The Dwarf goes South...
By Superdwarf
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Hey, I didn’t name it; the Quechua did, or at least the Incas.
Our trip to Peru was very uneventful, with no unexpected problems. Let me first say a word of praise for the assistants. When you need assistance getting in a plane, or from gate to gate, the airline or airport provides these fine men and women to push you to your destination via wheelchair. A mighty cheer to these unsung heroes for their courteous and professional manner in making sure I got to my plane on time. Having just gotten over acute asthmatic bronchitis I needed a lift; thanks to these professionals I didn’t miss a connection even when I was almost out of it, if you know what I mean. We arrived in Lima early on the 5th of August 2008, ready for adventure.
I’m on the end, next to my son, the lodge pole pine. Mrs. Dwarf is the pretty lady wearing a red coat next to her mom, the instigator (this trip was the mother-in-law’s idea…).
Next morning, off we went to Cusco and then the Valley of the Incas. Cusco is at 14,000 feet and the air is much thinner here. Cusco was the center of the Inca Empire and to this day is referred to as The Belly Button of the Universe. The Valley is lower than Cusco, ranging from 8,000 to 12,000 feet. First, we stopped at an alpaca farm so Mrs. Dwarf could drool over the alpaca sweaters and rugs.
We continued into the Valley of the Incas till we came to a wonderful Villa in the middle of nowhere. We stayed here for two days while waiting to go to Machu Picchu.
The first morning we started the day with a white-water raft trip down the Urubamba River.
Boy, was the water cold! The guides then had a surprise for us: they had hired a shaman who walked from very high up the mountain to prepare a sacrifice to the Earth Goddess and bless our trip to Machu Picchu. So far the trip was great; I was only a little more tired than usual. We ended the day by giving school supplies to about thirty kids from a small village.
We started the trip to Machu Picchu by taking the early train. Of the nine of us, seven decided to hike the last six hours to Machu Picchu on the Inca trail; Mother-in-law and I had our own guide and rode the train all the way into the village of Machu Picchu while the other seven got off at Km 104. We got to Machu Picchu first.
What a sight. I was very tired, and every place was up and down stairs, stairs, and more stairs. We had a wonderful dinner that night, after the hikers made it in, and stories were told. This was the end of the happy tyme on my vacation. Next to come: what it means to not have enough O2, and fun with the AA Airline.
Return to the Belly Button of the Universe, and a trip on the AA airline.
After five days above 7,000 feet I was becoming fatigued easily, and short of breath. A third of our group decided to climb a trail straight up and down a mountain while the rest of us went back to the village for lunch. Back at the village I was accompanied by my sister-in-law, an OR nurse. I started to throw up, completely without warning, no advance sick feeling or anything. I was still short of breath. We were scheduled to take the train back to the Valley of the Incas and then the bus to Cusco: six hours of throwing up and being short of breath, back to the Belly Button of the Universe. A doctor met us at the hotel and had me back on oxygen. I, like most dogs here, must admit to an O2 addiction.
The next day in Cusco I was no better, so they put me in a clinic so I could get O2 full-tyme. Our schedule had us going to the Amazon Basin the next day. The doctor said I was not absorbing enough O2 on my own and I should go home as I was too sick to continue. I was to have full-tyme O2 at the airport till I left for Lima and home. Nine of us came to Cusco; eight would go to the Amazon and one, me, would go to Lima.
I was at the airport from 7:00 a.m. until my flight at 2:00 p.m. I got about 40 minutes of oxygen during that time. Our guide was to stay with me, as I wasn’t firing on all cylinders right then; he stayed till the rest of the group left at 10:00 a.m. He instructed me on what gate to be at and when, then sat me down for coffee and left. This was 10:30 a.m.
I had a nice lady, a security guard, keep an eye on me, and she asked about my health when she went by. Yes, Bam, she was hot.
I have quite a bit of anger toward the guide, for leaving me, as sick as I was, after he was told by a nurse and a doctor I needed Oxygen and someone to watch me until I left Cusco to lower altitudes. I think he was late for a date.
In Lima I tried to go about changing my ticket from the 17th to the 11th of August. The guide in Cusco, remember him? He checked and said it would cost a penalty of $120 to change my ticket; not a problem as I wanted to go home at this point. The AA agent was a nice guy but, so bound by the rules of the airline, he was hard pressed to help me. The $120 would get me to the States, but only for the Miami link. It would cost me as much as I had paid for the round trip for the domestic leg home… I should have checked another airline but, like I said, I wasn’t firing on all cylinders. After an 8 hour wait – by myself in a foreign country – my flight to the US began.
Again I’d like to remark on the efficiency and help of the airport assistance staff. I was still suffering from extreme fatigue and exhaustion. Walking was like molasses. They helped me make it through Immigration, Customs, and airport Security smoothly and on to my next flight. Next stop: Dallas-Fort Worth. I had some tyme here. The flight to the United States had been crowded but quiet as most people slept. There was a “meal” but I found it inedible; maybe it was the remains of the guinea pig meal I missed in Cusco.
I’m told nobody tried the guinea pig, a Peruvian staple.
Dallas afforded me tyme to eat, REST, and ready myself for the next ride on the AA airline. You may ask yourself whether I mean Alcoholics Anonymous, or maybe a well-known airline with those initials; either way, you should understand by the end… or consider your own airline experiences. While in Dallas I decided this would be a good tyme to get tickets from Seattle to Portland since I would need to leave my vehicle for my wife when she returned. The AA airline clerk told me since I didn’t buy my ticket from them – I had done, but bought it in Lima – she couldn’t sell me a ticket and besides, they didn’t fly to Portland, but would send me there on Alaska Air. I flew United.
The real flying experience was from Dallas-Fort Worth to Seattle. The flight was 10% overbooked so they were asking for volunteers to stay over in Dallas. The flight was horrid, and I like to fly; thank goodness for the bag of gummy bears I had bought in the airport. The flight was short at least one toilet – the plane was full – leaving only one toilet for the whole flight, almost 6 hours. I don’t think the sole stewardess was drunk, but speed does come to mind… Most of the crew was trying to be civil, but there were too many people in that plane. We made it with only a few bruises…
The flight home to Portland was actually fun; I like flying on small planes and the flight lasted just over half-an-hour. Here would be a good place to start a rant about airlines but I think the traveling public will finally win out over stupid attempts to stifle travel. I like to fly but I hate being treated like cattle… I kinda miss those Champagne Flights of the Sixties.
Well, I made it to Machu Picchu; if you want to see it then hurry, as they may be closing it to preserve the sight. Be warned: the air’s kinda thin there.
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