Good Stuff

May 21, 2006

Get this: My tour group was cruising along today at high altitude and low speed when we were stopped by police on the side of the road. There was an apparent violation on account of the fact that we don't have a toilet on our bus, and according to the law you are supposed to have a toilet if you are travelling across provinces. Random.

Anyway, the police officers start demanding money from our bus driver as a bribe on account of, well, corruption. So our bus driver leaves us to go negotiate some kind of deal with these men, and things are starting to look a little sketchy. After about five minutes of talking, our driver Edgar comes back to the bus and takes out some Jehovah's Witness magazines to give to the police. Why, you might be asking yourselves?
Apparently when the cops demanded money, Edgar said "Do you want something that will last for an hour or two, or something that will last forever?" The policemen wanted something that will last forever, which in Peru is apparently Jehovah's Witness propaganda. I can't believe that passed for a bribe! Oh, and after this deal was struck, the cops started to ask Edgar if he knows anything about the secrets of the DaVinci Code - they seemed to regard him as some sort of spiritual master once the magazines were distributed. Priceless!

I think when I get home I'm going to take religious propaganda out with me and try to use it at bars and restaurants to get VIP treatment. Can you even imagine?

p.s. My anti- rabies shot of the day was administered to my stomach, just to add a little variety. Oh, and the waiting room at the clinic was filled with motorcycles and the smell of gasoline. I'm sure the hygiene here is top notch.