No pasaran - the bus ride from Arequipa to Cusco
Trip Start
Apr 13, 2008
1
11
17
Trip End
Jun 03, 2008
Cusco,
Cusco,
Peru
Thursday, May 15, 2008
during the past week I have experienced all the joys of South American long distance bus travel as I followed the route from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile to Cusco via Calama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calama,_Chile and Arica in northern Chile and crossing the border into Tacna (I took the advice of an experienced South American traveller and used a colectivo taxi for this section which saves a lot of time and hassles).
With a full day and night in the southern Peruvian city of Tacna http://www.traficoperu.com/english/ciud23.htm I organised a guide through my hotel to visit the famous petroglphs museum and archaeological site and also spent tiem at the local thermal baths.
Then a day bus to Arequipa (uninspiring scenery on route) where I took a rest for a few days - well not exactly a rest as I organised another guide for a private trek from Cabanaconde into the Colca Canyon (a challenging three and half hours going down a slippery sandy winding track to the oasis resort of Sangalle.
http://www.peru-guide.com/peru_03_Arequipa_018_The_Colca_Canyon_directory.htm
I opted to hire a mule for the late afternoon ascent back up the canyon, prefering to spending the night at Cabanconde rather than staying at Sangalle and facing an early morning (1am) rising to climb back up the canyon in time to see the condors at dawn. (A young Peruvian singer was making a music video clip at the lookout. Dressed in a version of the traditional costume - without the bundles of warm overclothing - and wearing high heels, she proved to be a star attraction in her own right especially as the video clip director had her perched on some precarious cliff edges for some of the takes)
The story of my two days spent with my young guide Raul will have to wait till I download the photos.
Loved Arequipa, its architecture, its history and atmosphere. Arequipans pride themselves on their passions, their politcs and their famous sons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arequipa#Notable_people_from_Arequipa
The historical centre of the city is on UNESCO World Heritage List and as soon as you step into the Plaza des Armas or the Santa Cataline Convent, you can understand why. The city is dominated by by the snow-capped volcano El Misti and has suffered badly from earthquakes during its history - the latest was just aroud seven years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_centre_of_Arequipa
And yes, I visited the museum where the small frozen body of Juanita lies - the story of her discovery and the links to the discovery of the Children of the Volcano (at the museum in Salta) presents a side of Inca culture that is hard to comprehend from our modern viewpoint.
At first I considered continuing my journey to Cusco via LAN Peru but the high cost of flying versus the cheaper option of an overnight bus (10 hours) made the latter an obvious option. The trip would be my fourth overnighter and perhaps the fifth or sixth bus company I have travelled with. After a mad dash through Arequipan traffic to make the bus in time, I settled back in my premier class cama for what I thought would be a straightforward trip, (though part of the way is on unsealed roads) expecting to arrive around 6.30am in Cusco.
Supper was served and a movie shown. For the third time in this past fortnight I watched the Will Smith film "I am Legend" in Spanish. Thanks to a couple of persisent and heavy snorers in my section (upstairs in the semi cama you tend to strike the tired and crying children) I had little sleep and was awake when our bus came to a sudden stop in the midst of nowhere, sometime around 2am. We were still four hours away from Cusco.
It was not until dawn came and the fog lifted that I saw the reason for our going nowhere. Along with about a couple of dozen other buses, plus trucks, cars and other vehicles we were stuck at a roadblock courtesy of the residents of the town of Melgar (an agricultural town at an altitude of 3925m in the Province of Puno and aprobably named in honour of the Arequipan poet Mariano Melgar (1791-1815) described as a Peruvian patriot, poet, artist, and warrior for the cause of independence from Spain.)
The agricultural community around Melgar and other towns in the region bordered by Puno, Arequipa and Tacna were taking part in an illegal protest aimed at drawing attention from the government in Lima. Right now Peru is the focus of APEC 2008 conference and the farmers and townships in this region were wanting to be included in some of the economic benefits that are being promised. There is a big discord between the poor regional communities and the central powers located in the capital cities. A mood of constant unrest and agitation by the agricultural sector has followed me from Buenos Aires to now this small town in Peru.
There were about 1000 people stuck at this roadblock. We heard that an equal number of vehicles and passengers) were also stuck at similar roadblocks around the town.
By nine oclock residents of the town had gathered at the roadblock. All the town businesses had shut their doors as part of the protest and except for some enterprising vendors who wandered up and down the stationary vehicles selling drinks, bread and hot soup (which soon ran out) there was no where to get water or food.
As this was the main route between two of the regions most popular tourist centres, there were perhaps several dozen foreign travellers, mostly backpackers, caught up in the roadblock. They included several Canadians, Americans French, Dutch, Swiss and probably Australians and New Zealanders. People with businesses in Cusco (including a dentist in my section of the bus) were losing clients and income with every passing hour. With lots of animated discussion between police, locals and political organisers in rapid Spanish, it was hard to get any coherent understanding of what was happening. Rumours persisted throughout the day. At first we thought we would be stuck there for a few hours but as the day wore on, and nothing was getting resolved, several of the backpackers decided to start walking to see if they could find a way through from the other side of town. The toilets on the buses were feeling the strain and with no fresh water (and children caught up in the dispute) it was clear that what was for the most part a peaceful demonstration could get ugly.
Most of the locals were making a holiday out of the protest (probably broke the boredom of their usual daily routine). A couple of the travellers kicked a ball around with some local kids. Every now and then there was another gathering, a waving of banners and animated discussion.
At one stage I heard a chant go up and I wandered down to the roadblock itself to find a couple of clearly non Peruvian students leading the locals in a familiar refrain along the lines of "Workers united, cannot be defeated".
The leader, a mop headed blond from Madrid, Spaín was clearly enjoying himself. He wore the keffir Palestinian scarf so beloved of certain left wing middle class university undergraduates and other ignorant types. Some of his friends posed in front of the banners for photos and cheered and clapped the crowd. This was worrying. The last thing the locals needed was stupid foreign agitators stirring up the protest.
I went and told the blond idiot as much, in my best Spanish, saying in effect that this was a matter for the Peruvians and that he should mind his own business. He answered in the familiar socialist refrain that the workers struggle was international. I shrugged and walked away wishing I could respond with a suitable Spanish insult. He may be typical of some of his generation, born into a Spain that had long seen the end of the Franco dictatorship and the return of a stable monarchy and currently, a left wing government.
I last saw him and his companions head off with the other backpackers to find another way around the roadblock, this pillar of the Workers Movement and supporter of the downtrodden did not want to sully his romantic socialist ideals by actually riding out the protest with the rest of us.
By 4.30pm, 14 hours after we came to a halt, and several false stirs of optimism, we had the first proper sense of something was about to happen. My own frustration levels were rising and I was starting to wish for one of the protestors to start throwing rocks at us, to give the police an excuse to move in and break up the roadblock. Or even have the Peruvian army come in and escort us through
Perhaps it was my exposure to socialist idiots earlier that was triggering such dreadful fascist thoughts!
Fortunately for my inner sense of political correctness, there was no need for such dramatic action. The police officer in charge had managed to negotiate with the protest leaders to end their action (most of the locals no doubt wanted an excuse to head home before sunset and the freezing cold of an Andean night) and perhaps half an hour later, the engines started in earnest and slowly we made our way around the blockages.
We had to take a couple of diversions through neighbouring villages (the sight of large buses and oil tankers inching their way through narrow dusty streets in pitch black proved a great spectacle for the villagers).
Finally we made our way back on to the sealed road of the highway and by 10.15 pm last night, I knocked on the door of my hostel here in Cusco. I was tired, hungry and covered with dust and in desperate need of a shower (thank goodness there was hot water!). I also found a local restaurant and after a pisco sour, grilled chicken and salad and a night cap of mate de coca, I settled into a warm bed with cable TV.
Now that I have had a good night sleep, a decent breakfast and so far have not suffered any effects of the altitude, I am about to head out into Cusco itself.
As for the people of Melgar. Their protest, like so many others before and in the future in this part of the world, will fall on deaf ears. There will be more strikes and protests this year (mostly during the high tourist season of July).
So to end this tale, a music clip. During our sojourn at Melgar the dentist from Cusco played some music tracks on his mobile phone to help pass the time. There was the familar Andean music, courtesy of his favourite Bolivian group. Then suddenly came the voice of Patsy Cline and perhaps her most famous song Crazy - and of course, showing the first signs of being stir-crazy, I had to sing along, to the amusement of the three Peruvians around me. Please feel free to do the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o1V2uiagpU
The joys of travelling in South America. Will write again after my return from my trek, the Qolloritty Pilgrimage. http://www.apus-peru.com/qolloritty_pilgrimage.htm
hasta luego, Debra
Comments
Where are you Debbie??
Waiting to read about your latest adventure. Hope you are not stuck on another bus!
Pam and Roland