belts including the mad taxi driver who drove me to the hostel. The security belts in the backseat are usually not working, and absolutely not in cars like the taxi where nothing else worked. One of the backdoors could not be opened. The baggage door could not be opened from outside. The driver had to pull a string from the backseats to open it. The taxi also smelled gasoline so you almost got a headache.
If I go to Lima again I will probably take a real taxi just outside the terminal to make sure I get a nice car with at least working safety belts.
I had to pay the hostel in advance for the two nights I would be staying there. It cost 18 USD or 56 soles. I had booked a bed in a 6 bed dormitory but during the first night I got instead a very nice double room, like a very good hotel room, with private bath room and a TV with 100 channels.
I went out for a short walk in the neighborhood and bought some food in a supermarket. The weather was lovely and the sun was shining.
I rested and read a woman magazine I found outside my room. You could read about Britney Spears remarkable come back in her former shape. I also watched TV. In some channels they spoke English and had Spanish subtitles. I watched a Stallone movie.
It was cloudy weather as usual. I took a shower but there was no warm water. I was going out and really needed warm water since I could have smelled better. Luckily the warm water came after some minutes. Thanks God for that.
I watched TV and ate breakfast at 8:30 when it opened. There was only a Peruvian little girl in the breakfast room who watched "Dragon tales" on TV. They had of course only strawberry marmalade for the bread as usual.
I had to change room before I went out. The taxi driver had to ask for the direction to Lima center which was quite funny. I really hoped that I wouldn't get him on my way to the airport the next day. The taxi to Lima center I think cost 13 soles.
The historical center of Lima was very lovely compared to other parts of the city. I took some photos at Plaza de Arms. I went into a church and got a guided tour of the church and the catacombs below. Afterwards I had a lovely dinner at a nearby restaurant before I had a quick view of a park and the river.
I took a taxi to Miraflores for 7 soles. I first took some more photos before I sat down at a nice restaurant with a beautiful sea view. I watched the sunset and drank first a double pisco sour followed by a single pisco sour. Pisco is a Peruvian alcoholic liquor which is produced from wine with very simple distillation equipment. It gets its special taste from the wine. You mix it with lime, sugar and egg whites to get pisco sour.
Afterwards I had a walk in Miraflores before I left and took a taxi home to my hostel for 7 soles. It had been a very lovely day in Lima.
I arrived at the hostel around 23:15. My suitcases had been moved into the 6-bed dorm. It was nice of them to move them but I would have preferred to keep them in the baggage room. I had some expensive things in one of the bags which I always keep locked away from other people. Luckily nobody in the room had stolen anything.
I first booked a taxi at the hostel reception at 14:15 but I changed it and went to the airport already around 12 since I didn't have anything special to do. I was very satisfied with my holiday and just wanted to go home. When I ordered the taxi I said that I would like to have a taxi which didn't fall apart.
At around 14:00 a lot of people arrived by bus and all of a sudden there was a queue for the check-in to the flight for Amsterdam. 14:15 I also lined up in the queue since I wanted to have an aisle-seat on the plane so I could go up to for instance the toilet in the night without disturbing other people.
Around 15:00 the check-in opened. There was a passport check already in the queue and they asked what purpose I had to visit Peru. I told them that I was a tourist. Just before it was my time to check-in another man came and checked the passports of some people before me including my passport and again asked why I was in Peru.
The check-in went quickly without problem and I got my aisle seat.
When I was on my way from the check-in desk with my hand-baggage two very young girls showed me that they worked at the airport and wanted to see my passport. I had to follow them back to the check-in desk and open the suitcase for them which I had just checked in. They looked it through, luckily without finding anything. One of the girls then took out some kind of screw and made a whole in it just to check so I hadn't hidden anything in the walls. She then took out something which looked as a wet napkin and put the screw on it. I am quite sure that it was some kind of cocaine test. The napkin would probably change color if there was the slightest proof of cocaine. Luckily they didn't find anything but it is nevertheless nervous because someone else could have placed cocaine there. Peru is by the way the second biggest producer of cocaine after Colombia.
I went to the upper floor and paid the departure tax for international flights, I have forgotten how much. There was no queue for paying the tax. You then had to pass a man who checked that you had paid the tax and then it was time for the custom check. Someone pointed at me and then I knew that they should check all my things. I thought that I had put all things in my pockets on the conveyer belt, including my belt, but metal detector still gave a signal. I had to spread my legs and put my arms out while a woman searched me with another metal detector. She found something in a pocket which was candy paper and then they also wanted to look in my money-belt since it gave a signal. The only thing I had there was memory cards to my camera and a metallic paper-clip. After that check a man searched my whole handbag. I really must have looked like a drug dealer or something like that since I felt that they really suspected me. It was a relief when I had passed all the checks.
I checked the prices at the airport but they were really high. Something which before cost some Peruvian Nueves Soles you now had to pay the same amount in US dollars which was exactly tree times as much.
I got a chock when I later had entered the plane and got my seat. I then thought of the metallic detector the woman had used and found my memory cards for the camera. Could the detector destroy the photos stored in the cards since it seemed to be a very strong metallic detector which signaled even for metallic candy paper? I just had to take out my camera from my hand-baggage and check that the photos still were okay. They were okay which was a big relief. I had taken a backup on the USB memory but didn't think of that then.
We had just been traveling for about 30 minutes when you heard in the loudspeaker "is there a medical doctor onboard?". There was something wrong with a person on the other side of the plane. 4-5 persons had come to help him. I suppose that he recovered since the people left after some time after they had given him oxygen I think.
The flight to Europe started also with bad weather so you had to sit with your seatbelt on during some hours on our way over the Atlantic Ocean.
I arrived in time to Amsterdam airport. There are two different prices on alcoholic bottles, one with European tax and one with less tax. I bought a whiskey for my parents and thought that I should get the lowest tax since I had been outside Europe. Unfortunately I had no such luck. You have to show them the boarding card where you are going and it doesn't matter where you have been. The whiskey cost 14 or 17 euros and I therefore had to pay 17 euros since I was traveling from Amsterdam to Gothenburg which was inside Europe.
You had to pass a 10 minutes queue for a quick passport check followed by a quick custom check where they luckily didn't go though my belongings.
My father fetched me at Landvetter airport in Gothenburg.
It felt good to be back again after a very interesting holiday.