The Journey Continues...

A couple of years have passed and the experience is still vividly alive in my memories. Since it had such a great impact on me, I decided to come back to Peru for a second travel experience. This time I will even stay longer and dive into the culture deeper by taking 2 weeks of spanish lessons at San Blas Language School in Cusco. After that I will be back on the road with my backpack heading north into the jungle and experiencing that side of Peru. 

I have no clue where I will go and I certainly don't know what will happen. One spot I definitely want to visit is Mancora close to the Ecuadorian border. Iquitos in the jungle is another spot I have to see. And I'm sure that along the way there's going to be many more beautiful spots to pass by.

I will update this blog when I come back and show you more photos, tell you some stories and let you virtually be part of my experience.

I can't wait.

Every journey comes to an end...

Day 23
2011-01-31
Arriving in Frankfurt

The next day we landed safely in cold cold Germany and this journey came to an end. Chris flew back home to Hamburg...I flew back home to Munich...both of us with a little more in our luggage as when we left.

Not only did we bring some souvenirs or clothes...I think the biggest thing I brought back was the immense experience, the countless impressions, the feeling that I had seen something so special that nothing can ever take this away from me. 

Peru has changed me in many ways...for the good.

This blog has come to an end now...almost 4 months after we came back from Peú. It took me time and effort to write everything down...but in the meantime it helped me memorize each and every moment of this beautiful journey.

Thank you for reading this blog and watching the pictures. There's more of them on my Flickr. Feel free to visit my albums and leave me some comments.


Sincerely

Umberto 

Unplanned layover in Bogotá

Day 22
2011-01-30
Visiting Bogotá - flight to Frankfurt

Bogotá from Monserrate

Well...the day before had left it's traces and we slept until 10 am I think. Since breakfast was included we went down to have breakfast. After that Chris went to the business centre to inform friends and employer and I tried to find out if there was any chance to get the best of this day. The concierge made a recommendation. She knew a taxi driver that could take us to the most important spots in Bogota. She only spoke Spanish but that was fine since I understand a lot. So I told Chris about it and he joined happily.

It was really amazing - we drove to Monserrat, to the historical centre, saw the president palace, the court and a lot of other important government buildings, had a nice traditional lunch and walked the university area. On our way back to the hotel we stopped briefly to buy some shirts. I had a feeling that we could need them for the flight back home. Once back in the hotel we got ready for our flight. We packed, got dressed (with shirts) and drove over to the airport. This time everything went fine and to keep the story short: We ended up being upgraded to business class and so the flight to Frankfurt was over in a blink of an eye.

Leaving Perú...

Day 21
2011-01-29
Flight to Bogotá

The day started perfectly. We got up early, had breakfast, packed our whole stuff and called a taxi to get us to the airport. Once there we checked in and then: the last odyssey started. We were told that the flight to Bogota was fully booked and that there was no chance to get on this flight. That was really bad and so we started to evaluate our options.

We couldn't take another route because the milage wasn't the same. Since we had a connection flight in Bogota at 10 pm we HAD to get to Bogota somehow and so we started to see if any other airline would fly to Bogota that afternoon. We were lucky. LAN Airlines were scheduled to leave at around 5 pm. That meant that we would be in Bogota on time for the connection.

We boarded and the flight went smoothly. Once in Bogota we rushed to the transfer gate. The station manager was a German woman and told me that the passenger numbers were really bad this night and that they were already overbooked. We had to wait until the last passenger had boarded to see if there would still be spare seats for us.

There weren't. We were in Columbia, our luggage was already on the way to Germany and we had nothing but our carry on luggage. I never had something like this before...and to be honest...it's kinda cool. :-) No waiting for your luggage...no heavy trolleys.

The station manager was very kind and she helped us organize a hotel room for the night - nearby the airport and with a shuttle bus connection. Well...only thing that wasn't as we expected: it was a five star hotel. We had spent almost 20 nights in hostals that merely had on star...but we didn't complain and so we storm trouped our castle for the night. Chris was exhausted and stood in the room. I had to go to the bar and have a drink after all those things that happened that day. We were really exhausted...but happy. When I came back, Chris was already in bed watching tv and I took a shower and joined him. After a while I fell asleep.

Lima & meeting Paola

Day 20
2011-01-28
When people get connected

The last day in Lima was a lazy one. We had breakfast, went to the beach, had a coffee at a restaurant on a pier which was really nice and walked up and down the beach watching the waves and surfers trying to catch the perfect wave. 

Afterwards we went to a barber shop to get a decent haircut and I did give my well grown beard a nice grooming action. ;-) We were able to join civilisation again...just kidding. Peru is a very civilised country. It was just easier not to care about hair and beard during our trip and to be honest I didn't even bring a razor or shaver. 

 

In the evening we met Paola - a friend and fan I met on Facebook. We had such a great time, had dinner and took a walk in Washington Park in Miraflores. It was pure fun and so cool to meet her. After that we went back to our hotel to be fit for our trip back home.