Puno To Arequipa- almost time to head home

The trip to Arequipa began at 8 am with a disorganized attempt to catch the bus. Apparently we had tickets for the wrong bus line. An employee of a competing company exchanged them for tickets on his bus. He neglected to draw attention to the fact that the price was considerably less and neglected to offer a refund.

 The trip began with a return to the centre of the previously mentioned hell-hole Juliaca. Seeing it up close and personal emphasized my initial opinion. I would guess that 90% of the buildings in the city are unfinished (a tax benefit) and that 80% of the streets unpaved.

 Departing the city with a full capacity, including the obligatory whining brat in front and two uncontrolled, chair kicking brats behind, we set off along a dull and dusty route out of this city that passed several dozen small brick making operations, each with their own small kiln. Eventually the tacky city perimeter gave way to a somewhat narrow plain flanked by fairly high rocky hills. Travelling a path paralleled by rail, road and river the route meandered through this valley area of parched yellow grass tufts poking through rocky soil for almost an hour. Herders driving a mix of cows, sheep, alpaca and llamas could be seen searching for suitable grazing along the sides of the road.

 Eventually the river and rail tracks were lost from sight as the bus began a slow and steady climb into even higher hills with the snow capped Andes in the distance. The road twisted and turned for what seemed like hours before a sign marking 4300 meters seemed to indicate the high point of the route. Signs along the way marking Curva Peligrosa, along with others,( equivalent to wear seat belt) were punctuated with grave markers of people who failed to read or heed the warnings. In some cases, as many as 20 lined a patch at the side of the road- most likely testament to a bus or overloaded vehicle crash.

The road eventually leveled out and for an hour or so and the bus continued through a high valley marked with “watch for animals crossing” and “watch for vicuña” signs. A small wild herd of the latter were seen at one point, but too fast to capture on film.

   At 12:30 the bus began a slow descent into the Municipality of Arequipa, skirting the edges of narrow roads with dangerous drops. Several hundred feet below, verdant patches of green fields could be seen in views that are normally reserved for planes landing or taking off. An Arequipa bound flight in the distance seemed to be taking a far less stressful decent than our own vehicle. A nail biting serpentine descent along cliff hugging roads with zero tolerance for poor driving (many more roadside shrines) eventually brought us into the Arequipa City surrounds. Here a variety of hucksters, sharks and snake oil salesman cruised the bus aisles with a loudly and gratingly toned, sales pitch of their “miracle product.” Most of the captive audience seemed too polite to refuse the pitch and eventually purchased what was probably significant coin to them. Having seen similar sales pitches in Nicaragua and Guatemala, I merely shook my head in disgust.

 A few more twists and turns brought the bus into the main terminal where the unloading process took on a colourful fight for supremacy, as everyone tried to get their bags off first.

 Retrieving our backpacks, we lined up at the taxi rank and were rewarded with the next driver in line, who turned out to be both functionally illiterate as well as un-knowledgeable about the city layout. The dork was stopping and asking directions of ice-cream vendors, hot dog sales men, apartment complex security as well as traffic cops before he found the address, which to me was a key intersection that all drivers should know. A brief and futile argument over price and our need for a receipt resulted in his demand for more money for extra travel time and my comment that he shouldn’t be driving if he doesn’t know his way around. Flipping him an extra 2 soles ( and the bird) we arrived at Hotel Inkanto, shortly after 2:45- enough time for a fast unpack and a quick shower before hitting the travel route to the main square.