We stayed with the Brownlee's last night so that we could get an early start to the airport. They have a suite attached to the house and we had a very comfortable night. We were up at 3:45 to leave at 4:30. Dave had muffins and coffee for us and it was a good start to the day. We were only sorry that he wouldn't be joining us on the trip. Jill , Roy and I joined the queue for American airlines. While walking through the airport I saw Shari from guild. She was flying West Jet but I couldn't hear where she was going.
Shelley, tour organizer, travel agent was ahead of us in the line. After hello her news was not at all good. Our flight to Dallas had been canceled due to a snow storm. In Dallas, you've got to be kidding! Nope. We lined up in order to have our flight rebooked. When Shelley got to the desk we all stood over to the right side of the line so people not on the tour could get by. There we stood for 3 1 /21hours. Poor Shelley stood at the ticket counter and the American Airlines lady stood behind her computer trying to get us all on flights. The delicious muffin was becoming a memory. There was lots of joking in line about going to Winnipeg. It was terribly disappointing but at least we were safe. Some 7 people were put on a flight to Los Angeles, yeah. They didn't have time to clear customs and they came back. Start all over again. Eventually a few people were put on a flight to New York. Some were sent to LA and there was talk of Mexico City. We'd like that. Nope we got San Francisco to Cancun with a 1 hour stop in San Francisco. Tight if we have to change terminals.
Our flight now leaves at 7:30 pm and as it isn't ten yet we head back to the valley. Jill would like to repack her bag and I am not happy with our new Rick Steves carrybon. It is a rolling bag and with my rolling duffel it is to many wheels to manage. Back to Dave and Jill's vehicle. Back to their house. We took all but Roy's carry on home with us in case we wanted to change my carry on bag.
First stop - ABC restaurant for something to eat. It was 11:30 and that 4 o'clock muffin wasn't even a memory any more. I had texted the kids and Carol on the way home and talked to Carol. We called Kim from the restaurant so we could find out how Joe was. We were sad to learn that he seems to be deteriorating quickly. Praying for them.
After a welcome meal we headed home and figured out how to connect the new bag to the duffel and had a much needed rest. I read and napped and felt much better for it. Roy said he stayed awake but he isn't much of a napper. Dixie from Maritime called with information about our hotel in Cancun. What a pain. We get in at 7:00 am and fly out to Lima at midnight. It will be a long day. We are sharing a room with Jill. There are 4 ladies from the tour on our flights.
We stopped at the money exchange and got a few more US dollars and some pesos. We will have to pay for a taxi and eat in Cancun.
Back at the Brownlee's we reloaded our luggage in their car and headed back to the airport. We got an upgrade for free - lots of leg room. We also got aisle seats for the Vancouver to San Francisco but not San Francisco to Cancun. That is really too bad as it the longer flight and we won't have the upgrade.
We used our Nexus pass to go through customs and didn't save much time but it was fun to do it. Had dinner and boarded our flight which was 20 minutes late. This caused a fair bit of worry as we are short of time in San Francisco. What is we miss the next flight? What if we miss the flight and our bags go on to Cancun? What if...
We are in the air and have made up a bit of time. The flight crew say we will be fine. Hope they are right. Roy is sitting with Elly and Erica, two of our tour ladies, and they are talking a mile a minute. The young couple next to me is young and in love so aren't interested in me.
I can feel my right foot swelling.
Next stop, San Francisco
Well, no frills certainly means no frills. We did get a small glass of water. Our flight arrived a little early so we had no difficulty getting to the plane. We had the emergency exit row again so that is why we got the upgrade for more leg room.
Our day in Cancun has been pretty uneventful. Arrived ahead of schedule. They have baggage carousels now. Not like previous trips when they just put the luggage on the floor and you had to wade through and find iť. They still have the red button to push to determine if you get a red light or a green light got a customs check. We got green. Had a taxi van bring us to our hotel. $110.00 for 7 of us. .Roy just confirmed that they will pick us up this evening. Few of the ladies tipped and the driver was angry!
Our hotel rooms were to be ready for 7:00. They weren't going to be ready til 3;00! Joy! Eventually the had them ready just before 11:00. It took persistance. Jill is sharing our toom. Erica and Elley are sharing as are Maureen and Sharon.
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Roy and I went for a walk and to find water. We walked about 1 to 2 km and it was hot! There was no water at the gas station we walked to so on our way past the hospital next door to our hotel we stopped in at the pharmacy and they had water for a low price. Why didn't we do that in the first place? Oh well, we got a walk.
Up to the roof top to check out the pool then a shower and bed for some shut eye. Jill was already asleep when we got to our room. We all got about 3 hours sleep. Up to the pool for a couple of cervesas then down for dinner and back to the airport.
There was a long long line for our flight. It seemed to go on for ever. When we finally reached the desk the clerk asked if we spoke Spanish. When we said no he replied that he didn't speak much English but that we had a much bigger problem. He never did say what it was but we got to sit together. Later some one suggested that he had wanted to place us in the emergency aisle but couldn't because we didn't speak Spanish. That was probably it but we were worried for a few minutes that we wouldn't have seats.
We deplaned, is that the correct term, Lima. You get out the old fashioned way - down the steps that are wheeled up to the plane a on to a bus. We had a freaky adventure. As we followed the other passengers a young woman asked, we thought, where we were from. We said Canada and followed the herd. We had to go through the scanners again. These foreign countries! They make you do such strange things. The ladies we were with must have been way ahead because we couldn't see them anywhere. Strange they would get that far ahead. We had to take our money belts off and they were quite abrupt about asking. Finally we passed the test only to find there was no way to the baggage claim area. We had joined the queue to adjoining flights! Duh! They had to get special permission to let us back out on on our way to seek our friends who got a head because they went the correct way. What an experience. We were taken to the Dazzler where we had breakfast and crashed.
It was good to put our heads on a pillow in a real bed. I washed the things we had been wearing before I went to bed. Roy was in bed and asleep almost the instant we got in the room. He hit his jet lag wall. Before I got to bed a man came to fix our safe. Just as I was drifting off it occurred to me that I should have put out the do not disturb sign. Ah, who would come knockinhg at our door. Well, they came to get our laundry and awhile later they came to clean our room. Thankfully I had the presence of mind to ask for more bath towels, our room didn't need cleaning.
We met up with the whole group for lunch at the hotel. Everyone had tales of their adventure in getting to Lima! Shelley and her group went to Mexico city. The people who went to LA had interesting times and the New York group sat 3 hours on the tarmac in NY. Everyone was happy to finally reach Lima. Travel has become so easy and we take it for granted that we will get on the plane at the appointed time.
Maria or Maggie as she asked to be called is our guide. We had a tour of Lima. The areas we drove through were very run down. The square in downtown Lima was beautiful. It is surrounded by the city hall, a church built by we think, Pizzaro. It had amazing balconies but we didn't go inside. The wood for the balconies was imported from Europe and they were the first in Peru and they were copied. Maggie said there are 500 like them. We walked to the corner by the church balconies and we're on the Inca trail. We walked to a museum and church owned by the St Francis of Assisi order. Lots of tiles imported from Portugal. Beautiful flowers in the cloister. We visited the catacombs. They estimate 50,000 people were laid to rest in the catacombs. It seemed there were lots of femurs. Long femurs. The church itself had lots of ornate statues, mainly of the virgin. The library was very old and Maggie said the books,that are not in great condition, have been copied. It was a beautiful library with curved stairs and sky lights but the books are not being cared for. After the museum we boarded the bus and we're taken back to the hotel. Everyone was pretty tired. We were happy to have some dinner and go up to our room. We repacked small bags for our trip to the Nazca lines and went to bed.
In Peru all children are entitled to an education but their parents must pay for it. As it seems to be a country of extremes there are many children whose family cannot pay. It is so sad. There are huge shanty towns with so many eking out an existance. There is no medical system either.
Day 2 Peru
We set out to visit the Nazca lines and tomorrow Balas as island at 7:00am. We drove through some prettier areas. One with a strong Spanish influence and a another was an artsy community. We got to a working community and the buildings were much poorer. There were long lines of tiny blue and white cabs. 3 wheelers like dik diks in India. I know this because of the best Marigold Hotel! Some times there are 10 or 15 in a row. They look like minions in Despicable Me.
We drove for 4 1/2 hours to the Nazca lines airport. One short stop. Ugh and double ugh. It was not an exciting trip. I didn't know there was so much desert in Peru. It is endless. The Pacific Ocean was on one side of us for most of the trip but it was so foggy you couldn't see it.
Thousands of families must vacation at the ocean and they stay in rectangular cement boxes with 2 small windows , no paint no colour, set on plots of sand about 3 times the size of the building. Electrical lines to the buildings hang low between the uildings as well as the larger power line. Very dismal. March 1st is the first day back to school after summer holidays. Remember, we are at the Equator. All the holiday makers have gone home so it might look more cheerful with the buildings are occupied.
We also saw endlessly long chicken houses. Tarp like walls and thatch rooves. Poor chickens. The few cows we saw were pretty scrawny. In this desert there is fertile land and lots of agriculture. Amazing - how do you grow corn, potatoes, apples lemons, oranges, apples, asparagus. The potatoes plants grow as high as our corn. Our guide told us how many different varieties there are but we are a little doubtful. We passed through some very poor looking towns.
Finally we reached the Nazca lines. The while things was much more professional than we had expected. The planes are new and the pilots seem to know their stuff. They weigh you when you check in so they can balance the planes.
There are usually 10 people in a plane. We wound up in one with 12 and we got the funny low seats in the very back. Before we set out Roy commented that is was going to be bumpy - he was right and you know where it is bumpiest - that's right -the back. We were fine but one of the gals was very air sick . The pilot makes very tight turns so that the people on both sides of the plane can see the figures. There is one seat on either side of the plane so everyone has an equal view. We saw 12 figures. Some are very large and some are quite small, however, it is difficult to judge size from the air. Some are easier to see too. It took 35 minutes to fly from the airport to the lines. We were over the lines for 20 minutes to one half hour and we're enthralled. What an experience. They believe the lines might be a calendar but no one knows for sure what they are. We saw the whale, the astronout, tree, condor, compass, trapezoids,dog, monkey, hummingbird, spider, heron and parrot.
We returned to the airport and as we had 2 who had suffered badly from air sicknesses we went straight to our hotel. It's 4:00 and we last ate at 6:30. So needless to say their were some mighty hungry folk on the bus. I had tuna and Roy had short ribs that were melt in your mouth tender. We sat with fellow travelers and of course talked of were we had been and where we would like to go. A favorite topic after grandkids and kids of course.
Tomorrow we are off to the Balestas islands. Penguins!!!
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