We made it home

Our 5 hour bus ride back to Cusco turned out to be an 8 hour ride. It seems our new tour guide did OK, although there was one occasion where the words 'stick with us, we'll show you a good time' were echoing in our ears. Not far out of Puno, we struck some roadworks. The side-track was 'cross-country' ... across the flat. There was congestion as trucks, buses and cars from both directions pushed forward. Our driver obviously took the wrong path .... through very slippery mud from previous night's rain, and we started to slide ... sideways!!!

A couple of guys on the roadside smiled and lay back on the bank to watch the spectacle ....I thought we could be stuck for a while. Bus boys hopped out and started gathering stones to put under the back wheels and just ahead of us the path was blocked by a truck. The scene didn't look promising, but before too long we were inching our way forward and onto firmer ground.... and on our way again.

The bus stopped at Juliaca around 10.30am, and we considered buying something from the ladies lined up outside the bus station fence, with arms stretched through the fence holding their wares.... plastic bags of coloured liquid or buns, empanadas or similar .... we couldn't be sure. At an earlier stop, women had been selling plastic bags of potatoes and cheese or trout, potatoes and rice. We were thinking ... 5 hours ... our water should be enough. More than 6 hours on the road, at a control point stop, more bags of unknown food were proffered to bus patrons. From other scenes around that area, we think the item might have been pork crackling.

From Puno to Cusco, we passed through high flat plains beside Lake Titikaka, though valleys surrounded by high peaks, over ranges between he valleys – there's always something interesting to see. In the fertile valleys, intensive agriculture is mostly done by hand, and on the higher plains cattle, sheep or alpacas graze, usually tended by a herder. Mud brick is the most common building material .. and in some areas newly made bricks are laid out too dry.

Streets of towns we passed though around 1pm were filled with children coming out of school – kids all dressed in school uniforms, often making purchases from local street vendors on their way. We've been told on more than one occasion (and in more than one country) that school starts at 7.30 and goes until 1pm when the kids come home ... that would give 5 hrs of tuition with half hour break. Kids have to take all their books home, because the classrooms are used by other classes during the afternoon. Interesting...

We finished our day with lunch at Two Nations restaurant (run by an Aussie) in Cusco (around 6pm). Promised Aussie Burgers will have to wait for another day ... as the rest of the menu was too enticing.

Note to self.... don't believe a lady in the boot when she tells you the bus trip from Puno to Cusco takes 5 hours .... it's definitely more like 8 hours!!!