Salad Days.10

Pisco was the last major town on our South American adventure and it pretty much mirrored the other ports. Three decades ago things were very different  but when you arrive it is difficult to gauge the size of a place in short excursions ashore. After wandering around Valparaiso and getting lost, I was in favour of waiting for the others to finish work and tag along with them. Alan had different ideas. He was becoming a bit of a nuisance. Alan didn't strike me as someone who made friends easily and it seemed when he did he was stifling. My 'evil plan' to overcome his quirk backfired, I'd created a monster and he only had one thing on mind as we made our way ashore.

Another night of wine, women, and song followed. Without going into detail, it was an eventful night. The most vivid memories were of the kids. Walking ashore we were followed by a couple of young kids, the further we walked the more kids joined in following. It became quite unsettling when there were about a dozen of them. A couple weren't much younger than Alan and me, others were younger, the youngest looked about 6 or 7 years old. They seemed friendly enough but only knew a few words of English and neither Alan nor me could speak Spanish. One or two asked for cigarettes but we ignored them.

In the end I took all the loose coins out of my pocket and told Alan to do likewise. We threw the coins up in the air then ran whilst the kids scrambled for them. It worked, the kids left us alone. At that time I didn't really attach any great significance to the experience but in a few years time I would remember those Peruvian kids with fondness. They were all happy and smiling despite their no doubt dire circumstances. The handful of coins thing became a commonplace event. It had been the first time I had experienced being followed by a gang of kids, but it wasn't a phenomenon only found in Peru.

The good-time girls we found all lived in a big hotel. They had permanent rooms on the first and second floors (I assume they were permanent by the quantity of personal effects in the room). The whole ground floor was a huge bar and very lively. It was clearly geared up for visiting seamen. In the morning both Alan and me had started to sober up despite having no sleep. We stumbled out of the hotel with no idea where we were. Luckily there was a kid outside and we asked how to get to the ship. The lad looked about 10 years old and we worked out he was offering to take us. He held out his hand to see what we would pay. All we could muster between us was a few coins, half a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of beer. The boy gave us a big toothy grin, put the coins in his pocket, took a swig of beer and lit up a cigarette, then he indicated we should follow him.

I couldn't help thinking back to when I was the same age, it was impossible to imagine myself in a similar situation. A brief stint on the streets before going to sea had nearly killed me, and I was 16 then. I wouldn't have survived as a ten year old. Looking back this was probably the catalyst for my wanting to know the people and places rather than just the first seaman's bar from the dock. It was a good half hour walk to the dock and I wanted to give the kid more but had nothing. I handed him my T-shirt (one I bought in Italy) and the boy's eyes lit up. He put it on straight away and it almost came down to his knees, he didn't care and went away as if he had just won the lottery.

Leaving Pisco was an experience in itself as we sailed south we passed the Paracas Candelabra. It was similar to the Nazca Lines. Almost 600 feet tall the giant Candelabra* is carved into the hillside of the Paracas Peninsular just south of Pisco. It dates from around 200 BC and can clearly be seen from the sea from up to 12 miles away. Although we spent almost three months on the west coast of South America it was nowhere near long enough.

*The 'Candelabra' is thought to signify a Tree

The plight of the kids upset me a little, invoking memories from a bad time. It was mild compared to what was to come in Matarani.