Romania 2001

Cusco baggage

21 September 2001 12:18

[Friend] in Sth Africa mentioned that they have to check in 5 hours early. Sounds like they´re hand checking all luggage.

For me, Lan Chile doesn´t want ANY batteries on its flight from Rio to Santiago (why beats me) and on the flight from Santiago to Lima (which was continuing to LA) they wouldn´t let me take my pocket knife with me and all our carry-on luggage was hand searched.

Talking of hand searches, I left my backpack at the convent hostel here in Cusco while visiting Machu Picchu overnight and when I got back the next evening my backpack had been opened. Nothing seems to be gone. The person who holds the key to the room where the backpack was stored is a sister/nun (presumeably above reproach) and the guy I gave the backpack to is denying all knowledge. We had to use other guests for translation.

You´ve probably heard about the lack of anything but spoken Spanish these people typically have - even to the extent that some appear unable to read Spanish words in a phrase book. A young Aussie couple I´ve met several times are just as disgusted by all this as I am. The woman making their bus and train bookings seemed to speak English just barely OK until they had paid and started wondering if they could change something.

I´m going to try to delay my flights from now on by a day or maybe two because trains from Cusco to Puno [my next stop by Lake Titicaca] don´t run on Thursdays when I wanted to leave. The trouble I had in Brazil remembering what country I was in doesn´t seem to be affecting me here because the tourist info is so bad. I dropped into the official tourist place this afternoon for a replacement (bad) street map of Cusco. After a very long wait I was told they didn´t have any. Huh.

Machu Picchu yesterday was great, with spectacular views. If you find a picture of it you´ll see a big mound behind it (the bigger one on the right). I walked up it. Scarey in places. A lot of the stone work isn´t the brilliant stuff that I´ve come to expect from the Incas but the setting is amazing.

God bless.

Ian
8 )

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