Cusco to Puno

2/20/14 8:35 AM

After such an exhausting time in the jungle, we spent yesterday relaxing and just taking it easy in general. Alli was granted a late checkout time from the Marriott (she got a special rate). We used the pool for the 2nd time and and took our time packing up. At about 1 PM, we finally left the hotel and wandered around Cusco, stopping by a couple of churches and stumbling upon the central market, south of the main square, Plaza de Armas.

Mercado de San Pedro

The market featured juice counters, meat sellers, fruit sellers, and even souvenir stalls. We wandered through the colorful stalls, and Alli found some trim to use for craft projects.

Colorful trims at the market

Dried corn and beans at the market

Afterwards, we stopped by one more church and then headed to a vegetarian restaurant on Calle Tigre. Many, many vegetarian and even restaurants exist in Cusco. It's surprising how easy it is to stumble upon one. I had the bistek a lo pobre (made from glueten) and Alli had the falafel. Funny, my "steak" had a big hunk of cheese on it! (See the cheese post.) Fortunately for me, it was a different kind of cheese.

bistek a lo pobre made from glueten. 

We had tickets for the 10 PM night bus to Puno, so after dinner we headed back to the Marriott to catch up on a few last emails and pick up our bags.

The taxi driver dropped us off outside Terminal Terrestre (the bus station). The fare was higher if he drove in the gate and paid the parking fee. So we walked the rest of the way. I was expecting a sleepy little bus hall, but what we got was a huge amount of confusion. There were people everywhere. Although we had been given instructions on where to go, those instructions seemed to be lacking, and we had to figure it out on our own.

We made it to the bus company booth; the bus station is essentially a hall lined on either side with various bus company booths. There, we checked in and dropped off our bags. We thought we had survived the chaos fairly easily. Then we were directed to the "Tame" window. Here, all persons leaving Cusco were required to pay a 1.30 sole city tax (about 46 cents US). The amount of money wasn't the problem, waiting in a line that snaked through a third of the bus station was. Fortunately, a second window opened as we were standing at the back of the line stressing about whether we'd be through the line in 15 minutes to make it to the bus with a few minutes to spare.

At first look, the bus was cushy. Each bus seat was roomy and reclined a fair amount. A foot rest folded down as well. The problem arose when the bus started moving. We couldn't see much out of the windows. Despite being on the top level of the bus, all windows were curtained except the front ones, and it was still difficult to see out of those. The road was so bad that the bus was almost constantly lurching from side to side. When the bus wasn't lurching, it was weaving back and forth. I first thought that we must be driving through mountains, but I finally decided that although the road was somewhat windy, the real issue was that the bus driver was swerving back and forth to avoid potholes. The result was that I couldn't sleep. I was more relieved than anything when we arrived at the Puno bus station this morning at 5 AM.