The Long and Winding Road....

Yay!  We're going to Malta!  All we have to do is drive to Brighton, spend the night with a friend, leave our car there and fly out from Gatwick the next morning, no problem.  We set off on our road trip leaving Manchester on time at 11am, music on, food supplies, heat blasting and blue skies. 

What a shock we had at the first rest stop along the way with the freezing wind whipping through our hair and jeans!  We could already see frosting on the ground and cars coming from somewhere snow laden, but as of yet we hadn't seen any falling from the sky.  The second time we stopped the occasional flake was dancing from the heavens, but we weren't worried.  We were heading south, it wouldn't get worse!  As we left the rest stop, traffic was sitting still.  We googled the traffic report which told us that a dangerous lamp post was across the road.  It was pretty windy, but we patiently waited for that little drama to be cleared up and finally we continued down the A23.  

Meanwhile the weather actually was getting progressively worse!  A full blown howling blizzard was throwing snow at the car and coating the roads and countryside remarkably quickly.  I still wasn't particularly concerned, even though it has been literally years since I have driven in the ice and snow having magically avoided the worst of winter's past.  Leisa was kind of enjoying it, coming from Australia blizzards aren't really in her realm of experiences.  But we were still making good time and in about an hour we would be in Brighton.  Or so we thought.

Roadworks didn't help the situation but our flow came to a dead halt.  "Oh good we're moving again," about .1 of a mile.  We inched along until the inches became millimetres.  Day turned into night.  Minutes turned into an hour which turned into five hours.  We rang our friend to see if he could find out what was the hold up.  Apparently there was an accident on the A27 which was making cars back up so none from the A23 could get off and Brighton also was in a gridlock so there simply wasn't anywhere for any of the cars to go.  

Those five hours were entertaining to say the least, we discovered Magic Radio station and sang our hearts out recounting stories from our youths related to each song.  We made an executive decision to turn off an on ramp against all the cars facing us, driving precariously down the side narrowly avoiding a muddy ditch.  "Come on Gladys (my car), you can do it!"  We noticed how BMW's and Audi's were getting stuck, slipping and sliding all over the place, but my trusty "new" VW Golf ploughed her way through.  Thanks to the fabulous Tomasina (my sat-nav, Tom-Tom, get it?) we managed to carefully snow plough to the A23 going north and drove for a luscious few miles before hitting yet another wall of cars.  Traffic that already had their motors switched off...not a good sign.  

By this point we were a little concerned as we were down to below a quarter of a tank of petrol.  The blizzard was relentless and well, we really had to pee!  Leisa and I really like our bathroom breaks and we had been holding it in for about six hours by this point.  Stepping out of the car was simply not an option, we would have been soaking wet and cold.  I reached behind me, scrambling in my bags and pulled out some nail scissors.  Water bottles long empty, I held them up presenting my latest creative idea!  We laughed hysterically as I manicured the water bottle into a neat little cup.  "You first, mind the sharp edges!"  It was a particularly bonding moment when Leisa handed me her full to the brim cup of pee.  I sat there not wanting to move with it while she wrestled with her underwear.  There was a guy outside making a video so we are hoping this little episode does not appear on YouTube!  One classic sentence I will never forget was right after when Leisa looked at me solemnly and said, "I'm really sorry I peed in your new car."  I didn't do much better...

We began to prepare a list of essential items to have in your car at all times a "She-Wee" topping the list as we sat on plastic bags and in somewhat dampened blue jeans.  We discussed all the potential drama’s that could have been happening in other cars; screaming babies, childbirth, illness, arguments or not having any supplies what-so-ever!  I read once that having a candle in your car can save your life if you are trapped in severe cold because it can generate enough heat to prevent frostbite.  We watched a woman help another car get unstuck by placing her car mat under their back tyre.  We agreed having one of those aluminium rescue blankets would be a great plan as well as a big bottle of water, hand-wipes and an entire roll of paper towel.  Recently I purchased a dongle when I stayed with a friend with no internet.  Our whole business is run through the internet so that really came in handy too.  I was able to email the people in Malta and find an airport car parking service that would ALSO completely valet our car for us (including shampooing the seats) while we were away.


We ran out of water, put on more layers and waited for information.  Eventually the fire rescue people came, "Did you bring us Starbucks?" we asked, hopeful.  Alas, no, but they did give us more water and told us to get comfortable because we wouldn't be going anywhere for quite some time. 

 I know, I'll do some crocheting!  We dabbled with the idea of making snow angels on the A23, and if we had had proper winter gear we probably would have, but we were packed for Malta!  We cancelled the airport hotel reservation we had made and sang Aya Hut songs, turning the car on sparingly when we had to have some heat.

Finally, only 15 miles outside of Gatwick, as dawn seeped into the snowflakes, we started moving again and at a break-neck speed of 20 miles an hour, once even hitting 30, we arrived at Gatwick.  The SureParking people met us at departures and collected our car with a rushed exit from us and a promise to pay them when we got back, IF we managed to catch our flight.  They were GREAT.  Running as fast as we could lugging bags, we arrived at check-in just as our gate was closing and were not allowed to go through.  There must have been 700 people queueing.  

We were exhausted, but headed to the loo for an actual toilet and change our pee pants!  Then we had some coffee and decided what to do.  We were luckily able to change our flights to the next day before the 700 people who missed their flights showed up in that queue.  We booked an airport hotel, had breakfast, shopped for food and finally got a shuttle bus over to the hotel.  Hot baths and showers later, we crashed until re-boarding the shuttle bus at 4am and finally, FINALLY made it to Malta!

One of our mantras is: "We always get what we want!" We have been laughing about needing to look at our belief systems perhaps re-defining in our minds what KIND of adventures we want to attract!  What we do know is that even in the face of adversity we managed to absolutely make the most of it, enjoying hilarious, bonding moments and never losing our cool.  We were thankful for each other and for focussing on all the good things about our journey.  And now, despite the gale force winds and rain in Malta, we are grateful for the spa. 

Look, a Puma!

Okay, this is not really a puma, it is an ancient fish-like creature carved into a stone.  Leisa and I had many giggles over Roberto proclaiming, "It's a puma!" about nearly every rock formation we saw.  Most times we needed to look outside the box to remotely interpret a puma, but we appreciated his excitement.  

At Pukara, the first regional population center in the northern Lake Titicaca Basin, he explained that in ancient times there were puma's that swam and puma's that flew. We decided this must be one of the swimming varieties.  

I think symbolically he was referring to the power of the puma encompassing all the levels of the Peruvian trilogy. The uhupacha or under world where our ancestors dwell, symbolised by a serpent. Kaypacha, the middle world archetype of the puma, where we live.  Finally, the upper world, hanaqpacha, the house of the gods represented by the condor.

Because we are connected to all of these levels all the time but live in the kaypacha, he wanted to elucidate the power of the puma which is about the life cycle.  Mulching the old energies to create the new.  Pukara is identified by impressive monolithic sculptures with a variety of geometric, zoomorphic, and anthropomorphic images plus intricate, multi-coloured pottery in a variety of ritual and domestic forms.  We generally avoid museums on our travels preferring to skip the tourist trail when possible, but this little place was worth the visit and broke up the long drive back from Lake Titicaca.

Further down a long dirt road we stopped in a random corner shop wondering why, when Roberto informed us we would be having the best fresh lamb there!  Earlier we had stopped in a very small town for the "best ever" white cheese and cheese-bread.  We hadn't been disappointed by that so we ventured into this tiny store with a small table.  Someone found chairs for us while we watched a woman with a big knife unwrap a freshly cooked entire lamb.  We were served plates of the succulent meat and no utensils or serviettes.  This is why we travel with hand-wipes!

Here I am with Felix, our driver and Roberto across from me, about to dig in.  Roberto said that even 30 year vegetarians broke their meat fast and indulged here.  You can just see the woman behind Felix carving away.  The whole place was fragranced with eau de lamb!

We all had second helpings while gradually the room filled up with locals coming to buy their own portions to take home.  By the time we left, the entire lamb was nearly finished!

Appetites satisfied we hit the road again and drove through the stunning mountain scenery.  Roberto opened his window to blow prayers into a handful of coca leaves to honour the Puno Region as we left it and welcome the Cusco Region as we re-entered it.  The wind was howling and there was a light rain as he let the leaves fly out of the window. Most of them whipped right back into the backseat and into my face! We were in hysterics as I gathered up the prayer filled leaves, blew some more into them and set them free out of my window.

Puma leaves, leaping, flying and landing.  Puma's appear in cloud formations, mountains and anywhere you look for them.  Since then often when Leisa and I see something interesting, rare or funny we say, "Look, it's a puma!"  

Ayni in Peru with Carlos at Lucid Insight

This is our Peruvian colleague, Carlos Gibaja.  He organises all of our trips in Peru.  I first met him in 2008 when my sons came down to Peru individually to travel with me.  Normally when traveling on my own, I just see what the new day brings me and go with the flow, but I wanted to have more of a structure for my sons who were then 16 and 14.  A friend who had lived in Peru for half a year was in contact with Washi, Carlos’ younger brother and she put me in touch with him.  Washi organised the trips with my boys and one of our guides was Eddy, another of Carlos’ brothers.

Eddy took Roam and I up to the high mountain communities so we could join another group handing out school supplies.  It was a very moving day and there I met Carlos.  It was one of those immediate soul connections, like a remembering and we both wanted to speak longer but he had to tend to his group.  

When my older son Forrest came down to Peru I asked Washi to arrange for Carlos to be our guide.  But already inbetween trips, Eddy continued to hang out with us and I met Carlos again.  After the official trip with Forrest I asked Carlos to come to Lake Titicaca with us as our unofficial guide and it was there that Lucid Insight’s trips were born, thanks to Carlos’ suggestion.

He comes from an amazing background.  His beautiful mother Maria was left penniless with five boys.  Struggling to make ends meet, they would go out into the streets and sing for money from tourists.  One very caring woman rescued them from the streets and paid for their education.  Peru is kept alive with tourism and all five of the brothers have degrees in it but focus in slightly different areas.  

The beauty of their past is that they are the most down to earth people and have continued in the same vein creating charities that feed and provide for the less fortunate.  I personally know all of the brothers and introduce all my passengers to their wonderful mother who has a stand selling the best guide books at Ollantaytambo.

Carlos’ mission is to build kitchens and greenhouses for high mountain community schools where children have to walk three or more hours to school each way!  Some of these children would not have a hot meal in their tummies if it weren’t for the fresh food grown and prepared at the schools that Carlos works with.  

Ten percent of our trip costs go towards these projects and we take our passengers to visit one of the schools so they can see where their money is going.  It’s a very inspiring and emotional day out!   We would like to extend this into team building adventures for corporations who want to make a difference while experiencing some very needed re-connection with the beautiful Pachamama (Mother Earth).  

What I love about Carlos is that he (and all of his brothers) are very hands on, personally taking van loads of supplies up to flood victims, and dressing up like Santa Claus at Christmas for big ‘chocolatada’ (enriched hot chocolate) celebrations and gift giving.  They are constantly raising money for various projects, one of the more recent (and donating a lot of his personal money), was building a house for Teadora and her eight children to save her from an abusive landlord and alcoholic husband.  Not only that, but he does much of the physical labour himself.

Over the years he has introduced me to many wonderful shamans and together we have found the best working relationship and team.  His English improves every year and I so look forward to seeing him and trust him completely with our groups.  He is not only a fantastic organiser, but a beautiful, loving person and a dear close friend.  

His charity is www.paskay.org  We always joke that he knows everyone because everywhere we go he seems to have connections.  One day all the cars were being stopped by the police, but after a brief chat and handshakes with one of the policemen, (probably friends of someone’s cousin that Carlos helped), we were on our way.  

Carlos models brilliantly the true act of kindness and giving back.  The Peruvian philosophy Leisa and I at Lucid Insight try to live by is called AYNI, when what you give out comes back to you.  We are blessed to be working with Carlos.  

Please join us on our travels and meet the nicest Peruvian people you could ever hope to encounter.