Help Climbers Attacked in Peru

Eric G. wrote: If the Americans are to be credited, they had permission to camp.

Someone on Supertopo posted a suggestion as to how that permission to camp may have been misunderstood by the travelers.

The paragraph read:
The three gringos drive up to camp for the night at what looks like a deserted spot. Tired they sit down and break out some beer. Half mile a way, up the hill, some villagers, also having a beer after a long day see an odd flashy truck pull on to their land. Having had some recent problems with thieves (maybe horse?) two of them elect to go down and see what is going on. Despite their simmering anger over recent events they try to stay friendly and greet the gringos not knowing who they are or where they came from. They only notice they are foreign which just makes them more suspicious. The gringos start saying something like this, "campo aqui?" to which the villagers quizically reply "Si, este es un campo, claro." All seems good to the gringos, but of course it is not at all.


I don't think anyone has posted as to the level of language skills the traveler had, but when I did the translations for those phrases above, I can see how someone with less than good level could have had something like that happen.

Link: supertopo.com/climbing/thre…

Eric G. wrote: This is how the encounter began, according the the Americans: "We were almost immediately approached by two village residents, who were friendly and who we asked if it was ok to park and camp where we had. They said yes. Soon, the two men were blowing whistles and using their cell phones to alert their friends of our presence and many more village residents started gathering around us, including the man who they called the Presidente." This does not suggest the villagers suspected they had rustlers on their hands. If the Americans are to be credited, they had permission to camp.

If the Americans are to be credited, they set up camp first and asked permission later, after waiting for the locals to come to them. Not what I would do in a strange country, especially one with a corrupt police force and a lot of crime.

Most of their story doesn't add up to me.

I've travelled in remote places in Peru without incident but with good common sense. ALWAYS have a local in your favor.

Rolling up onto someone else's land in a narco state area and escalating the situation by refusing to provide documents, being hostile to locals, driving away and trying to plow through barricades, pepper spraying the locals. They did nothing right.

Then the account for them to get back their belongings and spending the first $5K on a laptop. Makes you wonder.

If what allegedly happened to them, if it were me I'd be working on getting on the first plane back to the states to get my wounds looked over and treated (with "100 stitches" how are they going to get those removed in the place they're at confidently), an appointment with a dentist to fix broken teeth, an appointment with a psych to deal with mental trauma.

No money should go to replacing computers, iphones, truck windows, etc. They should be spending their newly found donations on getting themselves healthy and fixed. But where are they now? Even a few days ago they were claiming they wanted to continue their journey.

They should have worn sombreros and fake mustaches to fit in.

thefish wrote:here is a PM I got from Jon c. Sullivan "its a third world country its to be expected..." Im sick of cocks like you making smart ass remarks on MP were some posts are in need of serious responses and discussions. Go join the "how to tie a figure 8" discussion. Third world country does not mean more danger than anywhere else. How many shootings have we had with mass casualties in the US this year? This is not to single you out, but you and all of the other tools who think they can hide their shitty humor or personalities online with these cheeky responses. lol Umad? YOU TAKE THE INTERNET TOO SERIOUS BRAH

lol he PMed you, nobody PMs thefish

M Sprague wrote:They should have worn sombreros and fake mustaches to fit in.

thats a great idea, maybe crank up some salsa music while driving through town with surfboards on top of the truck

Jake Jones wrote: I am reluctant to come to their defense, but it reads to me like they're not asking for donations to replace their goods. They were asking for money because they had no access to their own because their cards and indigenous cash were stolen, and because they have no way to purchase transportation home, or cover the incurrence of their medical bills there locally. I could be wrong though, I did not read the fine print. Surely though, they know better than to ask for money to replace the toys. Perhaps not.

OK, you have a point BUT dont you imagine these folks have family in the USA with some cash? Lets be honest here, people who climb and surf dont usually come from coal mining communities in Appalachia or trailer parks in Alabama. People that climb and surf that have all of this gear, truck included, AND the time to go on adventures like this are not from the poor side of the tracks.

Jake Jones wrote: I am reluctant to come to their defense, but it reads to me like they're not asking for donations to replace their goods. They were asking for money because they had no access to their own because their cards and indigenous cash were stolen, and because they have no way to purchase transportation home, or cover the incurrence of their medical bills there locally. I could be wrong though, I did not read the fine print. Surely though, they know better than to ask for money to replace the toys. Perhaps not.

Then why type out an list of items that were stolen and what they're worth? (iPhone 5!)

edit: They removed the list. What a scam.

David Barbour wrote: Then why type out an list of items that were stolen and what they're worth? (iPhone 5!) edit: They removed the list. What a scam.

If you read their write up of what happened there is a explanation of why that was included. You actually have to read the whole thing. Or scroll to the bottom.

There explanation makes sense.

article wrote:The bottom half of this letter has now been removed. I posted this letter that Jenny wrote in order to quickly release our story as it was the only written account I had immediate access to and didn’t have the time to write it out myself. The point of posting this letter was to get our story out so that the legal system in Peru would have to do somthing, as before we released it they were all twittling their thumbs hoping we would just go away. The point was not to ilicit for money just becuase we listed the items which were stolen from us!

Sounds like a bunch of bs actually, but that's just my opinion.

David Barbour wrote: Then why type out an list of items that were stolen and what they're worth? (iPhone 5!) edit: They removed the list. What a scam.

I don't really care to speak to their donations page, but in criminal cases its common practice to itemize a list of stolen/damaged items for the police investigation and potential re-compensation. They likely made the list initially for the consulate and local police. Why is everyone incredulous that they made this list? Seems it really isn't the list you all are upset about, but rather that they opened a donation page to help them cover costs. If any of you were a victim of this type of crime you would have been asked to make a list of damaged and stolen items as well.

Whether you create a donation page on the web is a different story.

I am sure the court of public opinion wasn't what they were thinking about when they posted the items they lost at the bottom of their story.

SlowTrad wrote:Back in the 80's I had the privelege of serving the US 7th SFG in Central/South America and the Carribean. Ther is no fricken way I would have ever been without a means of defending myself, that means at the very least a .45 ACP and 3 xtra mags. More often it would be accompanied by an M16 or M203. There is a very terrible wealth disparity in most of the world that erupts into violence when the "man" shows up with a new car and shiny iPhones and no way to defend it. Take a look at the local rich guy in any third world country, and you will also see 2 or 3 other guys with guns protecting him, and his house will have a wall with barbed wire and security. They don't do that for fun, it is a necessity. I think it was very naive and foolish to travel to such places without proper security and knowledge of your environment. But I feel bad for their ordeal.

Ditto, I was down there in the mid to late 90's. But not everyone could handle a .45 like you or I.

When traveling in other countries, or even here in the US, I "act like the natives." Well as much as I can. But when I go home or to the projects back in NYC where I worked years ago, I don't go wearing my cool climbing shit. I try to blend in. It's best to learn the culture and customs of the area, even if you may not agree with them. Like 90 year old Saudi's marrying 15 year old girls and paying a $17k dowry.

Looks like we are heading for Trollville again. The one thing I had respected about the MP discussion of this event is that it was a bit more reasoned than the feeding frenzies on other forums.

David Barbour, TRmasta, Jake Jones, please read some of the discussions from earlier pages, and earlier posts from the travelers' blog itself. I think a plausible case has been made for a misunderstanding due to cultural differences, language barriers, and some bad decisions made in fear and haste (on both sides).

As to the posting of the list of valuables, which was later removed from the blog post by Meg, please see my post on page 3, the one beginning "A few things to think about" regarding why the list was prepared in the first place, why it was removed, and how the online funding site got started.

I don't find their explanation implausible; I have been in a similar situation myself. Authorities won't believe you and will do nothing until they have in their hands a written account which must include a list of valuables lost and their value. That can be frustrating when your are in shock from having been injured and robbed. Several of the peruvian newspaper articles I read early on made a point of mentioning that no formal denuncio had yet been lodged. If and when that happens, the letter that Jenny wrote and Meg (perhaps unwisely) reposted to her blog would form the basis of that denuncio. My guess, though, is that the Meg, Jed and Jenny will more likely fly home rather than hang out in Peru waiting to argue their case in court. It would be a waste of time even if they did speak Spanish. It's not like they're going to get anything back from the villagers.

David Barbour, I'm not sure I follow why removing the list of valuable from Meg's post amounts to a scam. Most of the scorn and insults that have been directed at her, Jed and Jenny focus on that list. I'm not sure the feeding frenzy would have been quite so intense had Meg given some thought to editing out the list of valuables in the first place. But likely she had other things on her mind at the time.

From time to time I've been following online a number of overland travelers who are on a similar trip across the Americas, many of whom met Jed and Meg. They are all saddened that what sounded like a great trip has come to such an unfortunate end.

Update. Looks like their truck has finally been towed to Cuzco and an investigation has been started by the police:

radiouniversalcusco.com.pe/…

The articles also implies that Meg, Jed and Jenny have now all left the country.

Sorry, Jake, I am guilty of not reading your post closely enough. I apologize for singling you out in the preceding post.

"lol he PMed you, nobody PMs thefish"

oh you didn't know? anyone who pm's me has to belay me on my project!LOL

Brad Boyle wrote:David Barbour, I'm not sure I follow why removing the list of valuable from Meg's post amounts to a scam. Most of the scorn and insults that have been directed at her, Jed and Jenny focus on that list. I'm not sure the feeding frenzy would have been quite so intense had Meg given some thought to editing out the list of valuables in the first place.

Because, to me, there wasn't any reason to include that list in the first place. It rubbed me the wrong way to see so much emphasis placed on their expensive possessions (my iPhone 5!). Maybe they are telling the complete truth about their intentions and I'm just paranoid. Regardless, I'd feel very guilty asking strangers for money after putting myself in a very risky situation. Clearly, others feel differently, and that's fine.

thefish wrote:"lol he PMed you, nobody PMs thefish" oh you didn't know? anyone who pm's me has to belay me on my project!LOL

haha - sooooo where/what's the proj? PM coming!

Oh and it sounds like the villagers have the whole "operation" organized pretty well... cultural misunderstanding maybe... opportunistic villagers way more likely in my worthless opinion. How is it when you ask about camping it is immediately followed up by alerts and warnings putting the village folk in fight mode? Bullshit cultural diffs... I have thought about both sides and honestly I find it hard to believe especially after reading the comments on the Peruvian news site where Peruvians are calling BS and noting that tourism is very well known as one of the major sources of growth/income. I would have probably tried to bribe them pretty quickly but I'm not much of a worldly traveler.

Holden Caulfield wrote: I don't see that at all. I think the disgust stems from requesting money from strangers to replace your expensive items.

Which isn't what happened, it is the narrative people on the internet have created. Which kind proves his point in a way.

Amen, Pat.

pat vernon wrote: Which isn't what happened, it is the narrative people on the internet have created. Which kind proves his point in a way.

How are you so sure that they are telling the truth?

Just so everyone knows, they raised over $15,000 the first go-around, and are now accepting a second round of donations via the page in the OP.