When we left La Paz, Bolivia, in 1980 we had a nine month old baby, Krista. We were young, adventurous, and probably foolish. Since we were uncertain we would be returning to Bolivia, we sold off or gave away all of our belongings except what we could pack into two suitcases apiece. Our baggage weight was carefully calculated - a 280 pound limit between the four bags. (Just imagine traveling around several countries, carrying that weight, plus carry-ons, plus a baby!) We managed to squeeze in a few extra pounds for free by wearing several layers of clothing. (Have you read The Poisonwood Bible? We laughed so hard as we read the account of the plane trip to Africa, stretching the airline baggage limits.)
Wanting to take advantage of our trip back to the USA, we planned to see as much of South America as possible on our shoestring budget. The first leg of the trip was by train from La Paz to the edge of Lake Titicaca. From there we got on a steamboat made in the 1870's which was brought up in pieces by carts and burros from Lima to be reassembled. Our crossing of the lake took all night. Our berth had two incredibly small bunkbeds - short and narrow. They did not have mattresses, but instead were strung with canvas. The deep dip in the canvas made an ideal crib for Krista and she slept well while we wrestled with the frame of the bed, impinging on our bodies on every side.
At dawn we could see the city of Puno, Peru - our destination. Well, not exactly. We were to take a train from there to Cusco. Krista and I passed through immigration and got on the train with some of our belongings while Woody tried to settle matters with the Peruvian customs agents. It seems to me that our train was already moving when Woody threw our bags up and jumped in the train just in time.
We had been forwarned about how dangerous this leg of the trip would be. The warnings were well founded. (In fact, that particular train was renowned for having the most robberies of any train in the world.) The whole trip - lasting all day - we kept our eyes on our bags, putting a hand or foot on each one, focused to avoid robberies. People were robbed right and left. One particular couple was robbed four times in the course of the day. Robbers would jump on the slow moving trains while their cohorts pounded on the outside of the train windows to distract the passengers. Heavy laden as we were, we never once got robbed. It was no small wonder that with all the chaotic yelling, crying, screaming, and running, our poor little Krista did not sleep all day long.
By the time we finally arrived in Cusco - about 36 hours after leaving La Paz, we were all shot. Krista was so over-tired that it took us hours to get her to sleep in our cold, dark, little hotel room.
We had planned to take another train ride to Machu Picchu, but we decided there was no way we could subject ourselves, let alone our baby, to another Peruvian train experience.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
