Misadventures in Peru

May 25, 2006

Wow, there is a lot to tell. I think I will start with my main story, and then add some anecdotes that are optional reading...

Ok, so yesterday was one of the crazier days of my travelling life. The plan for the day was for the oldies but goodies and me to catch a public bus at 8:00 am for a 6 hour drive to Cuzco, which is apparently a very nice city. Anyway, we paid extra for the bus in order to have a toilet, but once we got on board the toilet was locked, and we were told that we would be making no stops. Well, having no stops did not turn out to be our problem. Having one continuous stop ended up being our problem. After about 2 hours of driving, and several roadside stops with local women trying to sell us cheese, we came to what looked like a huge traffic jam in the middle of nowhere. And I mean the middle of nowhere - there is no reason whatsoever that a traffic jam would form naturally where we were. There was a line of buses that stretched into the distance, and way up ahead of us there was smoke and tons of rocks all over the road. It turns out that we got caught up in a nationwide protest against the Free Trade agreement with the US (making me uncomfortable as the only American on our bus). The Peruvians set up a road block with tons and tons of rocks, and we had no choice but to stop, along with hundreds of other people, and wait on the side of the road for about 4 hours. I was fine with this, as I understand that the people have a right to protest. I was actually getting really angry at other tourists who were trying to move the rocks and yelling at the locals, like they were the center of the universe because they are tourists! Give me a break. Clearly the local people are within their rights to protest. But, here is where things get sketchy...

After hours of waiting the locals allow us to pass, and we think we are in the clear. But by no means were we in the clear. For the next 12 to 14 hours, we would start to move and then come to pass a village with another roadblock, as well as increasingly angry mobs. Things started to get really tense, with local people throwing rocks at our windows - three of our windows shattered, and someone at the front of the bus got hurt, though not seriously. Still, it was scary as hell. Police with shields were everywhere. We all had to shut our windows and cover them so nobody could see inside, and for awhile we were kneeling on the floor of the bus. I really thought people were going to jump on board and rob or beat us. Lyle, the cotton-eared grandfather, actually had out a knife for protection. I'm not gonna lie, the last thing I want is to see Lyle in a street fight. Anyway, people were fluctuating between being scared and being extremely board, since the whole trip took over 20 hours. We also had to sleep on the roadside for 4 hours at one roadblock, there was no heat, we had limited food and water, and no toilet. I mean, I missed a whole day of meals and couldn't go the bathroom! Man alive.



We eventually got to Cuzco at 3:00 a.m., and everybody was pretty beat up. That kind of stress is not good for the elderly. I don't know why GAP tours didn't know anything about these protests, they were a huge deal and we should not have been travelling through angry mobs by any means. But it was quite an adventure, I must say. Oh, some girls my age jumped out of their bus to catch a bus in the other direction, and as far as I could tell they got left alone without their bags. But I mean, come on, obviously you shouldn't jump out of your bus under these circumstances.

Ok, now on to anecdotal, optional reading;

-The last doctor to administer my anti-rabies shot was a veterinarian. Um, yeah. He assured me that, as a vet, he knew a lot about rabies. As you do. Why he was working in a clinic for people escaped me. The doctor I had before the vet (you know, the actual human doctor) assured me that all the needles they use are new, right before KICKING A USED NEEDLE under a table! Can you believe that? Did I already report that??? Oh help me God. The needle was still under the table the next day when I went back for shot number 6.



-We visited these tiny floating islands that are inhabited (I initially thought they were just for tourists). They are really just little patches of reed floating in the middle of nowhere, and I had to ask myself, why? Why would anyone choose to live that way, when land was very clearly in sight, when nothing can grow on floating reed, and when inbreeding has historically been an issue due to the isolation of the place. I mean, come on people!

-And finally, Steve, my only peer on the trip, had to go to a clinic and bring a stool sample because his stomach is all screwed up. The people at the clinic wanted him to bring a tiny sample to test, but apparently this idea was foreign to Steve, who instead brought a WHOLE HUGE PILE of his sh*t in his bag to the doctor. What???? The lady was like, what is that?? Put that away!!!! Steve is apparently not familiar with stool samples.

Ok, that is the end.