soo.. on monday 1/25 i met my spanish teacher, wendy, and we had lunch together. i was feeling really shitty afterwards and went back to the apartment for a nap before yoga at 6. i woke up an hour later and went to get up and fell back into bed.. i had a fever, a strong fever. i went back to sleep for another hour and my fever was getting worse. i was boiling hot and shaking and had no one to call. so of course i remember the most important thing.. drink lots of fluids to drain the shit out. so i walk down the stairs with a lot of effort since my legs and head were aching and i couldnt stand up straight. the goal: make hot water and drink til all the fever flows out of me. but there is no water in the kitchen sink. i walk to the bathroom and there is no water in the bathroom sink. i check the toilet and no water there. shit. before oscar and francisco left for lima and aguas calientes, oscar handed me a piece of red paper and asked me if i wouldnt mind paying for the electric, water, etc. i told him its fine since they were kind enoughto let me stay in the apartment. i figured i had to pay it before the end of the month. but when i went to check that piece of paper i noticed that i had to pay it by the 21st. or so i think thats what it said. i looked at the paper with my eyes boiling in my sockets and my brain not functioning trying to make out the 12 different addresses and which one i needed to go to and where they were to pay this damn bill. long story short, i wasnt going anywhere anytime soon because i couldnt even keepo my head up. i crawled back into bed defeated and fell back to sleep for the next 12 hours or so... the next morning , very early in the morning there is a bang on my door. this happens a lot and its not fun to think who may be on the other side. i looked out a small windown and i see a woman screaming at me. i have no idea what she is saying except im able to make out "francsicso, oscar, agua" fuck.. so i walk down the stairs with my 30 layers of clothes and scarves and hats and gloves looking klike a disaster and she takes on look at me and calms down. she realizes i have no idea whats going on and that i was obviosuly not doing so well myself. she goes on to xplain to me (i think) that she doesnt have water either and that the paper is red becase these guys havent paid for the past 2-3 months. this pissed me off because oscar said id be poaying for one month.. not for 3. anyway.. she took pity on me and also becase she needed water and told me she would take care of it and then come back for the money after it was done. i thanked her and hugged her and told her to please yell at them for me. she laughed a little and went on her way. so i got back into bed for the whole of tuesday when suddenly the tv and all the lights turned off. i thought it was my luck .. first the water then the electricity but as it turns out the entire san blas went out. the middle of the nght i realize i have to keep going to the bathroom and cant flush the toilet since there is no water so i pout a pot outside to collect the rain water since it rains tarantulas here (that was stolen after an hour) and then just continued to use the bathroom holding my nose.. i was out of water and everything. thankfully tuesday in the evening rhianna came by with 2 small boxes of orange juice and a snickers bar.. bless her soul.
but its better than the alternative.. i was supposed to be in machu picchu right now at the hostel of francisco and oscar. and if you saw it on the news... people have been dying over there becase this has been the worst rain in over 23 years and the river has flooded out all the bridges and train tracks and people have been airlifted out of there.. unfortunately they are taking the tourists first and the locals second which means my friend francisco is still there without electricity or water too! and who knows wen he will be able to make it back.
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Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Peru’s government evacuated by helicopter at least 260 tourists stranded near the Machu Picchu archaeological site after flash flooding in the region left 10 people dead and about 1,700 awaiting evacuation.
More helicopters are needed to speed up the process as visitors wait at hotels and the train station in a town next to the 15th-century Inca ruins, said Romulo Guidino, general manager of Ferrocarril Transandino SA, the Orient Express Hotels Ltd. unit that manages the track from Cuzco to Machu Picchu.
The railway line, which carries 2,500 tourists daily to the country’s biggest tourist attraction, was flooded Jan. 24 after days of heavy rain caused the Vilcanota River to rise to its highest level in 25 years, swamping roads and destroying bridges.
“Helicopter is the only way to get access at the moment,” Guidino said on radio station Radioprogramas. “Walking is not an option because of the risk of landslides.”
An Argentine tourist and her Peruvian tour guide were killed and three people were injured today after a landslide on the Inca Trail, a hiking route about 7,700 feet above sea level, Radioprogramas said on its Web site. Another eight people have been killed by landslides in the Cuzco region, according to Canal N television.
U.S. Helicopters
The U.S. Embassy is sending four helicopters to help evacuate the 400 Americans trapped because of the flooding, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.
As many as 500 Argentines are stranded, Buenos Aires-based C5N television channel reported. Australian and Brazilian tourists are also among those waiting to be evacuated, according to friends and relatives who contacted Bloomberg News by e-mail.
Peru’s government is preparing to send two helicopters carrying food, water and tents to the area, Cabinet Chief Javier Velasquez said in an e-mailed statement.
Bad weather prevented a police helicopter from leaving Cuzco for Machu Picchu this morning to evacuate more tourists, state news agency Andina reported. Rain is expected to fall in the Cuzco region the next two days, according to Accuweather.com.
Workers today sought to clear red mud and rocks covering roads and parts of the rail line.
“It’s time the government looks at creating an alternative route to Machu Picchu,” Puga said in an interview with Radioprogramas. ‘The railway can’t be only way to get to our tourist icon.”
U.S. Pilot
Meg Overstake and her husband Conor, from Kaneohe, Hawaii, both 30, were spending their honeymoon in Machu Picchu when flooding severed road and rail access to the town. Meg Overstake’s sister, Katy Fritts, said she had been in contact with the couple via text message.
“They were told there is enough food and water in the town for two days,” Fritts said in a telephone interview from Boston.
At least 260 people had been airlifted from Machu Picchu to Ollantaytambo as of 5 p.m. New York time, using six Peruvian police, army and private helicopters, said Catherine Lanceroes, a spokeswoman for Peru Rail, one of three train companies operating the Machu Picchu railway.
As many as 500 people could be airlifted today, provided weather conditions allow helicopters to continue flying, Andina reported, citing Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Martin Perez.
Higher Ground
Inca Rail SAC, another of the train operators, has contracted a helicopter to support the airlift, the company said in an e-mailed statement. Tourists in Machu Picchu were urged to move to higher ground on fears the town could be flooded, Inca Rail said. Two people made it to Ollantaytambo on foot, the company said.
Peru Rail is waiting for water levels in the Vilcanota River to fall so it can resume work to clear rocks and mud and repair damage to the line, Lanceroes said. It will probably be “days” before trains can run again, she said.
“There are six or seven points along the rail line with problems, two of them critical,” Lanceroes said in a telephone interview from Cuzco
