We arrived in Cusco yesterday after a very bumpy flight through the Andes mountains. In fact, the people on the plane applauded when we landed. I found this unsettling. Our guide wisked us away to Pachupapa restaurant in Cusco where Don had a fish with a head and the boys had pizza that they did not like. Then off to the Sacred Valley with our private driver, stopping along the way at a llama/alpaca "museum"farm for some hand's on feeding and petting. The Sacred Valley consists of multiple small towns, all exceptionally poor, and with Peruvian women dressed in the knee-length skirt, tall socks, and flat tan hat that are seen in all pictures of Peru. We are staying at the Hotel Sol y Luna which is a beautiful sanctuary, complete with gated entrance, in the middle of complete poverty. Unfortunately, there is a transportation strike in Peru today and we are not allowed to leave our hotel. So all activities for today have been cancelled. The kids keep attempting to watch TV, but it is all in Spanish. We are going to horseback ride this afternoon, if it is safe.
It's actually strike season in Peru. Disgruntled workers strike during these few months every year. This year the goverment decided to increase fines for traffic violations (speeding, running red lights, etc). They did this to cut down on the number of traffic accidents and pedestrian fatalites which are very high. Well, the cabbies and bus drivers didn't like this one bit. The new fines are so high that it could exceed a month's wages. As far as the strike goes, there is very little violence. Strikers will forcefully stop tour buses and make it's occupants get off, stranding them wherever they are. Scab cabbies run the risk of having their tires punctured. But no one really wants to hurt anybody.
So here we are stuck at Sol y Luna in the Sacred Valley of Peru. There are worse things that could happen.
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