I'm going to keep this short and sweet since my brain is running on super low right now. Waking up at 3am to catch a 6am flight is a bastard. Of course that flight was to Amsterdam for a 4 hour layover and of course La Dieta prevents one from indulging in what vices Amsterdam has to offer, so the journey has not been a pleasant one.
The flight from Amsterdam to Lima took 13 hours and we couldn't even eat any salads the plane had to offer because they were all covered with dressing. So, for this 13 hour flight all we had to eat was banana and nuts. I couldn't even have a Soda water because it had salt in it. Hail.
We are now in a hotel room waiting for someone to deliver boiled vegetables to our room. I swear to the gods above and below, I am going to eat a small portion of the rainforest once we arrive at the retreat tomorrow. Every time I see or smell food (which has been MUCH more than usual the past few days) I groan - just looking at the word 'Pizza' or 'Pasta' is enough to make me shudder and look away.It's amazing how much one takes flavour and taste for granted.
My freakish intuition has struck again. While at the airport, the person in front of me at the ATM queue was having difficulty getting money out. After briefly sharing our woes over the issue, I looked at him and said, "You're going to Spirit Quest. Aren't you?" And indeed he is. Don't ask me how or why out of the hundreds and hundreds of people at the airport I knew he was one of "us" but I just knew. He seems like a really nice guy and definitely someone to look forward to having on this special retreat.
As for Lima the city. Well, it's nighttime here so not much can be said about the sights but in some ways it is a tragic place. A visible war of cultures both struggling for the soul of the Peruvian people - hideous neon lights flashing betwixt Inca statues and crumbling Catholic relics. Gawdy Adidas and Billabong shirts tainting the beautiful faces and skin of very obviously indigenous people. Collapsing structures blowing age-old dust on to busload after busload of tourists. These are strange times for the mind and soul.
No photo's taken as yet. Early bedtime tonight since it's another early morning start tomorrow for our flight to Iquitos. Next stop: Amazon Jungle.
The flight from Amsterdam to Lima took 13 hours and we couldn't even eat any salads the plane had to offer because they were all covered with dressing. So, for this 13 hour flight all we had to eat was banana and nuts. I couldn't even have a Soda water because it had salt in it. Hail.
We are now in a hotel room waiting for someone to deliver boiled vegetables to our room. I swear to the gods above and below, I am going to eat a small portion of the rainforest once we arrive at the retreat tomorrow. Every time I see or smell food (which has been MUCH more than usual the past few days) I groan - just looking at the word 'Pizza' or 'Pasta' is enough to make me shudder and look away.It's amazing how much one takes flavour and taste for granted.
My freakish intuition has struck again. While at the airport, the person in front of me at the ATM queue was having difficulty getting money out. After briefly sharing our woes over the issue, I looked at him and said, "You're going to Spirit Quest. Aren't you?" And indeed he is. Don't ask me how or why out of the hundreds and hundreds of people at the airport I knew he was one of "us" but I just knew. He seems like a really nice guy and definitely someone to look forward to having on this special retreat.
As for Lima the city. Well, it's nighttime here so not much can be said about the sights but in some ways it is a tragic place. A visible war of cultures both struggling for the soul of the Peruvian people - hideous neon lights flashing betwixt Inca statues and crumbling Catholic relics. Gawdy Adidas and Billabong shirts tainting the beautiful faces and skin of very obviously indigenous people. Collapsing structures blowing age-old dust on to busload after busload of tourists. These are strange times for the mind and soul.
No photo's taken as yet. Early bedtime tonight since it's another early morning start tomorrow for our flight to Iquitos. Next stop: Amazon Jungle.
Love readin this stuff..keep it up
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