Leaving Cusco and missing out on Arequipa

When i woke up I went up to the internet room as usual and as I was checking through all my emails and planning the day ahead I heard a lot of noise from the other guests about the fact that the way to Lima was blocked by the locals.

The problems that my tour had told me the second day I was here had raised their ugly heads and the locals were protesting that the government has just recently sold off two power stations in Arequipa to foreign multinaional companies, and for the life of me I cannot understand why they would do this, as the long term losses far outweigh any potential short term gains.

Thus it is a shame and a frustration that I have had to change my destination and next port of call just to avoid a protest that I agree with and it also means that this is the first time during my route around the world that I have had to totally miss out a place I had planned.

It is a treble blow as Areuipa is meant to be one of the most beautiful cities in all of south America, and I also have a good friend who was going to show me around, but now this is not gonig to happen this time around.

At one point a few of the other guests were talking about trying to hire out a private bus to take us all the way, which is still around an 11 hour trip, but there were not enough of us wanting to go there and so the price for each of us would have been just way too much, thus the idea was scrapped.

A few of the deadset people who were refusing to change their plans said that they were going to keep going down to the bus station and just wait til a bus was leaving, but this option did not appeal to me, as the protest has already been going for over a week already and my time in Arequipa is only a few days, so to lose a couple here would mean that as soon as I arrived I would have to leave.

Thus it was that I made the slightly sad but logical choice to go direct to Lima and then see what happens when I get there. I have no strong desire to stay in a big expensive city for over a week, so I might move up all the dates a bit to spread out the extra time that I have gained through not visiting Arequipa, but it all depends on the other choices of hotels and of course I cannot change the date of any flights.

Getting down to the bus station was not a problem by taxi, though not having a map meant that I could not go for a walk when I got to the terminal early, but at least I got a chance to take a photo of the monument to the Inca King that was on the way, and was too far from the city centre to walk.

The bus fare to Lima rom Cusco was surprisingly cheap at only PES 105, which works out at about £8.50 for a 21 hour journey, which is good no matter where you are, and when you consider that the seats are recliners, that they show 4 movies and they give you a late supper and then stop off for breakfast at their own restaurant just outside of Lima then the price is even better.

The jouney was only meant to be about 19 hours, but I guess that over this distance a few hours can be lost just through bad traffic and not pushing the vehicle to its maximm limit the whole time, but after awhile I did not mind so much.

It is a fact that the Inca's didn't seem to agree with the Romans idea of straight roads and, so even accepting that the route had to go from high up in the Andes mountains to down to the coast, I feel that the road took a few to many curves, loops and bends for my liking and the quality of the road was adequate but not smooth enough to let me sleep peacefully without interruption.

The toilets on the bus were a hazard in themselves as the door was very stiff to open, the constant shifting and swaying of the bus meant that I knocked my head a few times just trying to sit down and get up again, and I went more by luck and desperation than any degree of comfort. But having said all that, it was an experience and much better than spending the equivalent of another £80 on a flight that would mean spending almost as much at the airport for the taxi as it would be for the entire bus ride.

The only real shame was that the route has some pretty spots and the mountains are of course impressive, but upon staring at nothing but then for 20 hours even their appeal seems to diminish somewhat.

I arrived in Lima and caught a taxi to my hostel, which wasn't too bad at PES 15 and once I arrived it was good to be able to throw my rucksack down and stretch my legs, plus free wifi access in the main reception was a bonus, just not as much as wifi in the privte room I had booked!

The hostel facilities are basic but they have done a good job of decorating it from its modest surroundings, and it is only a shame that the hostel is so far away from the city centre, the beach or from the Miraflores area.

After I checked my emails it was great to hear that the cousin on my friend from Spain was able to meet me tonight and show me around the place for a bit, though being nighttime it was too dark for me to take many photos. We took a taxi into the area known as Miraflores and planned to wander for a bit, looking at the sights, hostels and restaurants of the area.

All the drivers in Lima scare me at night, as they seem to think that they can filter through lanes like a motorcycle and at times our driver fought his way to a position through pure speed and getting their first rather than any fact that he had a right to be there, and at other times when reaching a cross roads he would slowly edge forward into sideways against the flow of traffic and thus eventually be far enough into the lane that the oncoming traffic would have to stop or else hit him, an even bet if you would have asked me.

Once We spend a few hours walking around the city before it got too late and dark and we had to come back, it was a shame to call an end to the evening but I was also a bit privately glad as I am feeling like a bit of a medical disaster movie at the moment.

I have still got a spot of food poisoning from Cusco, which means that I am dehydrated causing my lips to all busted up and crack, my belly and chest to throb whenever I put pressure on them ( so forget eating ) and my rear end, well teh less said about that the better.

But more than just these ailments, my left lower arm is mild constant pain and just flexing it or my wrist caused the pain to swell up and strike me and the skin of my lower legs seems to have reacted with something and has caused tiny red painful spots to appear at my hair folicles, again painful to touch and makes sitting or lying down a mini nightmare.

Tomorrow I hope to feel better as I want to see more of Lima and meet more friends, but who can tell how I feel when I wake up.