The Peru Trip - Day One

Morning of November 3rd

I walk up to the AeroPeru ticket counter at LAX with anticipation of adventures yet to come. I look around for Jerry and Sharon(the tour group leaders) but they have yet to arrive. I feel that I have already made a strong connection with Jerry and Sharon despite the fact that we have only communicated through e-mail and phone. I feel the anxiety of my rush to the airport and the residual feeling of Hawaiian jet lag beginning to recede a bit. As these feelings ebb I can feel a rush of energy coming from a place that is new to my sensibilities, a spiritual door beginning to open. Spiritual searches had produced in me feelings that I thought were on a "higher plane" in the past. Those feelings felt different than this. Was this a feeling of sublimated excitement over the upcoming trip or was this feeling a new energy, a new insight, a new awareness?

Off in the distance I see a tall man with long hair coming toward the counter with a group of people around him. I recognize Jerry from his picture in the brochure. He had also told me about his appearance beforehand. The chances of seeing someone else who is 6'8'' with long hair walking toward the AeroPeru counter were pretty slim! I see a woman with curly hair standing closest to Jerry in the group walking with him. This must be Sharon. They look like they are together even though they are 5 feet and two pieces of luggage apart.

A few minutes later Jerry and Sharon and the rest of the group that was with them are at the counter. The swirl of activity which begins the travel arrangements starts to take place. I greet Jerry and Sharon with leis from Maui. The energy which Jerry conveyed on the phone emanates like a searchlight from his blue eyes and his large frame. An energy emanates from Sharon's eyes as well. It is as friendly and warm as her voice was on the phone. The three of us share our energy with kisses and handshakes as the leis are exchanged. It is like we have been friends for a long time even though we have just met. I meet the other people in the group(except for a person leaving from Miami) but it is just a blur of names and faces at this point. Everybodys energies seem to have the feeling of vision quest beginning. We are all searching for something.

We board the plane. Next stop Mexico City. We have a 1 hour layover there. I begin to talk with some of the other people on the tour group. The people that I talk to have traveled many places and seen many things in their travels. I listen with great interest. My travels out of the country had previously been limited to Canada and mexican border towns. I listen with thirsty ears as images of the Great Pyramid, Chitzen Itza, even Antartica pour from the mouths of some of my fellow travelers.

We begin our descent into Mexico City. As the sun begins to set over Mexico City a pyramid can be seen on a mountaintop in the distance. It sticks up above the smog covering the huge collage of architecture that is Mexico City. Different people in the group figure out ways to get out of the body of the plane without getting off the plane. A loading platform and the jetway offer opportunities to stretch our legs and get some air outside of the plane. It seems like we are on the ground for hours. Eventually we leave. Next stop Lima! This part of the trip will take as long as the flight from Honolulu to LA. This is one long flight! No movies on AeroPeru. More conversation about strange and exotic places visited by my tour mates helps pass the time. I talk with someone who has been to Peru before. Not one person who I have ever spoken to who has been to Machu Picchu has told me that they we disappointed by the experience. Who knows what magic awaits there?

After what seems like a lifetime we descend into Lima airport. I look forward to seeing Lima despite what I have heard about it being a big, dirty city. It is still a big, dirty city IN PERU! Customs awaits. I have two duffle bags and two suitcases of clothes that I have brought to give away to Indian children. All these clothes were courtesy of a church rummage sale on Maui that "just happened" to occur two weeks before I left. I hope I don't get charged an import duty.

We get off the plane and begin the custom procedures. After we go through what seems like a lot of red tape(even though it really wasn't that much) we finally get our bags. The moment of truth arrives. "What is in these bags?", the customs lady asks. "Clothes", I say. "Push the green light", and that was that! I was through customs. The anticipation of new energies and spirituality was mixing with the negative energy of Lima airport as we passed by machine-gunned police on our way to the bus. The paranoid ambiance of Lima airport begins to fill me as I sit down on the bus. Suddenly the atmosphere changes. Jerry introduces Eric and Edith, our local tour guides. They would be a light in the the third world darkness at many points along our path. In fact they would be a light on our path period. Off we go into the Lima night!

The bus begins to leave Lima airport. We cruise through the shanty town and industrial area surrounding Lima airport. It looks like something between a war zone and a half built construction site. Someone on the bus comments that the bus is heading the wrong way down a one way street. At that moment I look out the window to see a van making a left hand turn into what the driver thinks is a one way street. It is heading straight for the front of the bus! As the awareness of nearing impact begins to take hold I am thrown forward along with the rest of the passengers on the bus as the brakes are slammed on. The brakes of the approaching van are likewise applied. We escape a collision with centimeters to spare. Jerry grabs the microphone of the tour bus. He says, "The adventure begins!", as we all laugh with relief.

The rest of the trip is a steady flow of billboards and businesses as we pass down large avenues. A few ladies of the evening are sprinkled on street corners along the way. The neighborhoods are changing as we move toward our hotel. We could be passing down streets in any city as we pass by Pizza Huts, Burger Kings, and Kentucky Fried Chickens. The neighborhood begins changing to a decidedly upscale appearance as we enter Miraflores. The area begin to looks like Laguna or some other posh waterfront community. A quick stop for water and we arrive at our hotel. A scramble in moving our luggage, a form to fill out, and we are checked in. Despite the fact that it is late and I am very tired I decide to hang out with some of the other people in the group near the bar. I have my first taste of a Pisco sour. Tastes a lot like a margarita. As I drift in and out of sleep I hear the shouts and street noise of Friday night Lima outside our hotel room. It is a sound that I would hear on and off all evening. The energy that I feel is definitely that of a big, dirty city but still something feels different. There is a feeling in my mind's vibration that is new. It is a dim vibration but it rings with a herald of what it could become. The adventure is beginning.

Sandy Craig Shaw
sandy@bodhisattvasoftware.com

Go to The Peru Trip - Day Two - Part I.

Return to The Peru Journal Page.