Trust No Schedule

We´re back from two days in Aguas Calientes, including our trip this morning all the way up to Machu Picchu. As noted earlier, our grand plan was to get there first thing in the morning so we could see the famed sunrise. We checked and double checked and the first shuttle up would be at 6:30.

Dutifully, we woke up at 5:00, despite the fact that we were dead tired from yesterday, and made it down to the shuttle station by about 6:25. We just made it on the first shuttle - we were so excited and blessed our luck. But then, oddly enough, as we´re driving up the mountain on the zigzaggy path that leads to Machu Picchu, a shuttle passes us on its way down. And then another. And another. And another. And ANOTHER! All the while, we´re noticing that it sure seems rather bright and yes, by golly, the sun appears to be just over the mountain tops already. So, yeah, the whole "watch the sunrise at famed Machu Picchu" idea was a great one, but our plan was foiled by improper information. Schedule smedule. Lesson learned: in Peru, don´t trust the schedules.

I mentioned last time that Sunday was their big election. It´s on a Sunday, when it´s a lot easier for people to vote. That makes a lot of sense. And everybody votes. Our taxi driver showed us his purple-tinged thumb as proof. A whopping 22 candidates ran for president. That´s incredible. And everywhere we go, and I mean everywhere, from the city to the smallest little town we pass on the train, there are campaign posters and candidates names written on walls and instructions on how to vote. Absolutely amazing, that in countries like Peru, where politicians are so much more corrupt and ineffective than ours, people really get into the whole political process. They actually participate in their government, whereas about half of us don´t even bother to make it to the voting booth.

Other thoughts:
* If you´re a woman and you want to work for Peru´s official tourist-y professions, like for the airlines or the train companies, you have to be young, good looking, and willing to wear skirts. If you´re a man, well, you just have to be willing to work with women who are young, good looking, and wear skirts.
* Lots of little shops, like those that sell water or snacks and what have you, have calendars in them with pictures of bikini-clad white women. A lot of those calendars are also from 2005. Not that I´m looking.
* Darron´s Law: If I want to take a shower, there will be no more hot water.
* Corollary to Darron's Law: If there is hot water, it will burn me.

Off to the jungle tomorrow, bug spray at the ready.