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Published: July 21st 2009
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So following on from the last blog we were in Copacabana trying to escape into Peru. With no true bus station in Copacabana we had been told to go back to the the office where we bought our tickets. On getting there the woman pointed up the street and told us to find the Panamericano bus. It ended up that we had a long walk up to the top of the hill with our bags we were not impressed as if she had told us where we were going we would have gotten the hostel bus to drop us off.
Anyway on arrival at the bus chaos reigned and we were told that there was not enough room on the bus but to get into a collectivo. We got shepherded into a collectivo along with other fellow travellers. Our bags were thrown onto the top and we were all squashed in - for 12 seats there were 14 of us!! Thankfully it was only a 8km ride to the border where we jumped out and joined the long queue to leave Bolivia. Due to the demonstrations no-one had been able to leave for three days and therefore everyone was leaving
on Friday en masse!! After being stamped out of Peru we had to grab our bags and walk across the border to the Peruvian immigration. Thankfully the walk was short. Once checked into Peru we found that there was an extra bus waiting so we jumped onto it and had an uneventful trip to Puno. Along the way you were able to see where the demonstrations had been held as there were big boulders and stones in the road and in places glass.
Once in Puno we jumped into a taxi and asked him to take us to an ATM before the hostel as we had no Peruvian soles on us. He drove us to the main square and pointed out the cash machine 200m away but just out of sight. I jumped out leaving Sharon, bags and taxi driver behind thinking I would be only 2 minutes but oh how wrong I was....... Effectively I asked for my cash and the ATM duly threw it out at me but at an odd angle so I was able to grab one note but as I pulled the other it broke in half and the machine swallowed the other half.
Thankfully a security guard had witnessed some of this and after putting my card in the machine and asking for money it decided to break so I was taken inside the bank where I was greeted by a second security guard. After a discussion I was told to sit down and wait for the man on the phone who was sat in a booth. After a 5 minute wait I was jumping up and down knowing that Sharon would be worried and wondering where I was. I asked the security guard if I could leave and he told me no and that I would only have to wait 15 minutes. Eventually after a very broken Spanish conversation he agreed to let me leave and tell Sharon and the taxi guy whats was going on however on my way I met the taxi man. A long story short and it took me 90 minutes to get a new note after the bank manager checked the ATM twice and couldn't find the other half of the note. The only reason I got a new note was thanks to the security guard arguing on my behalf since he had seen what had happened
- all this time Sharon was sat in the taxi not really knowing what was going on as the taxi man had given her a half story and then rejoined me in the bank after going and moving the taxi and Sharon to a different place where he could park.....
Once at the hostel Sharon and I were able to book a tourist bus to get us to Cusco the next day. Whilst the tourist bus was move expensive it took you on a tour of various Inca sites and came with an English speaking guide. The next morning we got up and got a taxi to the bus station although this wasn't without drama as the hostel owner sent us to the wrong station so the poor taxi man had to get us across town with minutes to spare to catch the bus. At this juncture I have to say that the Peruvian people have proven to be the friendliest and most helpful in South America so far. Nothing is too much trouble for them and they go out of their way for you.
Our first stop of the day was in Pucara where we visited a
museum with Inca and pre-Inca artifacts. It isalso known for having ceramic bulls on the roofs of houses to bring good luck. We also stopped at Raqchi which is home to the ruins of the Temple of Viracocha where it is thought that one of the ruins had the largest known roof for an Inca building. Our final stop before Cusco was Andahuaylillas where we toured a Jesuit church that is famous in the region and is lavishly decorated.
We soon arrived in Cusco and headed to our home for the next few days......
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