No Soap, Radio (by Lawrs)

Well all the jolly talk about the copious quantities of rain falling on the sanctified city of Cusco turned out be no joke at all. In the aftermath of three days of continuous rain, much of the sacred valley lies in ruins, entire towns downstream from Cusco have simply been erased from the map, and the train tracks  to the citadel of Machu Picchu (the only access) are blocked by tens of landslides. The collapsed sidewalk in front of our house is nothing in comparison to those who have lost their homes, their belongings, their crops, and their means of egress from their rural villages.

Meanwhile in Aguas Calientes, the tourist mecca at the base of Machu Picchu, over two thousand tourists were stranded for nearly a week as military helicopters shuttled them back to Cusco during spells of clear weather. The current estimate is that the train tracks will be out of service for over 8 weeks. That translates into around $100,000,000 of tourist revenue lost. The city of Cusco is the launching point for visits to Machu Picchu, and it is empty around here. A lot of cab drivers have their seats at full recline and are passing the time napping in their parking spaces for the lack of passengers.

I have gone on two bike rides since the deluge and I am amazed at the amount of destruction. It isn't post apocalyptic here in the city, but there are lots of little things that will take a while to fix. The trail that links the city to the hamlet of Yuncaypata (where I bike) is blocked by five landslides. Adobe retaining walls have crumbled all over the place. The steep dirt margins along roads are continuing to collapse
and cover the pavement.  Some pavement has collapsed.  There is a lot of work to be done.

Happily, the weather seems to have calmed down a bit. It is still raining, but not for very long each time it rains. We all have our fingers crossed that we have seen the worst of it, although February is typically the rainiest month of the year, and March is no slouch either. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

 

In the meantime, there is a lot to be thankful for.  We miss our dear super-poodle Oliver, but when in a pinch there is always the neighborhood alpaca to spend some quality time with.

Sophia and I passed this handsome gent at the start of our hike up to the temple of the monkey.  It was a gorgeous day and this time we found the monkey!  There were many of them actually, carved right into the bedrock, but this one was the clearest.

It turns out the Templo de Mono is a perfect place to play hide-and-seek, so we  tucked ourselves into caves and darted around corners for a while.  In one of the caves we found this offering, a basket of flower buds with a picture of a smiling couple rolled up on top of it.

I have gotten out on some positively epic mountain bike rides.  The rain has only improved the rockier trails, and the light in the morning is ethereal.  

Isabel is so happy to be back  at her ballet class.  Her teacher, Katia, is a really wonderful person.  Her 12 year old granddaughter is enrolled at the national school of ballet in Lima, but during summer vacation is here in Cusco and sitting in on some classes.  It's a treat to see Esther and Isabel dancing together.  The classes are held in a ramshackle backroom of the Alianza Francesa, the French Cultural center in Cusco.  That warm glow emanating from the austere courtyard is the cafe that is affiliated with the Alianza.  My word, is their food good!  It's great to be able to sit in the bustling space sipping a coffee and reading the paper in between classes.

 

It's late here and my feet feel like they belong on a cadaver.  Houses made of concrete and glass are less than cozy once the sun goes down.  Tomorrow will hopefully be a nice dia de descanso (day of rest), as Sundays should be.  I bought some lovely avocados from the market today and I am already looking forward to eating them in a nice salad for lunch tomorrow.