Seventeen Countries In Twenty-One Hours And Twenty Minutes

OK, slight exaggeration. Screw you accuracy!


I did leave by plane at 10:05 on the twelfth of June and I did arrive in Cuzco at 6:50 am on the 13th. ( Friday the 13th...Ooooooo! ) I am of course not counting time changes because I'm lazy and who cares? My point? It takes a long ass time to fly to Peru. I was one of the lucky ones in that I had a direct flight from Canada. It would have been torturous has I not. (Although... reading through my journal I do believe it was nearly torturous anyway.) AND I did fly over or was in the vicinity of, seventeen different countries. Go me.


I awoke at 5am after a good sleep, strangest of strange. Sure, I was up multiple times with the nervous tinkles and sure, my body was buzzing and vibrating with an energy I could clearly see every time I closed my eyes. (Bright white light) But the fact remains, I woke up at 5am, satisfied by a restful sleep. The Hubs was already up and in a mood. How unusual, ha!I had decided long before that his moods mattered not to me. He had some issue with my leaving or something. Who knows. I could have spent time guessing what his problem was but frankly I did not give a rat's ass. Mostly. It still irked me but I was doing this. I didn't need his permission, blessing or cheery smile to make me feel safe and right.


I think I ate. Probably an apple and some nuts. I was driven to the airport by a grump, went through security with zero problems-I was even complimented on my shirt !-and soon sat myself outside my gate to Toronto.


What do my eyes find the second I surreptitiously start checking out my fellow humans? A woman wearing a Cusco shirt! Oh boy, did that make me squish up inside.
I was going there! I was going to Peru. "Squeee!" I sat there in awe and wonder and intense gratitude. I felt like the luckiest person.


My seat companions were "chill" as the kids say. Another fat lady was in the window seat and she was friendly and decent. We were joined by a thin man and we joked that we were going to make a man sandwich out of him, ha ha ha. He had the good graces to laugh along with us. He also had the good graces to put up with our chatter and questions.


I arrived in Toronto and was surprised by all the bloody traffic and dirty air I spied from the plane window. The doors opened and I was horrified by the damn humidity! Instant hair slump. Instant body drench. I navigated myself to my next departure gate-good thing I was wearing hiking boots!-and enjoyed a water and sandwich. It took me awhile but eventually the headache I'd been brewing went away and my body temperature went back to normal. I became very aware of my surroundings and the sound of Spanish speakers both excited me and made me nervous. The announcements were spoken in Spanish first, English second. And some of the announcement weren't translated at all. Eeek!


Never fear, the kindness of strangers would get me through. We were standing in line to board as yet another announcement was made, in Spanish only. A woman behind me asked if I understood. I nodded no and she translated it for me with a smile. I was so touched by her care! It turns out the crew needed to fix one of the wheels.


We boarded and I made a total dork out of myself by sitting in the wrong seat next to a very gregarious Peruvian man who would have become my new best friend had I not realised my mistake and moved. My true seatmate was a quiet chap and perfectly fine. It's just I'd gotten attached to Mr. Friendly in the short time I'd known him. Truth be told, he'd probably end up driving me nuts by landing time so perhaps its for the best!


Dinner that evening on Air Canada flight 081 was chicken and couscous in a spicy red sauce with vegetables, a bun, salad that included raw cabbage( yeah no! )wine and chocolate cake!


I spent the rest of my time looking out the window. I watched the moon rise in the sky accompanied by pastel shades of pink and orange, and blue and grey as the sun set. I saw an intense thunderstorm from above. Truly stunning and most exciting. One of those moments you can't forget. Mostly I just sat there, buzzing. Just as I was contemplating forcing the door open, we arrived in Lima Peru! I was energised instantly, even though it was 12:30 am and I'd been up way past my bedtime.


I left the plane smiling away to myself like an idiot but before I even made to the immigration desk, I was crashing! Good thing I didn't require much brain power to get through to my next flight. Bang! went the stamp on page 17 of my passport. (bastard! there was space on the first page!) Terse questions were demanded of me in English. I followed the rest of my fellow travellers to the customs line where we had our bags scanned then it was out into the arrivals lounge.Along the way I made friends with a nice foursome of Canadians.


We sat together and had a coffee-well, I had water. I was off the juice-and they were most kind. Offering to treat me to a drink when I didn't feel like breaking a large bill and keeping me awake with questions and good conversation.


The time passed quickly and soon I found myself travelling effortlessly through security again and nodding off gently in the domestic departures lounge.
Well. What a place. You could tell all the money went to the international side of things. It felt a bit like a dungeon, tucked away down in the basement. People were crashed out everywhere, sleeping and snoring like they were at home.


We were taken by buses without seats right on to the tarmac where we boarded a pretty sweet plane. I was flying with Avianca and their plane boasted super comfy seats and loads of room! I sat next to a couple and we all had plenty of space to move around. It was thrilling. Especially after being so cooped up for hours on my Air Canada flight in.
Soon I'd be in Cusco, where the real fun would start!

I'll be seeing you soon, beautiful Lima!