The Machu Picchu Landslides

Earlier this week, my friend Gary tweeted to say that his girlfriend Sarah (whom I've never met) was stuck in Machu Picchu after a landslide. At the time, I didn't think much of it, because you don't do you? His girlfriend is a seasoned traveller, people get stranded abroad all the time. But then I realised how grave things actually were. There had been landslides in Peru, and later on an earthquake. Things were really serious. And knowing that Gary could only sit there and wait for news was horrible. Especially when the town that Sarah was in lost gas and electricity.

At the start of the week, it sounded like an adventure. Sure, she was out there, but spirits were high, despite the situation. Everyone wanted to get home, but it sounded like most were making the best out of it (that's Aussies for you). But the problem wasn't so much the situation, it was how it was being dealt with. When the power was cut and the lights went out, the mood turned sour pretty quickly. And at the time, nothing was being done. There was no news about when anyone would send rescue. There was around 1500 tourists stranded, this was serious.

Why does this matter to me? One of my housemates works for the government - partially for the Foreign Office, partially for another division that she doesn't tell me much about. She's a bit like a female James Bond and I won't write more about what she does. A lot of the work she does is in the Middle East rather than South America but she was able to help where she could. And she did. Because she's awesome. I knew living with someone who worked for the government would come in handy at some point. Even though I was rather hoping it would involve making my tax bill disappear.

Last year, I blogged about not knowing being one of the worst things. When the bombings happened in London, I had no idea because I was on a train travelling to the middle of nowhere in China. Because of the Chinese censorship laws, the only news I could get to when we finally arrived was stuff my folks were cutting and pasting into email. The not knowing is the worst part. It gives you too much time to imagine the worst. I understood why it was so scary to Gary to have all of this going on. So short of stealing a helicopter, I was trying to help where I could. It was horrible knowing how worried he was and not being able to do very much.

I didn't want to blog about this until I knew that Gary's girlfriend was safe. She's now out of Machu Picchu and safe in Cusco. I wish more people had reported on this (although The Guardian and The Times both spoke to Gary's other half). I also wish something had happened sooner. Why did it take so long for them to get airlifted out? I don't mean why the process took so long - there was a queue of 1500 people, I can do the maths. Sarah isn't (to my knowledge) elderly or with child, so she wasn't a priority. What I mean, is why was she there for two days without any aid? Why didn't the Peruvian government ask for aid? Instead of asking for help, they tried to orchestrate a rescue themselves - something that clearly wasn't working. The situation wasn't as dire as it would have been - according to Gary five people were reported as dead so we're not talking anything like Haiti - but it was getting worse. And it was getting worse quickly. I wonder how many people reading this weren't even aware that the event had happened. Considering we're lucky enough to have access to worldwide news, I can't help thinking that we abuse that privilege. I'm watching the news at the moment. Nothing about Machu Picchu, but a piece on Kate Moss' hair going grey. Lovely. How much about Machu Picchu will be reported once everyone is back home? Who will care?

Gary's girlfriend will be just fine, she's actually planning on catching up with her tour and continuing to Argentina and Chile. I couldn't be happier and I'm pleased that Gary might finally get a decent night's sleep now. But the perspective I have on the British media has shifted. If they're not reporting events like this, what the hell are we reading?

Flickr image from Alex E. Proimos' photostream.