The alarm shattered the silence this morning at 6.30am, and we lay in the darkness for a few minutes reflecting on the fact that we should have been well on the way to Lima by now.
We got out of bed and I didn’t have to get dressed as I was already still dressed from the day before. Just as well everything was clean on. I didn’t have any toiletries or cosmetics with me, so I used a damp piece of tissue to clean the smeared mascara from under my eyes. At least I had my comb and brush in the rucksack, so I was able to tidy my hair before scraping it back into a short ponytail. I decided I would purchase some antiperspirant, eye pencil and mascara at the airport.
The room at least had tea and coffee making facilities so we made ourselves a cup of instant coffee. There was only one sachet of powdered milk between both of us, so the coffee was pretty strong and dark. Never mind: it was something hot inside us as the temperature outside was a chilly -2°C. Madrid is fairly mountainous and is far from any coastline, hence the surprising temperature from what is seen as a ‘hot’ country.
For breakfast we ate the remains of our goody bag from last night; I had a yoghurt and an apple and Trevor ate his and my remaining sandwiches.
We didn’t have any cases to pack (!!) so we were straight out of our room and down to the crowded hotel foyer to await the coach, which arrived just before 7.30am.
Off we went through the darkened streets, back to the airport. As it was a working day, there was quite a lot of traffic about, but as our flight wasn’t until 13:10 hours and we were already checked in for it, we had plenty of time.
Presently the coach pulled up at the airport, terminal 4, and we alighted and carried our rucksacks inside. We had to take the train again to terminal 4S, so we made our way there. Then it was just a case of going through security (again!) and proceeding to the departure lounge. Before that, however, I bought a roll-on antiperspirant, a black eye liner pencil and a mascara, and went into the nearest Ladies to apply them.
After wandering around the shops and listening to the endless announcements in both Spanish and English over the PA system, we decided to cheer ourselves up by going and having a beer. Yes, I know it was not yet nine o’clock but at airports the usual drinking niceties don’t seem to apply. 🙂 As we hadn’t had much breakfast, we shared a Spanish ham sandwich between us.
We each enjoyed a cold bottle of Mahou beer as we waited until after 10.00am (which would be 9.00am back home). This was because we needed to call Hay’s Travel to let them know that we would be 13 hours late arriving in Lima, as they had organised a car to take us from the airport to the Lima Pullman hotel. We also needed them to let the hotel know that we would be checking in much later than anticipated.
Much of the time at any airport is spent sitting around, and today was no exception. At 10 o’clock we made the call to Hay’s, and our travel agent Ashley said she would speak to Azamara Cruises and call us back to confirm the new arrangements. This she did, and she advised us that the car would be at Lima airport waiting for the arrival of Iberia flight IB125.
And so the time dragged on, until we spotted on the departures board that the Lima flight was boarding at 12.30pm at Gate 12. Off we went, and we joined the queue which started moving soon afterwards. I was tired, scruffy and grubby and quailed at the thought of the 12-hour flight to come.
Once again, we had been allocated seats on the starboard side of the A150-900 series aircraft. A Peruvian man sat at the window, then Trevor was in the middle seat and I had the aisle. We took off on time and settled back in our seats for the long journey to South America, of nearly 6000 miles. 🙁
Once we were at cruising height, the cabin crew started coming round with our lunches. I was good and hungry by now because we hadn’t had much to eat at all in the previous 24 hours. We enjoyed a meal of potato salad, roast chicken with rice and ratatouille, washed down with some vino blanco and finished off with chocolate mousse.
Afterwards I had a look at the AVOD screen to see what movie offerings there were, but there was nothing I particularly wanted to watch. I contented myself with reading my book, a very apt choice of Mutiny on the Bounty by Peter Fitzsimmons, as we would be visiting Pitcairn and Tahiti during our cruise.
Time passed very slowly. Every so often I stood up and walked around the aircraft, bending and stretching my legs and marching on the spot. The minutes and nautical miles to go continued to count down inexorably as I tried to get some shut-eye. Eventually, and because of lack of sleep last night, I did manage to fall into an uncomfortable doze; I really cannot sleep properly unless I am lying down.
In addition, the flight was pretty turbulent at times, something which always makes me feel very nervous. I tried not to dwell on the fact we were imprisoned in a tin box about five miles above the Atlantic ocean, with nothing in between. 🙁
Soon the refreshments trolleys started down the aisles once again. This time, we were offered a soft drink and a Spanish tapas snack box, consisting of pâté and mini breadsticks, some mini chorizo sausage and a pack of olives, all of which I found delicious.
I read my book, looked out of the aircraft window, or sat staring at the little aeroplane on the Skymap making its way in a south-westerly direction across the Atlantic. I watched as we crossed the Tropic of Cancer at 23° 27’ N and, quite a few hours later, crossed the Equator into the southern hemisphere.
When there was about four hours left of the flight, the refreshments trolley came around once again; this time we had a hot ham and cheese sandwich washed down with orange juice and coffee.
Finally, thankfully, the seat-belt sign was switched on as the captain’s voice advised us that soon we would be landing at Jorge Chavez International Airport, Lima. Out of the aircraft window we could see the land below us getting closer and closer, and soon we were down with a bump, and speeding along the runway. We had arrived safely, and I gave a huge sigh of relief. We had landed ahead of schedule at 6.30pm.
Inside the terminal building, we queued for a short while at passport control, then we were through and making our way to the luggage reclaim. It took a good hour before our suitcases turned up. Because we’d had to leave them at Madrid airport last night they were probably among the first cases loaded onto the new flight, which meant they were among the last ones off. As Trevor stood at the carousel and I sat with the rucksacks, I hoped that our cases would actually turned up. Imagine going on a luxury cruise ship with no clothes other than the ones we were standing in! It didn’t bear thinking about, and we have known it happen to other people in the past.
Anyway… the cases appeared on the carousel and we thankfully retrieved them and trundled them around to the airport exit. Among the drivers holding up signs with people’s names on them, we spotted an AZAMARA CRUISES sign with “Trevor and Debbie” written on it. Our driver! 🙂
As we thankfully loaded the cases and rucksacks into the boot of the car and took our seats in the back, the driver handed us a chilled bottle of water each. It took about 30 minutes before we arrived at the Lima Pullman hotel in the fashionable Miraflores area of Lima. It was now 9.00pm, but we were here at last.
We were too tired (it was after 2.00am back home) and grubby to go out anywhere, so after dumping our bags in our large, comfortable room, we hotfooted it down to the hotel bar. Perching on a bar stool, we each ordered a cold bottle of Cusqueña beer, which we remembered from our visit in 2014. The beer was accompanied by some newly-cooked potato crisps and was very welcome. I kept thinking “We’re in Peru!” and it was such a great feeling after all the stress of the previous 24 hours. 🙂
We followed our beer with Peru’s national drink, a classic Pisco Sour. It consists of a local spirit, Pisco, mixed with sugar and lemon juice and topped with a frothy egg white and Angostura bitters. It was tangy and delicious.
Afterwards, tiredness caught up with us, so we returned to our room, thankfully got washed and cleaned our teeth, and got undressed and into our clean pyjamas. Sliding into the clean sheets of the large bed was sheer bliss.
Tomorrow we had the morning at leisure in Lima, and we would be joining the Azamara Onward in the afternoon. Our amazing South Pacific adventure had started now, and this time we slept very well. 🙂