Enjoying the "Lost Walk" through Peruvian fields
Climbing the bridge barrier
Stones in the road
Angry farmer mob
Highland town - weaving processTuesday June 8th
I don't have time tonight to write out the blog from today. Just know - it was one of the most unique, exciting days of the trip. There were angry mobs, bus-jackings, and long lost walks through Peruvian fields. It turned out well - no worries.
I'm giving myself the green-light to go for Machu Picchu on Thursday. I feel as good as I can. I know I will need to dig deep and go places where few people have gone to complete this journey
Vince Lombardi --- "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhuasted on the field of battle - victorious."
I won't have computer access until Saturday. We'll be back live from Cusco. Until then - keep the faith.
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Alright - it's Saturday late afternoon. We have arrived back in Cusco safely from Machu Picchu. I have a couple hours before our awards dinner this evening. I thought I would take this time to go over a few days that I've missed.
Tuesday was remarkable. One of the most memorable days of the trip. We got onto the bus around 8:00am and our guide told us that there were farmers striking today due to increased taxes on their irrigation water. Because of this, some of the roads were closed. He's not sure how things will go - just be prepared to be flexible.
45 minutes into our journey, we stop at this gas station. Our guide jumps out and is talking with this gentlemen. It comes to find out that there was a road closure about 1 mile ahead. This guy had tried to run the blockade. He had gotten his tires sliced and stones thrown through his window. Someone was attending to his head wound while our guide spoke with him. Wow!
We had 2 buses with about 14 people on each bus. We parked in this gas station lot and waited. Not long, and we saw a mob of farmers coming up the street. What do we do? Our guides told us to stay back and clap. We did as we were instructed. After the 100+ people mob passed, our bus went to inspect the blockade. We got within 50 yards of this area with huge stones crossing the road. A guy walked our way waving his finger and shaking his head. Our bus driver pulled in to the last spot he could and turned around.
We met up with the 2nd bus and our guides were working a deal. They must have bribed the farmers to let them through with money. It worked - only problem was that we had to go on this off-road dirt path. It was amazing. We're driving this bus through places where most 4-wheel drives could only go. We work our way for about 45 minutes and then there's another road closure. Our guides try to pull the bribe again - no luck. We had to abandon our buses and start to walk to our destination. They had barbed-wire and stones across the road. Basically, they had our bus held captive. Our driver stayed with the bus, and we walked about 3 miles to our tour spot for the morning - the town of Chinchero, at an elevation of 12, 350ft.
We went to this highland home and observed a demonstration of the traditional weaving process and shopped for handicrafts. It was really interesting. They went through the whole process, from dying the wool, to cleaning the wool, to creating a spool of yarn, to actually preparing clothing, blankets, etc. This display took a couple hours. It was now around 2pm. Our guides inform us that our bus is being held captive by drunk farmers and we can't access it until the strike is over - which might be around 5-6pm. So - we sat in this abandoned town and just waited. All the people were gone striking - most of which were drinking and becoming angry we were told.
About an hour went by and our guide was talking with the police. Whatever he said - worked. The police left and not 20 minutes later our buses arrived. Now, we all board and head toward the town of Yucay where we will be staying tonight.
As we go down the road, we have to stop on a number of occassions and move stones out of the way. We were the first bus, so we were the sweepers. It was awesome. The bus driver stopped, we all got out, and moved these huge stones so we could get through. These barriers were not manned by strikers.
Only problem here is - we had the police release our buses and we our going through the strike boundaries by moving barriers. The farmers would be less then pleased with our performance. We drove about 1 hour moving barriers and then our bus pulls off the road into this field. We're all looking around - "What's going on?". Up ahead, you could see a major road closure - with a mob of farmers. We all get out of the bus. The angry mob is heading our way. At this point - I'm getting nervous. We need to get out of here. We want no part of an angry farmer mob in the middle of Peru. Our guides must have sensed the same thing. We were told to grab what we could and will be heading out across the field to our town.
This is crazy. I grabbed about 3 liters of water and some food. If I needed to stay in a shelter in the mountains tonight - I was ready. The mob was about 1/2 mile away and we took off across this field. Unbelievable. I'm ready to run for it if necessary - but the mob did not follow us. We are walking straight toward this mountain range. Supposedly, the town we are staying in is at the base of this mountain. See the pictures I've incleded. The site was spectacular.
The whole group is getting into it by now. There is conversations going: "The first person that goes down, may be food for the night" This is nuts. We kept walking and walking. Finally, we see the town - it's not too far. We can do it. We walked for about 2.5 hours and made it to the town. The bridge was closed off - huge log beams blocked the way. Our guide knew the strikers - a major break. We all hurdled the beams and crossed the bridge. Next, we came to this major road block. Piles of wood, stones, beams - we moved it out of the way as a team. It took nearly 15 minutes with 25 people helping. We continue toward the hotel. It tuned 5pm. The strike was over.
We made it to the hotel and had a great dinner talking about the day's events. Needless to say, we didn't do our run today - we walked for hours in abandoned fields as an alternate.
Days like today are completely unique - something you'll remember forever.
I don't have time tonight to write out the blog from today. Just know - it was one of the most unique, exciting days of the trip. There were angry mobs, bus-jackings, and long lost walks through Peruvian fields. It turned out well - no worries.
I'm giving myself the green-light to go for Machu Picchu on Thursday. I feel as good as I can. I know I will need to dig deep and go places where few people have gone to complete this journey
Vince Lombardi --- "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhuasted on the field of battle - victorious."
I won't have computer access until Saturday. We'll be back live from Cusco. Until then - keep the faith.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alright - it's Saturday late afternoon. We have arrived back in Cusco safely from Machu Picchu. I have a couple hours before our awards dinner this evening. I thought I would take this time to go over a few days that I've missed.
Tuesday was remarkable. One of the most memorable days of the trip. We got onto the bus around 8:00am and our guide told us that there were farmers striking today due to increased taxes on their irrigation water. Because of this, some of the roads were closed. He's not sure how things will go - just be prepared to be flexible.
45 minutes into our journey, we stop at this gas station. Our guide jumps out and is talking with this gentlemen. It comes to find out that there was a road closure about 1 mile ahead. This guy had tried to run the blockade. He had gotten his tires sliced and stones thrown through his window. Someone was attending to his head wound while our guide spoke with him. Wow!
We had 2 buses with about 14 people on each bus. We parked in this gas station lot and waited. Not long, and we saw a mob of farmers coming up the street. What do we do? Our guides told us to stay back and clap. We did as we were instructed. After the 100+ people mob passed, our bus went to inspect the blockade. We got within 50 yards of this area with huge stones crossing the road. A guy walked our way waving his finger and shaking his head. Our bus driver pulled in to the last spot he could and turned around.
We met up with the 2nd bus and our guides were working a deal. They must have bribed the farmers to let them through with money. It worked - only problem was that we had to go on this off-road dirt path. It was amazing. We're driving this bus through places where most 4-wheel drives could only go. We work our way for about 45 minutes and then there's another road closure. Our guides try to pull the bribe again - no luck. We had to abandon our buses and start to walk to our destination. They had barbed-wire and stones across the road. Basically, they had our bus held captive. Our driver stayed with the bus, and we walked about 3 miles to our tour spot for the morning - the town of Chinchero, at an elevation of 12, 350ft.
We went to this highland home and observed a demonstration of the traditional weaving process and shopped for handicrafts. It was really interesting. They went through the whole process, from dying the wool, to cleaning the wool, to creating a spool of yarn, to actually preparing clothing, blankets, etc. This display took a couple hours. It was now around 2pm. Our guides inform us that our bus is being held captive by drunk farmers and we can't access it until the strike is over - which might be around 5-6pm. So - we sat in this abandoned town and just waited. All the people were gone striking - most of which were drinking and becoming angry we were told.
About an hour went by and our guide was talking with the police. Whatever he said - worked. The police left and not 20 minutes later our buses arrived. Now, we all board and head toward the town of Yucay where we will be staying tonight.
As we go down the road, we have to stop on a number of occassions and move stones out of the way. We were the first bus, so we were the sweepers. It was awesome. The bus driver stopped, we all got out, and moved these huge stones so we could get through. These barriers were not manned by strikers.
Only problem here is - we had the police release our buses and we our going through the strike boundaries by moving barriers. The farmers would be less then pleased with our performance. We drove about 1 hour moving barriers and then our bus pulls off the road into this field. We're all looking around - "What's going on?". Up ahead, you could see a major road closure - with a mob of farmers. We all get out of the bus. The angry mob is heading our way. At this point - I'm getting nervous. We need to get out of here. We want no part of an angry farmer mob in the middle of Peru. Our guides must have sensed the same thing. We were told to grab what we could and will be heading out across the field to our town.
This is crazy. I grabbed about 3 liters of water and some food. If I needed to stay in a shelter in the mountains tonight - I was ready. The mob was about 1/2 mile away and we took off across this field. Unbelievable. I'm ready to run for it if necessary - but the mob did not follow us. We are walking straight toward this mountain range. Supposedly, the town we are staying in is at the base of this mountain. See the pictures I've incleded. The site was spectacular.
The whole group is getting into it by now. There is conversations going: "The first person that goes down, may be food for the night" This is nuts. We kept walking and walking. Finally, we see the town - it's not too far. We can do it. We walked for about 2.5 hours and made it to the town. The bridge was closed off - huge log beams blocked the way. Our guide knew the strikers - a major break. We all hurdled the beams and crossed the bridge. Next, we came to this major road block. Piles of wood, stones, beams - we moved it out of the way as a team. It took nearly 15 minutes with 25 people helping. We continue toward the hotel. It tuned 5pm. The strike was over.
We made it to the hotel and had a great dinner talking about the day's events. Needless to say, we didn't do our run today - we walked for hours in abandoned fields as an alternate.
Days like today are completely unique - something you'll remember forever.
Good luck and we are rooting for you!
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