The last day in Puno passes lazily, between a walk to the belvedere, with a statue of a condor in full view, lunch in an unremarkable little place and a long wait for the 7.30 p.m. bus.
It is here, however, that the surprises begin… as soon as I board the bus I am told that the estimated time of arrival is 4.30 in the morning. The hostel check in starts at 2pm…very good….
I call the hostel to find out if I can at least spend the remaining hours of the night in the common room… they reply that the hostel is closed until 9am! Great! I’ll have to wait somewhere…. Under a bridge maybe 😀
Fortunately or unfortunately this will not happen….

The first few hours of the journey pass quickly, between a bit of music, sleeping in, mountain bends… Things get complicated around 2:00…. The bus stops, no one says anything, everyone’s asleep…I think of a drivers’ break…the break goes on, an hour, two hours…. The bus leaves again around 4 o’clock, we are still a long way away and everyone is asleep… I’m fine with this, a few hours delay and I arrive at the station at a decent time. We travel for half an hour and the bus stops again… I don’t understand… I ask for information downstairs. The drivers reply that there is a ‘paro’… that is, a strike, which in Peru translates into blocked roads with rocks and tree trunks, no vehicles passing, total paralysis. Don’t panic… it’s early and I don’t have any commitments for the day, it won’t be so bad… I think….
After a nap of a few hours I get off the bus… it won’t move from there anyway 😀

They tell me not to go too far away, it could be dangerous… I won’t be stuck on a bus all day. The situation is complicated, people are angry with the government, they certainly won’t let anyone through. My bus mates look like maggots, they hardly want to get off, better to chat with the locals. I meet a grandmother with a sweet little girl and then Carlos, a gentleman who works at the airport in Cusco and with whom I will spend the day…
4pm, after a walk to a nearby lake, a menu del dia and endless chats with Carlos, we finally decide to open the road. It’s a couple of hours to Cusco, a walk!
But no! Here is another barricade. I go down again and talking to the people they tell me that they have not received any news about the agreement the government has reached with the protestors! They try to reason with them, some drivers show the news on the phone…. After an hour they are convinced, but this barricade is all rocks and bricks, it has to be cleared!
It is 7.40 p.m. when I reach the hostel in Cusco. A 24-hour odyssey, but one that has left me with first-hand experience of the country’s real problems and the stubbornness of its inhabitants. And a few more friends….