A friend of mine is an ultra-high-end travel agent and happened to mention offhand that things are popping off in Peru - shootings and mobs and Machu Picchu actually closed down for awhile. Was not expecting this!

quote:
Ongoing protests may cause travel disruption, including with road blockades, suspension of train services (including trains to/from Machu Picchu) and airport closures in different parts of the country. The airport of Juliaca in Puno has suspended its operations and travellers should check with travel providers in advance.

Meanwhile, crime in the area is particularly high and there may be a higher risk to safety in areas where this is organised crime and terrorism linked to the protection of drugs. There is a risk of robbery by bogus taxi drivers, especially to and from the airports and at bus terminals, according to the FCDO.

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Posted by RummelTiger

Official TD Sauces Club Member

Member since Aug 2004

93032 posts

Posted on 1/20/23 at 12:18 pm to Big Scrub TX

I did some work in Lima a few years ago.

Pretty much every building has a fortified wall with razor-wire or electric wires on top that surround it. It started because of civil conflict years ago, but then became part of the aesthetic around the city...and this was in Miraflores, one of the nicest parts of the city.

Tried to look as rough as I could, yet still professional enough for work - though jeans and polo sufficed. Left rings and watch at home, walked with my head on a swivel, didn't get drunk and attempt to walk around, and when I did walk around I did as if I was the mayor of Lima.

Did get the shits from a salad of all things. frickers washed the lettuce and that got me.

Never had any issues and actually liked the city a lot.

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Posted by Big Scrub TX

Member since Dec 2013

38521 posts

Posted on 1/20/23 at 1:39 pm to RummelTiger

I was there in 2016, right after PPK was elected and actually in Lima the day of Brexit. I found it remarkable how stable and peaceful things seemed. Since then, I guess not so much?

I think it would be quite shocking to find oneself trapped at Machu Pichhu!

quote:
Never had any issues and actually liked the city a lot.

It's so bizarre how, even though it's coastal, the weather is just sort of not great. When I was there, I took a few meetings with local real estate groups to see about making some moves. It has to be the last major city in the world where the wealthy haven't piled onto the coast. I saw shanties in prime locations. (The model for this is Barcelona - prior to the 1992 Olympics, unbelievably, the slums were basically at the beach and and the rich lived in the hills. That is largely reversed now.)

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Posted by Big Scrub TX

Member since Dec 2013

38521 posts

Posted on 1/21/23 at 8:50 pm to Big Scrub TX

quote:
Peru indefinitely shut the famed ancient ruins of Machu Picchu on Saturday in the latest sign that anti-government protests that began last month are increasingly engulfing the South American country.

The Culture Ministry said it had closed the country’s most famous tourist attraction as well as the Inca Trail leading up to the site “to protect the safety of tourists and the population in general.”

There were 417 visitors stuck at Machu Picchu and unable to get out, more than 300 of them foreigners, Tourism Minister Luis Fernando Helguero said at a news conference.

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