I'd rather be a hammer than a nail....yes, I would....if I could....I surely would..... El Condor Pasa written by Paul Simon seems to be the theme song of Peru. We hear it everywhere, with a million variations. Always instrumental, usually with pan flutes. Apparently Paul Simon spent time in Peru, was told that the tune was an old folk song, and wrote his song. Later he was sued by the author's son, and Paul Simon said "oops".
It takes 21 hours to drive from Cuzco to Lima. We decided to take the one hour domestic flight instead. They actually fed us a "meal" and a drink for a one hour flight. It took a LONG time for the plane to get into the air on takeoff. Because of the altitude, the air was so thin that the engines didn't develop the same thrust.
We landed at noon and had to catch a bus from the airplane to the terminal. Our bus had to wait for the flight crew before it left. It took 15 seconds to get our luggage. We were picked up by our old friend Pabel. Surprise surprise, our hotel rooms had not been booked for tonight. Everything up until this point had been so well organized, this was unexpected. We had thought we would be staying at the same hotel we stayed at before in Lima, but we were told it was full. We weren't sure why they hadn't booked our hotels ages ago. They instructed Pabel to take us to a different hotel, the Carmen. When we arrived, we were told that we could all stay here tonight but there was no room for the 2 of us tomorrow night. Finally, we were told that we could stay tomorrow night but the only room available was a suite for $50 US more. So rather than stay in the suite for 2 nights, we will stay in a normal room tonight and switch rooms tomorrow. We're used to moving by now.
After another late lunch, Anton had a mid afternnon nap and Frankie went to the lobby with a book. It was so odd to hear Christmas music when every day has been so warm and sunny for us. Heather and the kids are off to the jungle tomorrow, so the front desk has arranged for a boat tour for us and Pete. Carlos who runs the tour came to meet us this afternoon to arrange everything. He hardly spoke english and we don't speak a lick of spanish, so we're not exactly sure what we are getting into. He was able to produce a brochure, so we have some confidence that something will happen. At worst, it will be an adventure!
Julia wasn't feeling well, so in the evening the other 5 of us went for a city walk for a few hours. There was a lovely park with flower gardens. Wonderful to see in November! The park had hundreds of stray cats that people were petting and feeding. There was a circular area for vendors, and these were the least pushy vendors we have seen in Peru.
We walked around and soaked in the city life. So different than what we have back home! Our hotel is very nice, but my, the traffic is loud!
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