Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

Nine hours up stomach-churning roads brought our medical team to the Peruvian village of Pacaipampa, the place of my most memorable experience as both a pediatrician and a traveler. The local priest, our host, compared the town to the "Wild West." Men carried machetes. Women wore high-topped sombreros and hid daggers under their skirts. We paused at a trail of blood running down the street. Yet we saw no violence. Children and their families came from throughout the mountains, their burros packed with gifts of oranges and grenadinas--local fruits with a crunchy, gooey center. At times we could not help, which is the saddest feeling for a pediatrician. Still, the kindness of the people and the beauty of the landscape were overwhelming. A moment walking outside the village best captured the experience of Pacaipampa: We crossed paths with two brothers. The older, ever-protective, never smiled. The younger never stopped.