Peru - Lima

Dec 23, our luggage is heavy. Steve has a big backpack on his back, and I have two little bags on me. However, we are excited. We met Joe (Steve’s friend) in the airport.

On the flight from Miami to Lima, the flight attendants give everyone an entry form for Peru. Remember to get one and fill in the form before going through Immigration. It was Dec 24, 5.10am, when we arrived in Lima. We saw a lady line up at the Immigration counter and reach for her passport without the entry form. The staff gave her a form and asked her to go fill it out, then come back again! When you submit the form, the staff will stamp it and tear off the top part. The bottom part, which is the departure card, is returned to you. Please keep it properly. I lost mine somewhere, as you need to show your passport when you check in to a hostel, buy a train ticket, or check in at the train station or airport, or stamping at Machu Picchu. I wasted time & money to replace the departure card (will write about this in other post)!

After we checked in for our flight to CUZ in the Lima airport, we saw the flight status board showing that the earlier CUZ flights were delayed. We didn’t know what happened, but when our 7.40am flight was also delayed, oh… bad weather in Cusco (also spelled Cuzco).

As a Christmas greeting, LAN airline gave a little fruit cake pack (it seems like a local festival’s fruit cake, we saw some stores selling larger packs) to their customers. Our flight was delayed about 3 hours. We were in a LAN airplane when two passengers found their seats were occupied by others; of course, they needed to talk to the flight attendant since they had tickets but no seats. It took over 10mins and we saw two people were asked to leave the airplane. Finally, the airplane’s door is closed, and start to taxi to the runway. I saw Steve have his nap; he was tired. The airplane was on the runway but was not moving at all. I think over 10mins passed. I heard the pilot make an announcement in Spanish and not so clear English, and the airplane moved slowly to a parking place. Many people loosed their safety belts, Steve was awakened by the noise. I kidded him and said we had arrived in Cusco. Steve knew we had not. The airplane’s door opened and we were taken to the arrival area. We weren’t informed what to do. However, some Peruvians were arguing with a LAN staff, but we didn’t understand their language. We got the message from two persons who knew a little English: today CUZ flights were cancelled and all other flights to CUZ were full for the next 3 days. The LAN staff tried to get rid the crowd, but the Peruvians followed her and wanted her to give a solution!

We walked out of the exit to where the ticket counters are. We showed our boarding pass to the staff, and he pointed us to the counters with long lines of people. Steve went to line up. I was afraid we got in the wrong line as it was long, so I went to the front to explore it. I came to a counter which had three persons lined up in front of me. When my turn came, I asked the staff what to do with our CUZ flight. They asked how many people were traveling together. I said three persons and quickly waved my hand to Steve, to come over. We were told that there were waiting lists for a 3pm flight today. We decided to get the confirmed 11.30am flight the next day. So, we needed to stay the first night in Lima instead. The LAN airline was not well organized to handle this situation. There was no system or announcement to passengers about what to do since the flight canceled, and no compensation either. We felt sorry for those Peruvians who couldn’t reach Cusco in time for Christmas Eve. Were they still arguing inside there?

We found an internet center (15mins=S/3, 30mins=S/4, 1hour=S/7) to search for a hostel, and made a phone call to confirm rooms were available. We took a taxi (the fare was S/50) to reach the hostel in Miraflores.

Perhaps because it was Christmas Eve, the markets in Lima were very quiet. We just walked around a little while, even though the place looked safe, but we felt safer if we were back in the hostel before dark! Joe said he needed some food, so he picked a small restaurant near the hostel. Joe likes a local food called Chaufa, which is similar to Chinese fried rice.

I was tired and slept well. Staying in Lima was not in our plan. Even though the fireworks were noisy that night, I could sleep like normal after the fireworks ended. That’s because Lima is located at sea level. I had trouble sleeping when we were in Cusco, I got high altitude sickness there!

12月23日，旅行包虽然有点重，尤其辛苦Steve须背着大背包，而我是两个小背包，但心情却是兴奋的。我们与Joe（Steve的朋友）在机场会合。

从Miami到Lima的航机上，职员会分发Peru入境表格，每人请记得取一份先填写好。抵达Lima时已是12月24日5.10am，我们看到有一女士排了队至到她交上护照但却没呈入境表，关口职员给她表格，叫她去填写后再来！交上入境表，关口职员盖章后会撕脱下半部份出境卡给回你，那是出境时用的，请收好！当你住旅店、买火车票、迸入火车或飞机、盖Machu Picchu章时，须出示你的护照。我就是在其中一处失掉这出境卡，而费时费钱另做这出境卡（将于其它文章另写此事）！

在Lima机场办理到CUZ的机票后，当我们看到航机起程的营幕出现CUZ早机都延时，也没理解何故，当我们的7.40am班机也延时，才晓得，噢…Cusco（Cuzco）的天气恶劣。

适逢佳节，LAN航机送给户客小蛋糕（这似乎是此地的佳节蛋糕，我们看到在各地商店售卖这类大蛋糕）。等了3小时延长，上了LAN飞机，有两人的座位已被别人坐着了，当然该人有票却没有座位便向机职员交涉，约有几十分钟后，似乎有两人被调离去。终於飞机关上门，来到跑道。我看身旁的Steve已疲倦睡了，飞机在跑道上停了几十分钟却没跑，我听到机師用西班牙语及不很清楚的英语，飞机慢移至另一处停着，很多人脱掉安全带，Steve被扰醒了，我开玩笑说，已到了Cusco，当然Steve不会相信。机门打开了，我们被送到班机抵达处即出口，我们不晓得将被如何安排。一群秘鲁人向LAN的职员交涉争吵，我们听不懂他们的语言，从两位略懂一点英语的人中得知，今天的CUZ 班机都不能起飞，而接连三天的班机也爆满了。LAN职员设图走开，秘鲁人群死不罢休围跟着她，似乎一定要该职员解决！

我们走出门，看到是办理机票处，拿着机票根问一职员，他指向很多人排长队的地方。Steve也跟着排队，我看人群太多了也怕排错队，所以我决定去打探，来到最少人约三人排队的柜台，等轮到处理我时，我问要如何办理这CUZ的班机，该职员问我有几人同行，我赶忙向远处排长队的Steve招手来我这儿。该职员说若我们要换今天3pm班机是在候补名单，我们决定换为明天确定的11.30am班机票，所以我们的第一晚必须改住在Lima。LAN航空公司的执行实在很差，不仅没有系统式的告诉你或扩播给所有的乘客，班机取消后应如何做，也没有任何补偿。可怜那些秘鲁人可能赶不到Cusco庆祝圣诞除夕夜，他们是否还在里边争吵吗？

我们到纲络中心上纲（15mins=S/3, 30mins=S/4, 1hour=S/7）找旅店，打电话洵问确定有房后，即坐的士（的士费S/50）抵该旅店。

也许是圣诞除夕，Lima市很冷清。走了一会，虽是平安夜，还是在夜幕来临前回旅店较平安吧！但Joe说要喂肚子，所以他在旅店附近选了一小食店用餐。当地有一种类似华人炒饭叫Chaufa，Joe很喜欢。

累了，睡得很好。住Lima一晚不是在我们的计划中，好处是地区在水平线，虽然午夜被燃放烟火声吵，大致上可如常安睡。这是过后我们抵达Cusco，我感受到高原反应，没得好睡！