It’s an early start (for us) – the bus leaves Cusco at
7am. We make it to the terminal with 15
minutes to spare.
Cruz del Sur are good.
It’s almost like checking in at the airport, all passports, weighed and ticketed
luggage, and so on. We’re downstairs in
VIP section of the bus, along with only other gringos. Better seats that on a plane, that’s for sure. The bus fights its way out of Cusco, which
takes an age, as the town is large. It’s
also full of unfinished construction, as appears to be the Peruvian way of
doing things!
Aside from the obvious poverty and unfinished buildings
everywhere, the trip is quite scenic and only spoiled by passing through Juliaca. Juliaca must win the prize for the most awful
town/city in Peru. It hasn’t changed in
any obvious way, certainly not for the better, since we last drove through it
in 2011. The main streets are unpaved,
muddy slop-holes, full of cars (operational or otherwise), people buzzing
around like bees in a hive and just general chaos.
Our arrival into Puno was only a little bit later than
scheduled which was surprising given how long we spent getting out of Cusco and
passing Juliaca. I nearly managed to get
into a punch up with a stupid French tourist who, while we were waiting for our
luggage, insisted on smoking and blowing it all over me. I put on my angry face and cursed at
him. Did no good of course, but I felt
slightly better!
We took yet another overpriced taxi to our hostal – 10
soles, when 5 was correct. Andrea was angry,
again.
The hostal looked a bit dodgy from outside, helped by the
large steel plate door, but is ok inside.
The owner (Jenny) is very full of advice and very friendly (in a good
way).
Having been here before, we walk into town refreshing our
memories. Having been at altitude now
for a week, we feel much better than we did last time! We snack on empanadas from a lovely bakery
(Pan Rica), have a chicha morada next to the cathedral and top it off by visiting
a crappy, overpriced museum.
We have dinner at a pizza joint notable for the completely
disinterested waiter!
Back to hostal and bed – earplugs again likely to be a
winner, as the road outside the window seems busy.
It’s definitely cooler than Cusco – the bed has lots of
blankets!
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