Stranded in Sicuani

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Buenos Dias!

So taking up where I left off...Our bus left Cusco at 22:00 hours, headed directly towards the Bolivian border. After we boarded the bus, we were told that roadblocks were set to begin at cero hora (midnight), but they were not expected to be encountered until Puno, which is a city known for strikes on public transportation, right on Lake Titicaca. That town is only 2 hours from the Bolivian border. It was a little scary to hear about, but we were hoping we would be able to make it past before it set in.

At 0:30 (12:30am), about 2.5 hours outside of Cusco in a small Andean Village off the highway, our bus came to a startling hault. We looked out the windows, and saw andean people lining the streets wrapped in several layers of blankets, as it was freezing out. We figured it was merely a picket line of people discouraging the bus driver to go on. Unfortunately, after looking through the front window, we understood it was a lot more complicated than that. They had actually built a blockade of rocks and broken glass, which haulted all traffic on both sides. We stopped there for about 45 minutes. waiting for our driver to work something out, but to no avail. The 20 protesters had successfully blocked all traffic on the highway. Our bus decided to turn around and head back to a small town about 10 minutes back (Sicuani). That was a debaucle, as the bus had to back up in the wrong lane of traffic past the entire line of cars, trucks, and buses that had accumulated in the mere half hour we were stopped. We later learned that the intoxicated protesters had begun to turn violent, and throw rocks. The driver did not want to risk the return to Cusco, as hundreds of blockades were already being built all over Peru. On the other hand, if we had made it through that blockade, chances were we would run into another. All alternate routes were already blocked.

After our return to Sicuani, the bus pulled over and turned off its engine. That was our queue to try and get some shut eye. Liz and I decided to watch a movie on my ipod, as our nerves were a little tight to get any sleep... plus the bus was uncomfortable and smelled like sewage. We tried not to look out at the eerily empty and run down city that was our temporary resting spot.

By sunrise the next morning, the driver on the bus told us that it would be best if we wait out the strike here... until midnight on Wednesday when the strike was set to end. The passengers were up in arms, as the city looked entirely inhabitable, and spending another 42 hours on the bus was not an option. Luckily, we realized there was a small, rundown hostel down the street that everyone on our bus decided to rent out. $5 a night per room, and 40 cents per meal. After we got settled, we decided to go exploring. We realized that the town was much larger than we had originally anticipated, though it was still a pretty small town...we had just parked on the outskirts.

After a 20 minute hike with some brits and a girl from Berkely that we met, we finally made it into the center of town. We proceeded to get some breakfast at a cafe off the plaza de armas (apparently every town has one). After breakfast, we hiked up into the hillside to get a better view of things. From our vantage point, the run down town was dwarfed by the massive mountains that surrouned it. We heard some shouting, and looked down and observed a large crowd marching in the streets. We decided it would be best to get back to our hostel. On our walk back, new roadblocks had already arisen on the streets. The villagers had begun to get a little hostle towards us, shouting gringos in very angry tones. Others were overly poilite, acknowledging the success of their blockades. We nervously avoided the large mob of people marching down the streets, and picked up pace back to our hostel. There was a sort of energy in the air ahead of the march, as the peruvians frantically began locking up their carts and shops... much like one would before a big storm.

We proceeded to remain in the courtyard of our hostel for the remainder of the day, reading and conversing with everyone else on the bus. We ate in the restaurant there for dinner, which had surprisingly good food. Still have not been sick (knock on wood). The owners of the hostel locked all of the doors, and kept us safely in the courtyard. Last night, our bus got together and attempted to drink the restaraurant our of house and home 😊. We played drinking games with some friendly british folk, who were just as you expect. Liz and I joined in a game called Ring of Fire... which was basically an extreme version of kings cup... constant drinking. By the end of it, the brits were singing songs from mary poppins, and doing all sorts of magic tricks with the cards, just what you would have expected. They finished off their bottle of rum that was only 11 soles ($4). It smelled like paint thinner. The stars are nuts here... the sky is cloudy with them.

We woke up this morning, and were immediately put on lockdown in our hostel. We looked out our window and saw that the street was littered with rocks and broken glass, so we didnt really complain. After speaking briefly with my mom, I learned that airports had been taken over, and cars had been overturned and police stations had been stoned in other parts of the country. We ran into other people who were stranded here that were in a bus that powered through several roadblocks. It was only a matter of time before all the windows were broken out with thrown stones. The bus had to stop and deboard, and the passengers set off afoot until they were picked up by police an hour and half later and brought them here. A few of the girls that were in our hostel that ventured out last night were taking a motorbike cab home, and were accosted by a group of about 20 men. They started throwing rocks and bricks into the cab and rocking it violently. THe girls were able to get out unharmed, and the mob focused their attention on the cab driver. It seems the protesters are more concerned with solidarity, rather than with gringos. But still scary!!!

Our bus is set to leave at 6 this evening. We will see if that will happen. The marchers passed by about 10 times before 2, when they finally quieted down. We emerged from the hostel courtyard for the first time in about 24 hours. Everyone scampered across the abandoned street to get to the internet cafe. Unfortunately, the peruvian people take siestas even during times from protests. The internet cafe door was shut, and we heard the protesters march by once again. My spirits were crushed until I heard the sound of engines. I just looked out the window and saw buses and trucks passing through!!!!! It looks like we may indeed escape the town of Sicuani! Will keep you posted!

Ciao!

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