Yesterday, Monday 25 January, we were supposed to complete the first leg of our journey to Machu Pichu by minibus. The road we were due to take was blocked by landslides because of the continual heavy rain so a different route was attempted and in fact we managed to get as far as Urubamba , the town where we were due to be staying for the night. It was a scene of complete devastation, the river had burst its banks, houses built of adobe had been completely washed away, families huddled on the hillsides with a few meagre possessions and the hotel where we were due to stay was flooded. The route to Machu Pichu was impassable so we had no choice but to return to Cusco. The whole area has now been declared a disaster zone.
Our disappointment was enormous – this was to have been the highlight of our Peruvian journey and now it was not to happen and of course this was mixed with a feeling of guilt about here we were a privileged group of people cocooned in our minibus and grumbling while people were homeless having lost all their possessions – some of them had lost family members as it is reported there have been deaths. We are now back to Cusco and we are safe, blogging will continue when we have a better idea of what we are going to be doing in the days ahead.
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Bloody Hell...Happily you weren't directly caught up in it. There are vivid desciptions of the floods by people trapped at Machu Picchu.They made it to a local town but, along with other tourists, are camping out in the local sports stadium. We hear that the Peruvian army is shipping people out in helicopters. But ofcourse you know all this first hand.
ReplyDeleteI suppose as yet you've know idea how it will affect your schedule.
Good to hear that you are all safe. I have just been looking at some footage of the landslides, floods etc on the BBC News website. Looks awful. Take care and I hope you are out of the disaster area soon.
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