Sound the alarm.

I looked over at Yasmine and seriously considered making a medium funny joke about how she should, in true Yasmine style, be taking pictures of us looking exhausted and frazzled in the early hours of the morning. The atmosphere in the car was tense, though, and I figured that if the mudslides did turn into a tragedy I would regret saying anything, so I kept quiet along with everyone else as we drove towards Ollantaytambo and away from the overflowing lagoon. In the front seat were Yovana, her son Joel and her partner Luis. When we arrived in Ollantay Maricarmen, our director, begged them to stay with us in the hotel but Yovis just laughed, said goodnight and drove back to Urubamba.

We stayed in a nice hotel and at around 3am, as we were listlessly sitting around the room wondering if we should go to bed, Yasmine snapped a couple of photos and we all laughed. Everything is really fine in Urubamba, though the river is gushing with unusually brown and silty water and a few streets have traces of mud and small debris. Although she is staying here, Mari is worried about more rain and more mud, and the legal issues associated with injured foreigners. She was so upset last night that I buckled to social pressure and said yes when she asked us to please stay in Cusco for couple of days, even though I think it's unnecessary.  In a few hours, then, we will head to higher ground and spend a few days eating tourist homefoods and lazing around coffee shops while every other Urubambian goes about their daily lives with slightly damp feet.