A journey with 150 persons all wearing helmets
At 5a.m. a taxi-driver brings two passengers sitting in the back of his car from Curahuasi to Cusco, I am one of them. A plastic dividing wall separates the driver and passengers. Meanwhile most Peruvian taxis have this protection device.
In Cusco we queue at a two-metre distance along the exterior side of the airport’s wall. Argus-eyed police scrutinise the discipline of those lined up. In small groups we are then led into the building itself. Only one flight, the one I want to take, is seen on the departure screens, LATAM 2012.
After a short while we are sitting – all wearing face masks – far apart from each other in the departure lounge. Corona impacts all areas of public life. There where normally thousands of tourists are dealt with daily and where planes leave every 15 minutes, the 150 persons are watched intensely from all sides.
For the ten to-dos on my list I have pencilled in a two-and-a-half-day visit in the capital. God knows whether I can fulfil my plan.
That afternoon I am relatively successful at the National Doctor’s Chamber and the Immigration Service. As I lay my head on a pillow in our Guest House that evening I entrust my family and Diospi Suyana to God. Every day brings surprises and I could not imagine my life any differently but holding firmly onto God’s hand. /KDJ
