Tourists arrive in Cuzco after being evacuated today but many more are still trapped
Posted on 01/27/2010 10:19:30 AM PST by JoeProBono
Desperate tourists are paying up to $500 (£300) to get on helicopters out of the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru after torrential rains set off mudslides that have killed up to ten people.
Britons are among the 1,500 still trapped in the area three days after the heaviest rains in 15 years flooded the area over the weekend.
Rudy Chalco, a tour guide with a group of elderly Europeans, said that the rescuers were not complying with the government's orders to prioritise the evacuation of children, the elderly and sick, and that some were paying to skip to the top of the list.
"The situation is about to erupt," he said. "We don't have any more food, disorder is starting to reign, the soldiers and police that are here don't know what to do or how to organise the help that has arrived, people are getting desperate and no one is taking charge....."
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Tourists arrive in Cuzco after being evacuated today but many more are still trapped
I think should pay to be rescued. At least let them buy rescue insurance before they go up.
Tourists go to third world hell holes or climb mountains or sail near Somalia, go to Mexico or other things. They expect things to be totally safe or like it is back home. When things go to s*** they whine and complain.
As I read it, it seems the offense is not that they are paying, but that the old "women and children first" is being ignored and that those with money are being sent out first.
What a beautiful place that is.
That would be troubling
Revenge of Kon.
Machu Picchu = Mucho Payout
Forget about visiting scum filled hell holes...see the USA in a Chevrolet
Machu Pichu is wonderful, but I wouldn’t advise going there in the middle of the rainy season. Ruh Roh!
Getting out of Haiti was expensive for our church mission team.
that was quick
Something about this is puzzling me, and maybe I’m just not aware of the extent of the mudslides. But I’ve been to Machu Picchu and you can actually walk down a switchback road to the town of Aquas Calientes in about an hour. Even if that road washed out, I’d think it would still be passable, but might take two or three hours instead.
My question is this, are these people just too pampered to walk down to the town?
And the article talks about running out of food and water. But when all these helicopters are flying in to pick up people, why don’t they also fly in food, water, tents and blankets?
I’d wager that the majority of the tourists to Machu Pichu are liberals/socialists. It is rather amusing that when faced with a rough situation, they shove each other around and their “charitable” instinct flies out the window.
“women and children first”
Isn’t it funny, about women? They all prattle on about “equality”, the glass ceiling, wanna be fighter pilots, astronauts, soldiers, brag that they will never depend on a man, dominate law and medical schools, etc,,,,
Then a disaster hits, and they all revert to pre-19th amendment days, get a case of the vapors, and faint if they arent first on the lifeboat. This is why they arent taken seriously. They always pull the “helpless woman” trump card whenever they want.
Men always know that they face all of the consequences,,, alone.
I have been to a lot of places. Nothing in my experience compares to Machu Picchu and the surrounding area. Nothing.
Yes, but men should also expect that women will always behave like women. Which means that sometimes they want to pretend they are men and sometimes they don't.
“Something about this is puzzling me, and maybe I’m just not aware of the extent of the mudslides. But I’ve been to Machu Picchu and you can actually walk down a switchback road to the town of Aquas Calientes in about an hour. Even if that road washed out, I’d think it would still be passable, but might take two or three hours instead.”
I was wondering the same thing. I actually did walk back, but rather than follow the switchbacks, I walked down the slopes between them. I saw local kids beat the tourist bus to the bottom doing that. If the bridge at the river is washed out, that is a whole ‘nuther matter. Seeing a view of Machu Picchu from atop that mountain in the background is something I’ll never forget.
I found some other clips on YouTube. You know that the railroad track runs very close to the river in spots between Cuzco and Aquas Calientes. Someone said the tracks had been washed out — I can sure believe that. So even if you can walk down, you are still stranded in the town.
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