Hi friends!
Quick note from Perry: We’re deviating from our usual narrative to send a special Saturday email. After Southeast Asia, we spent two months in South America. We made it to our last stop – Machu Picchu, Peru – and suddenly found our travels blockaded by rapidly escalating political protests.
After traveling to 29 countries, this experience has been a first for me (and Pete). Pete felt compelled to write a real-time update yesterday, which you’ll find below.
We aren’t sharing this story live on our website or social media right now since this is a developing situation. We know each and every one of you on this email list, and we thought y’all would be interested to hear about the present situation as it unfolds.
We are scheduled to return to the USA in the next 2-3 days, and we will accept thoughts, prayers, good vibes, mystic energy, or anything else you’d like to send for the reopening of the Cusco Airport and continued operations at the Lima airport. At this time, everything is on track for a safe (and less eventful) return.
Our Southeast Asia conclusion will be sent on Tuesday as planned. We’ll update you on Peru as we’re able.
With that, here’s Pete.
Dear Friends and Fam,
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We had planned to make this newsletter a nice transition piece into our travels to South America, but we felt that we should stray from our original plans to give a current update on our circumstances.
We are in Peru, which is in a state of emergency and political unrest. We are safe, in the process of leaving the country, but we remain vigilant to any potential changes and mindful that things can shift rapidly.
Our hosts are delightful, caring people who have gone above and beyond to ensure we find enjoyment while the country is in a state of turmoil. We are patiently waiting things out. We will be providing a glowing recommendation of their blooming business, Allyu B&B, in a future newsletter. (Unrest aside, Ollantaytambo was a great home base during our explorations of Machu Picchu and the surrounding archaeological sites. We highly recommend it… when the political unrest ends.)
Here’s an update on our recent days in Peru, which smack of a Star Wars intro crawl.
A few days ago…
A few days ago (specifically, December 7th), in a country far far away, the Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, was impeached and arrested after attempting to dissolve the Peruvian Congress without following proper procedures. This was the first domino to fall in a grander countrywide conflict.
On the same day, we were speaking to my cousin on the phone and told him we were headed to Peru two days later.
“Oh, did you see the news? Their president was just impeached,” he said, somehow having the scoop that wouldn’t hit American media until the next day.
“Oh really?” we replied.
“Yeah, be careful,” he said.
“Of course we will.”
This turned out to be foreshadowing of what was to come.
There is a lot more to the situation than our simplified understanding, and we aren’t in a position to draw opinions. Our goals are to remain aware of how events will influence our exodus from the country and return home safely.
By all accounts, we have been very fortunate. We managed to bypass the cities of Lima and Cuzco and went directly to the village of Ollantaytambo (pronounced Oy-yawn-tay-tahmbo), a farm town in the heart of the Sacred Valley with many ancient structures from the Incan Empire. Our transit to get here occurred shortly before things started to take a turn for Peru.
In the same stroke of luck, we managed to visit Machu Picchu the day before the trains to the famous ruins were shut down. By Tuesday, protestors blockaded roads throughout Peru and the Sacred Valley with various materials, like cut-down trees, caution tape, and large billboards, now repurposed for a very different use.
Even now, several days later, there are an estimated 300 tourists located in the remote village of Aguas Calientes, the final train stop and town at the base of Machu Pichu. Evacuation efforts are being conducted via helicopter, as the train is the only way in and out of the town. Some have even elected to make the 4-day trek to Ollantaytambo as supplies in Aguas Calientes are limited. Perry has thanked our lucky stars multiple times that she decided not to book us an overnight hotel after Machu Picchu in Aguas Calientes and instead opted for the very long day trip from Ollantaytambo.
We have, for the most part, stayed ahead of every earthquake, volcanic eruption, rogue wave, torrential storm, and mob of protesters that the wider world has had to throw at us. If I say so myself, we have also done it in style.
The US embassy has advised us to stay put until safe travel can resume. Our bed and breakfast is perfectly charming and our hosts are even more so. Folks in the countryside here have been more even-handed and seemingly focused on their day-to-day lives. We can’t walk down the street without receiving a friendly, “Hola! Buenas tardes!” from every local we pass.
Further, many airports are closed along with the roads. So there really isn’t anywhere to go for the time being. We canceled our plans to explore some of the ruins further from us, like Moray and Pisac. It’s a perfect time to work on our newsletters and to scope out some of the many small ruins within walking distance of us as circumstances permit. We have enjoyed these ruins just as much as Machu Picchu.
Now, we won’t be sharing all of our experiences in Peru until later. We have a number of countries in South America we visited first and will continue in order. We also want our primary articles on Peru to remain in a positive light, as despite all this unrest, Peru has been a highlight of our South American adventures. Peru is a beautiful and mystifying country to visit. We rank it #1 for South American food and easily in our top three South American adventures. (You’ll have to stay tuned for the other two.)
So to tide you over, I will share a heartwarming tale from our travels so far. It’s the story of two adventurers joined by an unexpected companion on the way to mysterious mountain ruins.
Side-Quest
Our story begins, much as it has every morning in Peru, with our hosts at the Ayllu B&B making our daily nutritious and tasty breakfast and giving us a debrief of the daily news. Here they also gave us some safe options for nearby adventures. Among our options, we chose a long, two-hour hike from the village of Ollantaytambo to Naupa Iglesia. These mountain ruins are thought to pre-date the Inca, who later built further structures around them. The ruins of Naupa Iglesia also hold an even greater air of mystery: a mythologized gate to another world.
In Pachar, a town along the railroad between Cuzco and Machu Picchu, we passed by a group of peaceful protesters who were eating their lunch on the railroad tracks, effectively shutting down the railroad. They bid us Buenos Dias and did not seem to care as we proceeded on our way. (We’d like to add that we would have turned around if there appeared to be any active protesting here. The group looked like they were workers on a lunch break and were very calm.)
Suddenly, we found we were being followed by an unexpected companion: a black and white dog who, for reasons unknown, singled us out and followed along.
We at no point fed the dog, nor did we have any food on us he would be interested in. We thought at first he was using us as an escort past the fleet of other street dogs in the town who would make attempts to nip or bite the dog, were there not a large man with a trekking pole to intimidate them from trying anything. This dog, however, seemed to want an adventure.
In Peru, household dogs are allowed to wander through the day and return at night to their homes. While there are some strays, as well as a tremendous problem with overpopulation due to limited veterinary access, most dogs do have a home. Our companion, who I eventually dubbed “Side-Quest,” was well-fed, had nails trimmed, and was in mostly good health. It is apparent that he has a home somewhere nearby, but he decided to follow us for the trek to the ancient ruins. The path up the mountainside is steep, and while the dog whined about the trip up and down, he still followed. He even showed us some more common sense routes up the hillside which were safer than the original steps. Had he been here before?
At the temple, I was petting him and noted he had an infection between two toes of his left rear foot. He seemed unbothered mostly but would keep the area clean. The dog also offered no resistance when I would lift his paws, massage, maneuver, and inspect them. The dog has clearly been “doctored” before and did not mind any attention we were willing to offer. While I applied some moleskin to Perry’s heel along the trail to prevent a blister, I did not want to try to address the dog’s infection until we were off the steep mountainside. He needed to be able to get down without any hindrance. He stayed with us at the temple and rested, I doused him in some water to cool him down, and then we eventually made our way back after we pondered the mysteries of the temple… and our unexpected companion.
We had planned to return the way we came, but on multiple occasions, the dog would whimper at us, gesturing to another path. He had led us safely up the mountainside, so in the spirit of adventure, we followed his lead once again. Side-Quest led us to a bridge over the river and then to a grassy path that led directly to town without nearly as many hurdles to get there.
Don’t worry – the dog was able to drink from the river along the way in the hot temperatures of the day, and he managed to barter a whole empanada off a lady by acting cute back at the temple, so his basic needs were met.
The dog, now effectively our guide, led us back through town, where the people had added more road barricades. Despite that, absolutely no one was standing near the barricades, so we continued to feel comfortable walking along our unobstructed hiking path (since there was no active protest to avoid).
The dog was particular about who he would allow to approach us without barking. Most people were fine, but some rubbed him the wrong way. He would bark, much in the way we had previously protected him from the street dogs.
Finally, at the other edge of town, I further inspected his infected paw. I cleaned it without resistance, applied some antibiotic ointment, and then gently padded it with some simple gauze (Equate brand from Walmart) between the toes and lightly wrapped it with 3M Coban I keep handy for traveling injuries. I didn’t want to risk it being tight as this could be painful or annoying, and Coban has a tendency to tighten itself due to the elasticity. If it were uncomfortable he would, and perhaps may still, pull it right off with ease.
Side-Quest was appreciative and you could tell he walked less gingerly with something to protect his tender paw, putting full weight on the foot. He didn’t even do that goofy boot-walk some dogs do when they have a foreign object on their feet. It stayed on well as we walked to the nearby train station. The security personnel there agreed to keep the dog to prevent him from following us on the long trek back to Ollantaytambo, as Side-Quest was attempting. He was being adored and given water and belly scratches as we bid them all farewell.
Side-Quest’s owners may never be aware of the adventure their dog made with total strangers, or the other miraculous adventures he has possibly had. We ourselves can’t be certain why this dog singled us out, let alone followed us that entire journey. Regardless, we enjoyed our time with him and hope he makes his way back home, and perhaps limits his future adventures to the comforts of home.
Pete’s Travel Tip of the Week
A STEP ahead of trouble
How have we stayed ahead of trouble? One method, which we recommend, is signing up for the US Embassy’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). The US embassies in each country send regular security updates via email, allowing us to avoid areas that are holding demonstrations among other potential risks. It has been one of the more useful things that the US government has been able to conjure and speaking to other travelers, it is rarely used to its full potential.
If there’s a conclusion to be drawn here today, it’s that most people are good, most dogs are great, and the world keeps turning even in the face of chaos.
We hope you enjoyed this adventure and look forward to our next newsletter.
Until next time,
Pete and Perry