Christine has resolved the photo problem.
A night in Orsono, provincial farming town, neat and tidy but uneventful.
Drop the BM off re-sort our luggage, we are sending all our motorcycle gear home to save weight then onto Osono airport to go onto Santiago.
Please note that here we booked our flights through all the way to Cusco via Santiago and Lima.
Santiago is very very pleasant, good hotel, wide tree lined streets, packed, really packed, like an Arsenal, Man Utd game, with what appeared to be pleasant easy going people. Not really enough time here just an overnight. There is a lot to see. But the main reason to stop here was that Christine's grandfather stopped here when he was in the navy in the twenties and thirties. We have seen the pictures at home and were able to visit the locations we had seen, some had changed little, others, well, ring roads, shopping malls etc.
Still we did it.
Next morning really up early to the airport.
Problem. I have lost our blue paper file with tickets, travel insurance, and itinerary.
(please note who lost folder)
Only paper really but of no real value. But..............
room searched, lobby, staff running around. not found and so we are off.
Into the airport and to the LAN airways desk. The situation is explained and can we have replacement papers. NO
Now with our guide we start an hour long struggle with Miss Atitude. I understand that there is a similar problem in Spain and we have met it here several times. Women have an atitude along the lines of 'Serve you, I am far too pretty to serve you'
If it were my business they would be out the door, these women must lose custom, but it seems accepted here.
Its seems that if we have no tickets that we cannot fly. Now if you remember with booked in with Lan at Orsono using the now lost tickets for a through journey, we should not need tickets. She will not budge.
All the details are on her computor screen but she will not budge. We even know our seat numbers as allocated all ready.
What do we have to do.
What we have to do is to buy OUR seats back at a cost of 1500 US dollars (750 pounds,)
NO. NO. NO.
Oh yes we do.
Oh yes we do.
Our guide has never heard of this.
Another Lan rep he checks the computor and tells us we are booked through, the tickets are not needed.
Down comes Miss Pain in the ....... They argue, he comes back sorry but she's the boss and she will not see sense here. No discretion.
Blackmailed into buying new tickets on our guides advice otherwise we will fall out of our schedule we pay up and go to book in. Good old Mr Visa.
We present out tickets to book in, 'Why, you do not need tickets you are booked through from Orsono'. We explain, take off is in forty minutes. She tells us this is not right but we have to go. Sort it out later.
What a pain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a pain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In and out of Lima and up and up to Cusco.
Leaving Chile and Argentina. Reflections. Both are rather European but very very pleasant. We have enjoyed our time here. But for the fact that I never really was able to recognise a one way street and often found myself going the wrong way. The only way I really recognised one was when the traffic came the other way on both side of the road. But, did anyone care. No...
Into Lima, transfer and on to Cusco. Immediately a change of style, not for the worse but this is Indian country. I have seen pictures, film, etc and these people are exactly how you would imagine Incas to be, dark, sombre, but then a wonderful slapstick humour. On the plane coming up they had some silly Canadian candid camera film on and the whole of the aircraft were laughing out loud. Not a thing you would hear in Europe. Lovely.
Into Cusco. Riot police everywhere. We ask our guide are there any problems, 'Oh no, no worries' Hold on a minute, 'Well yes, a national transport strike, but it will not efffect you' Liar!!!
Up to the hotel. Well, great. It consist of a square of buildings set round gardens then balconies on three sides over looking the gardens and right into the city centre and the terraced hills beyond. I hate International hotels and this is just great, simple rooms all timber balconies and all based on the Inca ruins. Our room has Inca walls up to about six foot then Spanish build on top of that. The gardens are full of artefacts just laying around, and the whole city is just the same. Its like living in 'dig'.
The strike is going to be trouble. Thurday and Friday are our days in the sacred valley and up to Matu Pichu. These two days are the days of the strike.
There will be NO transport.
Lots of confusion, no answers, then both of us are hit by altitude sickness.
Lets go off into this. The travel companys would have you believe that this affects only a few visitors. No. The hotel staff here reckon about 50%. It starts with a mild headache that developes into a severe head pain, it feels as if your brain is expanding inside your skull, this is followed by being really sick and last for about twenty four hours. They give you Coca (cocaine) but it tastes like evergreen privit and has no real effect. ( I did later have Coca cake which is dipped in honey and chocolate, not so bad.) Then its into the real drugs which do get grip of it. It should last for some 24 hours but if it goes on too long they fly you out.
Recovering slowly, but breathless, slightly muzzy, aches in the muscles. And this is at 10,000ft, soon we move on to 14,000ft!!!!! Oh dear.
As I was saying. Lots of confusion but eventually we get moved onto Saturday and Sunday so now we have two free days here.
Thursday. First day of the strike., We wander into town. There is no traffic, nothing, not a bicycle. This place swarms with taxis which are tiny Daewoo four door cars that take you anywhere for forty pence. Not a one today.
Crowds everywhere, like a carnival atmosphere, thousands of people. Flags, banners, and protesters. I can now do;
'The Workers...................United........................
Can never be defeated..........................
In Spanish.
But, subtle changes taking place. The strikers, perhaps as many as ten thousand all carry substantial wooden staves some four or five foot long, many wear yellow site helmets.
The riot police, there are a lot! Stand on every street corner in groups of ten. Shields, body armour, batons, then to each squad an automatic rifle and each individual a side arm.
And this is strange, several shepherds crooks. Odd. We later are told that these are used for hooking trouble makers out of the crowd either round the neck or via a limb. WOW.
All the shops are open but barricaded up, to get in you give a gentel knock on the door, use the password 'It is I, LeClerc' and in you go.
We have coffee up on a balcony over looking the square but when the demonstrators start to burn tyres in the street we think its time to get back to the hotel. The bar owner says not to come into town tonight. Good advice.
Amaizingly we are later offered a bus tour around the city centre. LIKE HELL.
Time to have some R&R.
