27th April- A good grilling........

27th April- chilling before flight 10 & 11 & the drama that unfolded next!

We had a nice lie in, followed by a leisurely breakfast, and then headed to floor 11 & the roof top spa! Graeme had privately booked the sauna & jacuzzi for our last morning in Peru. He knew I wasn't up to walking around and travelling really takes it out of me. Unfortunately, the desk hadn't passed on the booking to the spa staff, so nothing was ready for us. It was no big deal, as they soon put it right, we just had to wait a little while for the sauna to heat up. It was nice having the whole place to ourselves. The jacuzzi was out on the roof, in full sun, where we lay on sunloungers, getting in & out of the water, while watching big bald headed vultures swooping above us. They came in so close- I kept moving, so they knew I was alive & wouldn't try and peck at me! It was a perfect end to our time in Peru. I've got to admit, I did feel a little sad to be leaving.

Once showered & ready, our driver & guide picked us up for the airport.

Flight one went without a hiccup. We changed plane in Panama, and that was pretty smooth too- although it's a huge airport & there was no one in the buggies to give me a lift accross the airport. I was glad of the motorised walkways. 

We seemed to wait an eternity at Cuba for our luggage, while customs had spaniel sniffer dogs running between everyone waiting. The bags were all stuck - bottlenecked above the steep carousel. A member of staff ran up it and got it moving again. Finally our ruck sacks came out, and we went through passport control. Then the fun started. Security had my name written down on a piece of paper. I was asked why I was in Cuba, where I was staying, when I planned on leaving, if I knew anyone here & if I'd been before. They seemed surprised when I answered yes. I explained it wasn't on that passport, and before I married, so in my old name. The sniffer dogs were brought back, and still weren't interested in our bags or us. Graemes ruck sack had a note on it saying package inside….then it all became very weird. They asked me to open Graeme's bag and quizzed me re what was inside. Which was dirty washing after 5 weeks of travel! The young female security worker was very interested in one of the dry bags inside. I told her it was our wet things from the hotel spa this morning. I opened it for her. Still looking at me, she put her hand in the bag- quickly pulling it back out, saying "it's wet!". Again, "yes, I told you- it's what we wore in the hotel spa this morning.. " she went into the room behind her, came back out, had a heated conversation in Spanish, at a million miles an hour with another member of staff & looked thoroughly fed up. I guessed she had told whoever, it was a waste of time going through our bags as there was nothing but dirty ( & wet) clothes. They clearly disagreed and I was then taken into another room and questioned again. This went on for well over an hour. I found the whole thing a bit bemusing to be honest, & wasn't worried about any of it, as knew we had nothing to hide & they were just doing their job. Then she asked me if I was pregnant. I laughed and said "I'm 50 & a grandma ". The other worker laughed. "No, I am not pregnant", I said .."just a bit chubby". Then I was taken into another area & x-rayed, so it made sense why they'd asked. Maybe I am not that chubby after all I thought. Then Graeme was taken in, questioned & x-rayed. More conversations ensued between staff. Who all looked thoroughly fed up. We were told we could leave. In true comedy style, we couldn't get the door open to exit the airport. Everyone else from our plane was long gone, as was our pre arranged taxi to our hotel. We set a price with a taxi driver. Then it got wierder again. He said he had a friend in the car with him, who he'd drop off first. No problem. We put our bags in the boot & got in. There was a young man in the front passenger seat. "Oh hello again", I said "you got on our plane in Panama". He and the driver looked at each other & never said a word. I had recognised him instantly. I am people watcher, and quite observant of who is around me. We had been sitting at gate 25 in Panama, our flight was leaving from gate 23, but there had been no seats there, so I'd sat at the quieter gate. I remembered the young man clearly as he was very well groomed, and I had caught an exchange of glances between him and another man who had walked past me, before he had sat opposite me, until we had gotten up to board the plane. 

The strange thing was, we had been held up for hours at the airport, so how was he now in the same taxi? The driver had said he was dropping him off first, but then didn't. We were taken to our hotel, and both the driver and the young man got out and had a good look at where we were staying, before getting back in the car and driving off. Odd. Then we went up all of the stairs to the hotel, which was at the top of an accommodation block. We were told when we finally got to the top, as it was late, we would need to go into a different room to the one we had booked, and could move into our own room tomorrow. It was now after 4am, and I just wanted to go to bed, so didn't argue. We went into our temporary room and puzzled over what had just unfolded. Had I been "followed" from Panama? Were they now bugging our room, now they know which hotel we are staying at? Have they mistaken me for an international spy? Or did they think I was some kind of drug lord, using Graeme as a mule & that's why they had me open his bag rather than him? The mind boggles.  They will be bitterly disappointed when they realise how boring we are. Thinking about it though- they didn't even search the bag properly. We had bottles of Pisco in the bag, that weren't taken out, as well as bags of salt from the salt pans we visited in Peru. They didn't look through that either, despite it being crystals of various colours. It could have been a batch brewed up by Walter White for all they knew! In fact it is medicinal bath salts, bought as a means to encourage Uncle Bill to accept the offer of a motorised bath seat, to lift him in & out of his bath. He is into his natural remedies & I figured this would be the perfect way to get him to take the help offered. I didn't expect to be tailed as an international salt smugglers when I'd bought it. Only I could think it was a good idea to be 3 bags of crystal looking substances across borders in South America….I could have been locked up in a Cuban cell! Or given the rubber glove treatment! What a wally! In truth, it didn't even cross my mind what it could look like. It's a good job Sniffer Dog Spaniel's aren't that interested in bath salts, or I might still be in the airport.  Mind you, they didn't open my bags at all, and didn't find the salt in the bag they searched! Or the booze. I can't wait to see what happens when we go to fly back out! 

Speak soon,

Caroline 🕵️