Peru -- Should I go back?

[dsteele]

If my wife dies, this becomes a non-issue. I will leave and go back to Peru to open a hotel.

 

I was in Peru in the Urabamba River Valley at an archeologic site for six weeks in 1987. I had many many experiences down there, but I was 19 at the time.

 

Now I would like to go back with the bankroll of a double-income-no-kids American. My wife is supportive, but doesn't want to go and I don't want her to go. When I went in 1987, the country wasn't stable for Americans.

 

From what I hear it is more stable now than it was then, but I've been strongly cautioned by a member of these forums that I well respect not to go back now that I'm 37.

 

The difference now is that I would be going alone -- as I did last time, but last time I joined up with an Earthwatch crew at the foot of the Inca Trail (British) and stayed with them for 6 weeks. They had paid some of the Peruvian Terrorists (Sandero Luminoso) to be on staff. This time I would have none of that protection, but would stay in my tent for a few days on that long-abandoned site.

 

I will also point out that a "first class" train ticket in 1987 allowed the bearer to ride inside the train. A "second class" ticket meant you were on the train -- hanging on for dear life.

 

But this time I have the money to travel in the air-conditioned american and european train.

 

My question to you is -- should I go back? To Matua, Korea, AK, etc. who have information available from the State Department -- how safe is Peru? Should I tell my Scout Executive where I'm going and place some sort of contract to keep my job open if I don't come back in two weeks?

 

Or should I just book a ticket to San Jose and call it good?

 

DS

[dsteele]

I really do want to climb the mountain at Macchu Picchu again and take pictures this time. I also want to swim in the warm pools of Aguas Callientas again.

 

But I don't want to die. How stable is this country?

 

PS -- if anyone wants to come along, let me know. That is ... if I go.

 

Dave

[AnneinMpls]

Sigh - to revisit a place such as this is like seeing once again a long lost lover. (For me, it is the Belgian countryside with its wandering canals, scattered stone farmhouses and a misting grey that turns it all to an ever-changing impressionistic painting. And the smell of the balsam forests in the rain - can't tell direction from the trees - the moss grows all the way around)

The State Department has a travel advisories website - it's generally pretty descriptive and up-to-date.

http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html

http://travel.state.gov/peru.html

These will give you fairly specific info.

Peace out,

Anne in Mpls

[Eamonn]

Going back ?

Have to admit to not liking to revisit places.

I kind of like them to remain as they were and they never do.

This may change when and if I have Grand Kids.

Last year I took OJ home to England.

We went to the Newsagents Store that my Dad owned - Now an Indian Restaurant!!

The Apartment /Flat that we lived in when we were fist married. Now owned by very rich friends of Prince Charles.

Going back might be ok, when you are really old.

But only you know when you are really old.

At 37 you and the Mrs. Ought to be building new things/ memories that when the little Steele Grand kids come along you both can bore them with.

Eamonn

[matuawarrior]

Hello DS,

 

Peru is a nice country. Although, I visited it under different circumstances in the late 80's from the Columbia side. I hear Lima is a beautiful city and is slowly trying to make its mark with the rest of the world.

 

Anne gave a great link to the State Department. It is updated regularly.

 

I know what you mean about revisiting a place that you've been to when you were in your youth. I would love to revisit Salzburg, Austria; Venice, Italy; and Panama.

 

I say follow your heart.

 

Matua

[Fat Old Guy]

Eamonn,

 

I know what you mean. Not many years after I was graduated from college, I went back to visit the campus with a good friend. Our favorite pizza joint had become a record store. Our favorite bier stube was out of business but the sign was still there to taunt us.

 

Sometimes the changes are heart rendering like when a park has been turned into a condo development.

 

A few years ago, my father-in-law went to Europe to re-trace his wartime path across the continent. He had taken enough snap shots during the war that he was able to locate many places that had memories for him. Good and bad memories.

[packsaddle]

If I didn't have children still baking in school, I wouldn't hesitate...nor would my wife - ROAD TRIP! I love travel, especially to places like Peru (to which I haven't been but my wife has). Her last flight there was from Equitos back to Lima, on a little prop job. The flight was delayed while mechanics tried to bend a propeller blade straight again using a monkeywrench. But another plane was necessary in the end. She loved it. Go! Take it from me, you ain't gettin' any younger. Go!

[Marty_Doyle]

My wife was born in Ecuador (right next door to Peru - and occasionally at war with one another), and we have gone there a number of times. We went last year, with the kids - first time for my children.

I would say that Ecuador is considered "safer", in terms of crime/revolutionaries, than Peru. But I was much more aware this time of not being "in Kansas anymore".

Most of the countires in South America have poor economies, which increases the crime rate. As an North American, you are considered a better target. There were many places we were told to stay out of (better parts of Quito and Quayaquil, actually) and a number of "safe" places that I still felt unsafe in (and I work in New York City).

Roads and other infrastructure were vastly improved over our previous visit ten years earlier, but still no where near US standards. I was very uncomfortable driving around (and most of the time it was with a local driver, with a "helper"). The cruise ship to the Galapagos was a specific safety issue with the US government. And Packsaddle's comment about prop planes is probably true of most small planes, and many trains/busses/taxis.

That is not to mention yellow fever, dengue, malaria, et cetera.

Sanitation is still a major issue, and even in the best of cases, everything possible should be boiled. We ate no salad, fresh fruit or vegetables (insulting, no doubt, a bunch of my in-laws).

There were numerous armed security guards (who looked no older than many of the Boy Scouts in our local troops) not in the military or police, but carrying pistols, shotguns, automatic weapons, who were guarding banks, department stores, and whole neighborhoods. It was unnerving.

If I had a real vote (and since it is my wfe's family, so I don't), I am not sure I would vote for a return. Maybe it is because I am older, and less convinced of my "immortality", or because we had the kids, but it was anything but a stress free vacation.

My son announced this year that he did not want to go to anyplace that required vaccines. So we drove to Maine and Nova Scotia. Next year - Ireland. It may be a few years before we consider South America again.

Good luck on your choice.

[dsteele]

I have many many good memories of Peru:

 

Beautiful views. Really high mountains. Adventures in ruins from 800 B.C.E. Very inexpensive prices for anything. I had to laugh when I saw a book (in English) talking about Peru on $10.00 a day. At the time, if you couldn't live on $10.00 per day or less you had to be not too swift in the brains department.

 

Last night I re-read my daily journal from my 6 weeks in Peru and some of the stuff that was exciting and adventurous to me suddenly sounded dangerous and perhaps deadly to my now 37 year old brain.

 

I remember the machine guns nests in the airport in Lima -- in the concourses with four or five very serious-looking uniformed soldiers pointing machine guns down each corridor.

 

I remember the sound of the AK-47 fired above the roof of the Volkswagen Beetle (the old one) being driven by a man I had met only minutes before with his wife on my lap and his grandmother and two kids in the car with us. He had me play drunk and bribed the soldier who stopped us.

 

I remember checking into my hotel in Lima at about 11:00 PM and seeing the price (very expensive for a college student.) I asked if there were cheaper hotels within walking distance that I could stay at and I was informed that there was an 11:00 PM curfew and anyone found on the streets at that hour would be shot. He said he could give me a pass, but doubted anyone would ask to see it. In my dis-belief, I walked out the door and about half a block before I heard at least on AK-47 (I know the sound) fired.

 

I remember riding in a small pickup truck down the mountain to a village. Actually, I was standing on the back bumper of the truck with my belt wrapped around a pole shooting up from the truck bed. My belt broke on a corner (taken way too fast) and I caught myself with my hands on the bumper and my little tuckas nearly dragging on the pavement.

 

I also remember a visit to Cusco by a famous general (who's name I didn't know.) To clear the square for his arrival, soldiers fired their automatic weapons in the air. I am a lot of things, but I like to think that stupid isn't one of them. I got out of there at a rapid pace.

 

On the other hand, I remember petting Llamas that didn't spit on me.

I remember bartering for some fantastic alpaca wool sweaters and getting them for about $5.00 each.

 

I also remember following two Peruvian men in their thirties down the side of a mountain -- but not on a trail. They took off at a run at what looked like a cliff and I thought, "Why not?" I jumped off and we ran down 2,000 feet at a pretty extreme angle. Enough on an angle that we darn near broke our necks and made it back to base came a full 45 minutes ahead of the folks who had taken the trail.

 

I know I'm not getting any younger, but perhaps truck bumpers, riding on the outside of a train (did that, too) and the other dangerous stuff is and ought to be behind me.

 

Haven't decided yet.

 

DS

[dsteele]

Actually, I caught myself on the tailgate of the small pickup truck. I re-read my journal and realized the 19 year old dsteele was wrong. There was no way I could have caught myself on the bumper without hitting my head and knocking myself out on the tailgate.

 

I do remember the belt breaking and falling backward. But my hands caught on the tailgate and my butt still slipped toward the road.

 

DS

[mk9750]

Dave,

 

Adventure is one thing. What you describe is peril. Seems like you're leaning the way I know I would...

 

Mark

[mrs red feather]

Dave,

 

I did a one-eighty. My first thought was 'too young for a mid-life crisis, too nice to be so self-indulgent.' I tend to agree with the guys who don't like going back. I don't even attend my high school reunions and if I ever encountered an old sweetheart I would run and hide.

 

But hey, if you want to go and Mrs. S. is supportive, why not??? You're a smart guy. Do your homework! Make sure you ride IN the train, not ON the train, IN the pickup, not bouncing behind on your behind. Get your doctor's ok because the altitude might kill ya. And the wife would not be pleased to have to go and claim your carcass.

 

If you decide it's too dangerous just now, you are young enough to wait a few years. It's not like the mountains are going anywhere.

 

You do realize that if you go, you are going to owe Mrs. S. the trip of HER dreams. Which you will do with pleasure because only a very rare woman would support such an endeavor.

 

Best wishes, whatever you decide.

 

Paula

[dsteele]

Mrs. Redfeather:

 

The jury is still out on whether I will return or not.

 

You may be happy to know that I am proudly supporting my wife in every way possible on the trip of her dreams -- which occurs for two or three weeks every year. She's hiking the Appalacian Trail one hunk at a time and she aims to hike every hunk.

 

She's a special lady.

 

DS

 

Part of the problem with that area of Peru is that sometimes in the train or in the truck are not an option.

[hops_scout]

so Mr. Steele,

why arent you hiking it with her???:)

[packsaddle]

Hey, what section is she up (down) to? I'm still working on the same thing but not so much at a time. I'm envious.