Here we are sitting on plane heading to Peru. We heard about a Peruvian retreat from a friend in Salt Lake and toyed with the idea for a while. A couple weeks before, we finally decided to make it happen.
We left SLC at 6am, stopped in Dallas, Miami and now finishing this leg of the flight. Landing in Lima at night, we didn't get to see much of the landscape coming in. We did get to see the nice airport and sleep on the benches as we waited for our flight early the next morning.
Waking up at about 5am the airport was packed, but haven't not seen the other half of our group. The departures monitor showed a different gate than on our ticket, so we went downstairs to our gate waited. The gate monitor flashed boarding, so we got up to get ready to board. Just then the other half of our group showed up wondering where we were. They said we were at the wrong gate! What!? This one has our destination, flight #, and departure time. How can there be another gate that's correct? Lynn said, "Welcome to Peru, don't ask." So we went to the different gate, that was different than our ticket, different than the monitor and didn't even have the information on the gate. Sure enough, we waiting long enough for the previous flight to board and leave, the sign changed to Chiclayo. We boarded and immediately fell asleep.
After a short nap, we landed in Chiclayo, which is in northern Peru. We exited the plane through the rear onto the tarmac. We grabbed our bags in the small airport, and headed for the parking lot to find our ride. We heard that the van arrangement was upgraded to a bus because of the size of our party of 12. When we found our ride, it was an old van and car. They loaded our luggage 4 feet high on top of the van and covered it with a net and tarp.
We squeezed in the van like sardines and headed for the airport exit gate where the driver had to argue himself out of an unnecessary charge. We hit the roads in the city, which were more of a mix of dirt trails made of rocks and concrete. After about a mile, we stopped and waited as the car went on to pickup Zan, another friend of our party. Come to find out, Zan was a precious resource as he spoke fluent Spanish.
Before embarking on our journey to the city of Jaen, we needed to make two more stops; exchange our dollars for Peruvian soles and to checkout the local market. We drove to a part of town next to the banks where men in brightly colored vests stood on street corners yelling soles. Instead of going to the bank, we pulled up to one of these guys and negotiated some money exchanges. Zan explained that the rates for conversion is much better here than using the banks. So we handed this guy American dollars and he calculated the conversion and dug into his portable till, contained in a fanny pack, to get us soles.
We then went to the local market of Chiclayo which consisted of many little shacks and a plethora of interesting smells. We walked up and down the alleys of the market trying to stay with the group. We made a couple of stops to get some Palo Santo incense and some Mapachu smoking tobacco. Before heading out we weaved through the alleys past meat markets, where the walk ways were puddled with animal blood, to the fruit market to stock up on the many fruits available in Peru.
Shortly after getting the fruit we hit the road to our final destination, Jaen, which was over 6 hours away. The road was pretty well paved but had many dips and speed bumps, which hurt quite a bit when sitting in the back of a van that was overloaded. We made a quick stop at a gas station where everyone jumped out to use the restroom. This was our first experience with non-city bathroom. They charged us to use the bathroom that had no toilet seats or toilet paper. For a little more you can buy a few sheets of TP that you can't flush down the toilet, instead you place in a wastebasket.
We headed out of town where the houses became less dense and less modern. Most of the houses consisted of mud bricks, bamboo and corrugated metal roofs. They were either on the side of the road or on the ridges of steep mountainsides. There was a lot of trash strewn across the beautiful countryside.
The drive was very hot and tiresome. We slept as much as we could, but our hunger was getting to us. The delicious fruits we got at the market just weren't cutting it anymore. It had been quite a while since eating a meal. The driver eventually pulled over at a bigger home that was made of concrete and tile. On the front patio they had a large stove with oversized wood logs shoved into the fire. There were patio tables and chairs around the central cooking area and various meats strung from post to post like some sort of decoration. We ordered some beans, rice, and vegetables which really hit the spot.
We got back into the van with full bellies and continued down the road as we headed for the mountains. Up the small road we drove, swerving side to side, wishing we had seat belts. As we reached the higher altitude we were plunged into a thick fog and still we continued higher as it became darker. After a long while the light seemed to flicker back on and just then we reached the peak and the fog disappeared.
As we progressed on our journey it seemed like the driver was ready to get there too as he began to drive faster and faster. The landscapes became very vast with more vegetation and little towns that we passed through. We were stopped by the Police in one of the towns and our drivers had to get out to negotiate some kind of fee. One of us heard them mutter "Currupt Police".
Shortly after out stop we pulled into Jaen, a much bigger city than we have seen in a while. We drove through the streets for a bit and headed up a dirt road for a couple of miles before we arrived at a steep driveway that was deeply covered with trees. We have arrived at Cristina's land.
We've heard so much about Christina's land but still didn't expect a garden of such beauty. Located on a steep mountainside, trails wind through the thick foliage of flowers and fruit trees. Chickens, ducks and turkeys wander the main yard which is sorrounded by casitas (small buildings built of earth bricks and metal roofing). A path of stepping stones leads off in to the forest to the maluca (a ceremonial round bamboo structure with a palm leaf roof) and to the right, two rows of casitas head up the steep mountainside.
The main structure on the land houses the kitchen, a large dining area, and a few rooms. One room was just off the edge of the dining room. Christina's family lives in a small casita right outside the door of the kitchen. Above the kitchen is large teak deck and another room. This room was bigger to accommodate couples, so this is where we stayed for the visit. The deck overlooked the countryside of farms and mountains.
From our room and the deck, you can really hear to river rushing by at the bottom of the hill. The weather this week has been in the 80s, mostly cloudy, with rain from time to time.
The food they prepare here is all locally sourced. The chicken is fresh off the land and we are very grateful for them. The fruit has been amazing. Fresh mangos at every meal and so many other types of fruit we have never heard of. The avocados almost as large as a football.
Our amazing cook is Anita, a family friend of Christina's. Every morning at 6am, Anita, picks up food for the meals of the day that we are so very grateful for.
One day Shari mentioned that she would like some yarn from a local store, so Anita brought us down the hill to the neighbor who owns a motorcaro, a motorized taxi trike, and came with us to town.
It has been a very emotional week so far with many deep conversations with so many wonderful people. So many lessons have been experienced as we brainrinse away the years of brainwashings that we have all endured.
The medicina is great in Peru.
