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The last few days, Heather, Scott and I have been traveling via bus through the Andes to Cusco, Peru.

Before leaving on the journey, we were warned many times by the locals that this route was treacherous and should only be taken during the day. For this reason, we split the 20 hour journey into two parts. The first ten hours got us to Andahuaylas, where we stopped for the night. The second leg took us to Cusco. We were also better off because it is not currently the rainy season. I really wouldn’t recommend this route from December to April.

Here are some highlights from the trip:

  • Front row seats on Chankas bus to Andahuaylas. Take a look at the photo to get a feel for these. They are situated right above the driver, so you get a first hand view of the treacherousness. At first I was feeling really claustrophobic in these seats, but I was soon distracted by the fear of dying by the bus falling off a cliff.

 

  • The road. Heather described the width of the unpaved road best by saying it was about 3/4 to 7/8 of a regular lane. The road winds through the mountains with a cliff at either side of the bus for most of the time. No guard rails. Big drops. Not to mention, lots of blind corners. As you’re hustling along in the bus, the driver honks his horn as he rounds corners to let others know he’s coming. (Note: The last 5hrs of the journey had paved roads. That was a relief.)
  • The short cut. At one point the driver turned off the main route of the road to take a short cut. I don’t think this saved him much time, as he had to slowly weave through what looked more like a foot path than a road. The trail was FULL of potholes. And when you’re sitting on the very top of the bus in the front row, dips like these make it feel as if the bus is going to tip.

  • The construction. Another time when we were sure the bus was going to tip over was when we went through some construction. You have to give them credit for trying to fix the road, but as we drove over piles of dirt meant to fill the potholes, the bus teetered precariously over a very steep edge. Quite nerve wracking.

 

  • The live stock. The first time the bus stopped to avoid plowing through a herd of sheep was amusing. The 10th time is was annoying. The bus was constantly honking cows, sheep, alpacas and donkeys to either side of the road. This was especially interesting when the animals had no where to go but down steep cliffs. We also narrowly missed hitting a baby lamb, who was moving to the side at first but suddenly darted in front of the bus. I also enjoyed the lone donkey who ran in front of us for a good 100 meters before figuring out that he could move to the side.
  • The random lunch stop. At about noon on our second leg to Cusco, the road ahead of us was jammed with a row of buses and trucks. At first I thought it was because of more construction, but after a while it seemed like everyone was stopped just to take a lunch break. When the line started up again about 15 minutes later, we didn’t see anything blocking the way.
  • The view. Really amazing.