Cusco To Puno

Saturday October 30.

Well best laid plans, right? Things didn’t go quite as planned today. Olivier (from Quebec) from Trans Andes came to my hotel to meet me at 6:30. Turns out he has lived in Peru for five years. He is a mountain biker and loves the area because of the trails through the mountains.

The taxi picked us up at 7:00 and took us to the bus station to catch the First Class bus (that’s the company name). The bus was to take us (there were three other couples waiting for it too) to Puno and do a tour route, stopping at four places of interest and a restaurant for lunch. But the bus never came. The guide who was to accompany us, was anxious and pissed off about the bus, and I think someone at the office. So, he loaded us and our luggage into two taxis and we drove south out of town, supposedly to meet up with the bus somewhere else. Very confusing situation for all of us, and frankly I would have been more worried if I was alone. After driving for a half hour the taxis pulled over and refused to go further because they weren’t getting paid! The guide had been on the phone making lots of calls and getting more frustrated. He wasn’t communicating with us much either. However, after the taxi revolt and we were standing on the street, he flagged down a “public” bus, which surprisingly stopped. The driver and the guide had a talk and we were allowed on that bus. One of the couples, from Ireland, refused because they wanted the tour and weren’t staying in Puno more than a day. So, five of us got on and away we went.

This bus is direct, no stops, no tour and no lunch. I wasn’t too upset about missing the tour part. I was a little pissed though, because I didn’t have much water or food to last me the six hour bus ride. Oh well, at least I was happy to be heading to Puno, because that’s where the rest of my itinerary launches from.

Got to Puno by 3:00, instead of 6:00, so my transfer wasn’t at the station either. So, I caught a taxi to my hotel. Now I was worried, that my transfer person would be waiting at the bus station for me to arrive and wouldn’t find me. And that might make them think that I didn’t come and then they wouldn’t pick me up from my hotel for the Lake Titicaca tour tomorrow. So, I asked the hotel guy to phone them, but he didn’t understand. I tried to use wi-fi to contact Olivier, but it’s not working in the hotel all afternoon. So, I walked down the street and found a place where there were phones and I phoned Olivier in Cusco. I explained the mess to him. He is going after a refund, plus he contacted the people in Puno who are to pick me up. The lady’s name is Lilian and she just came to the hotel to meet me, apologize for the mess and to brief me on tomorrow’s excursion. She was great and is even going to help me get a copy of my immigration card that got left in Olivier’s office in Cusco when he photocopied my passport. So, despite some major frustrations, things are looking up again. Hopefully the rest of the trip will go as planned.

Now the good news. The bus ride was very comfortable, on the second floor of the bus that wasn’t crowded. The scenery and views were great and I just listened to music to while away the time. Quite enjoyable all in all. In Puno, I went for a short walk in search of food, and found a nice little restaurant and had veggie soup and curried chicken. So, I’m good.

Right after Lilian left we had a hail storm!! Lots came down, and the lobby has a glass ceiling, what a racket! That’s it. Now to pack my day bag for tomorrow and get some sleep.