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...two travellers in search of the world's wildlife

20 June 2011

Birthday irony

18th June 2011

Why ironic? Because a week ago I was cursing the protests in Puno for making us miss Lake Titicaca and fly from La Paz to Cusco. And here I am today looking out over Lake Titicaca because the same protests have stopped our bus going all the way to Arequipa.

Why birthday? Because it’s my birthday, silly.

We were supposed to get a night bus from Cusco to Arequipa, spend the day exploring Peru’s most beautiful city and then pick out a nice restaurant for a celebratory meal. By a quirk of Peru’s tragic lack of useful roads, the route from Cusco to Arequipa dog-legs via Puno, the same border town on our failed route from La Paz to Cusco. Guess what? They’re still protesting.

So the main road is blocked and we had to take a bus which goes via a longer route. Cue a fourteen hour overnight bus from Cusco to Puno. My birthday morning involved wandering around Puno to confirm that what people say is true; it’s a dump whose only redeeming feature is being on Lake Titicaca. But since we were only waiting four hours in Puno we didn’t have the time to go exploring the lake. We did manage a decent spot of lunch, but then it was back to the bus station for my afternoon treat: the rest of our bus journey to Arequipa. We’re meant to arrive around 8pm, though if the first bus was any indication it’ll be more like 9:30.

It’s a surprisingly nice bus. The seats are comfy, with good leg rests. They brought around snacks and drinks, and there’s a couple of movies for in-flight… in-drive… whatever entertainment. It even has a loo on board. We certainly didn’t get that in Nepal!

Nevertheless, bit of an odd birthday really.

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2 Responses to “Birthday irony”

  1. Carmen says:

    Happy belated birthday!!!

    Sorry to hear that you’ve encountered some “milking” tourist people…I forgot to mention that about Peru.

    But I guess above all you guys are having a good time! So you finally tried the infamous guinea pig..hehehe…it’s my favorite!

    Have fun and keep riting those witty posts!!!

    Lots of love from US!!!

    • shortclaws says:

      Really, the touts and vendors in Peru – even in Cusco – are far less trouble than the ones in India. If I just say “no gracias” they leave us alone. But the guided tours just are not a good fit for us – we’ve discovered that we much prefer to explore independently, even if it means we get less information. Just our style!

      We had another cuy today – a much better one than last time, actually. So I know why you like it!

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