One of the most outstanding trips we've ever taken was to Machu Picchu in 2005. But I have to say, the trip didn't start out that way.
We arrived in Lima after a few flight delays at about 2 a.m. The discount tour company that I had booked through online was supposed to have someone meet us at the airport. No one was there. No problem, I thought. We'll snag a taxi and head to our hotel. It had been a long day and we were absolutely beat.
We flagged a taxi and I showed our Spanish-speaking driver the hotel address on my itinerary. After 20 minutes of driving-- the last 10 minutes or so of which seemed to be through slums, with drunks wandering the street--we arrived at the address. The hotel was closed. And I mean really closed. Some windows broken out, others boarded up. Tape across the entrance.
Our driver drove around the block, checking addresses as we circled and arrived back where we started. He looked back at us and in a tentative, questioning voice said, "closed." By this time, I'm thinking I've been had. I'm in a foreign country. The tour company has several thousand dollars of our hard earned cash. Is this one of those countries where Americans get kidnapped and their families have to pay exorbitant ransoms to get them back? I'm from a poor family, nobody's paying much to get me back. And my husband's family isn't a whole lot better off.
Horrible images start floating through my head. Am I ever going to get home?
The driver looked back at us again and said something like, "I know a place." Or at least that's what we thought he said.
He drove a few minutes and we arrived at a new hotel. Now, I'm really worried about the kidnapping scenario. Is the new "hotel" in on the scam? We get dropped here and can't get out?
My "Spanish for travelers" CD has left me woefully unprepared for this. What to do now???
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I wish I was as adventurous as you and your husband. I would have told the driver to take me back to the airport so that I could catch the next thing smoking for home.
ReplyDeleteGirl, you don't know, but I was so close to doing just that, I can't even tell you. What probably stopped me was the delirium of having traveled for 12 or 13 hours with very little sleep the the night before. Fatigue dulled my mind. But as things turned out, it was one of the best sleep deprived decisions I've ever made.
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