Huaraz to Cuzco
I'm now in Cuzco after a 25-hour bus journey. I took the luxury bus from Huaraz down to Lima at 10:30pm Thursday night. They provided cheese and ham toasties, Inca cola, a blanket but no pillow. Unfortunately the fat knacker sitting next to me snored all night so I didn’t sleep very well. Once in Lima, I set about finding buses to Cuzco. The lady at Movil Tours gave me the name ‘Transporte Wari’ which went to Nazca and Cuzco. The terminal was down a back alley and it was obviously not a bus company that Gringos take regularly. But it was cheap, woohoo!
I set off for Cuzco at 9.00am Friday after a total of 3 and a half hours in Lima. No one I’d met had said anything positive about Lima so I didn't think I’d be missing much by not staying there. The bus was very cramped but did have a toilet, so that was one redeeming factor. At 5.00pm we stopped for dinner. My legs were already achy and we still had a long way to go. We must have halted at some point during the night but I was dozing on and off and couldn’t say when.
Once the sun had risen we got off the bus, collected our belongings and proceeded over to the recent landslide that was blocking the road. It was nice to stretch our legs! At the other side of the landslide was the bus from Cuzco waiting for us. The Lima-bound passengers piled onto our bus and we got onto theirs and we went our separate ways. Apart from that small delay, the journey passed without incident. Every now and again the girl next to me, or I, would try and engage each other in conversation. Unfortunately she mumbled and spoke too fast and I think my crap pronunciation was difficult for her to understand. I don't think the rumble of the bus helped either. I did gather that she was 18 and studying English at University, though she never showed signs of having learned any.
We got to Cuzco at 10.00am on Saturday and I booked into a really nice hostel with some decent people in it. Last night there was a festival celebrating the Cusqueña beer (brewed in Cuzco), which I thought was a nice introduction to the city. The place was buzzing but I still went home early as my quest for Humitas or Tamales had proved fruitless and I was tired from travelling. I was also tired of people trying to pull me into their restaurants on Gringo alley. They were a bit too forceful and pissed me off. Attempted abduction is not going to endear me to your eatery! One particularly persistent guy wouldn't leave me alone and was jabbering on about England having fantastic rock music (although he gave Jimmy Plant as an example). He told me I must say 'Hi' next time I pass him. Hmmm, I think he'll be ignored. Still, Cuzco is a really nice place if you nip down the back alleys, away from Plaza de Armas and the Gringo hunters.
Love 'n' hugs Squick
