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"The Inca Trail is not for me"

Visiting Peru

Annette
2005-08-29 23:19:47

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The pilot looked a lot like his plane: a bit rough around the edges, a bit worn and frazzled. He wore thick glasses, the kind that was popular back in the seventies. His plane's windows were nearly blind with scratches on the outside. He wore everyday clothes, not a uniform. "He is a bus driver", I thought to myself, and just like a bus driver he was plying the same route day-in, day-out. He got into the cockpit, where I could see him pushing buttons through the opened door. He performed tests that meant nothing to me, busily reaching over here, turning over there. Then he got up, shot a cursory glance at the plane half-full with passengers, and in a grumpy mood gave instructions to a young flight attendant. Clearly intimidated, she seemed to shrink in size and over an intercom connection spoke with someone outside. Some time later, a mechanic arrived, and both pilot and mechanic shuffled to the midsection of the plane. At that point, my interest got peaked. I kept watching the stewardess for signs. It seemed to me that if anyone could gauge what was going on, it was her, and I wanted to get a clue whether this was going to be a short wait, a long delay or a complete change of planes. Should I be worried at this point? No, I decided, everything is fine. And so it was. An hour and some minor adjustments later, we took off from Lima Airport, headed for Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas.

This is a short flight, hardly an hour to get from Lima at sea level to Cusco 10 000 feet high in the Andes. Leaving the overcast skies and muggy sprawl of Lima behind, the plane climbed slowly. Hadn't it been for the blind windows, I would have seen more of the incredibly beautiful mountain ranges below. But even so, out of the few square inches of unscratched window, I saw snow-covered mountains, completely untouched, with no settlements, roads or any sign of life. These were the majestic Andes; the mountains that were home to the Inca and their modern-day ...