Gate 1 in Peru

We booked our Machu Picchu Express tour through Gate 1 because the price of the air alone would have been close to the price we paid for the entire package including hotels and tours with air.

Cuzco

Rationally, we understood this meant we would not have the best air itinerary, and that proved to be the case, with redeye flights in each direction broken up by four-hour layovers in Lima. The redeye flights meant we would have 4 days in the Sacred Valley using only 3 hotel nights, so it seems a logical approach to a short trip.

Our 1:05 AM flight on LAN left Miami a few minutes late, but we had a smooth flight. Worn out from a long day walking all over South Beach in the sun, we expected to be sleeping soon, but an improbable complimentary dinner service a few minutes after takeoff meant staying upright to avoid disrupting dining passengers behind us.

Village in Crevice of Andes

I started watching “We’re the Millers,” an odd comedy that failed on many levels but never managed to bore me to sleep. Then again, I seldom sleep well on planes. I did manage to nod off for an hour or so eventually, and I was suddenly awakened by the pilot announcing we would arrive in Lima in thirty minutes. I wish he would have waited another twenty minutes to tell us we would be landing soon.



Sacred Valley Farmland

Arriving in any foreign country to clear customs and change airplanes can be confusing, but Gate 1 had local representatives meet us to help us find our way. Yes, as with any group, it involved a bit of standing around and waiting for slow pokes, but this was definitely a positive first impression by Gate 1, which as a discount packager could be forgiven had they skipped this service.

Julie and I bought a cappuccino at McDonald’s, and not too much later it was time to board our flight to Cusco.

Because it was now morning, we enjoyed a scenic flight over the Andes, where little villages in steep valleys sit below jagged peaks which presumably include the fields on which villagers farm for subsistence.

Colorful Sacred Valley scrub brush and farmlands

Later during our tour, our guide Adriel told us he grew up on such a farm near Ollantaytambo, and he said he would walk for two or three hours up the mountain to begin his work day, and then after a long day of physical labor farming his family’s fields, he would walk two to three hours back down. That should put “grueling” commutes in air conditioned cars with stereos into perspective.

Incredibly blue skies at 2 miles high

The flight from Lima to Cusco didn't take long.

Soon we were entering the terminal, where we encountered a beverage cart offering free tea leaves, which Andeans chew in order to have energy in the high altitudes. I decided that when in Peru, I should do as the Andeans do, grabbing a few leaves and chewing them as I headed to baggage claim. As promised, I was soon alert.

Outskirts of Cuzco

After retrieving our luggage, we were herded outside and separated into groups by our guides.

Once on our correct bus, our guide Adriel counted the passengers and said there seemed to be a problem. The people count on the bus was wrong.

He called roll, with each of the passengers responding when his name was called. Everyone was present.

“Is there anyone here who’s name I did not call?” pleaded Adriel.

No response.

Almost surreal etherealness sometimes.

He counted again.

And then counted again.

He got off the bus to talk to another guide, and soon that other guide’s bus was driving off.

Adriel came back on the bus.

“Is there anyone on this bus who is not part of my group?”

No response.

Clouds come and go in the Sacred Valley

He patiently called the roll again, and again asked if there was anyone whose name had not been called.

No response.

Adriel re-counted his roster.

We had 25 passengers and only 24 names.

He got off the bus to make a phone call.

By this time, the passengers were getting restless, adding stress to poor Adriel’s face.

We would come to learn that Adriel treats his group like family, taking every situation seriously.

A couple of nights later at our hotel in Cuzco, for example, a 25 year-old girl in our group was deathly ill. Her boyfriend called Adriel at 5 AM, and Adriel said he’d be there in ten minutes.

He was there in five, immediately rushing around to pharmacies and getting a doctor, who eventually had her taken to a hospital.

It turned out that young lady had both a parasite and a form of food poisoning.



Peruvian and Llama at Sacsaywaman

She had violated a couple of Gate 1's rules during the tour.

 

She spent a lot of time petting llamas that wander around archaeological sites, which is where she probably got the parasite, and she had ordered an avocado stuffed with raw vegetables in Agua Calientes.

 

In Gate 1’s travel documents and also in a package printed for us by our guide Adriel, those activities were specifically warned against.

 

Common sense should tell you that snuggling with llamas and stray dogs is not advisable for a number of reasons.

 

Food poisoning seems more likely to be encountered by the average traveler, especially by vegans who think they are being healthier than everyone else by eating uncooked vegetables. 

If you can’t drink the water, what exactly do you think they use to wash the vegetables? Obviously, you need to eat cooked vegetables only. Fruit that has been peeled is safe, but we simply don’t have the same antibodies in our systems as locals do in other countries.

Traces of modern civilization in Sacred Valley

Keeping in mind that Adriel had warned against these activities and in fact tried to get the group to all stay together for lunch at his restaurant selection in Agua Calientes, he never went into “I told you so” mode. He just tried to resolve the problem like a loving parent.

Back to the bus count, Adriel finally walked around asking each person his or her name, soon coming to a guy in a yellow jacket who I think our guide had noticed didn’t answer the roll call. After some whispering, Adriel asked Yellow Jacket and the woman sitting next to him to step off the bus.

After another ten minutes of discussion, Adriel came back on board the bus with the woman, having found a taxi for the man who was trying to sneak onto our tour. Adriel went out of his way to not embarrass the woman who had been trying to smuggle her boyfriend into our group without paying. The woman, for her part, never made any effort to apologize throughout the trip, even when that same blockhead in the same yellow jacket kept turning up like a bad penny to delay us.

After an unnecessary thirty minute delay, we were finally on our way to our hotel, beginning with a scenic drive through the Sacred Valley.