Mostly buses run bang on or close to time but not the bus to Cuzco. It had come from Lima and the only passengers to pick up in Nazca were us and two Irish guys we made friends with as we waited patiently for it to arrive. Finally it came at 5.30pm and we were on our way 15 min later. We had been warned by the LP guide that the bus goes up over a very high pass and gets very cold. Indeed all the passengers on the bus were bundled up and the windows shut and the heating on full. All four of us nearly passed out with the heat and had to peal off all our layers, when Carol tried to open a window for a moment of fresh air the other passengers growled and said to close it!
We cooked through the night, up over the cold high pass where we stopped for food and it really was not that cold. We got to Cuzco at 9.30am and walked straight to the train station to find out what our options were in regard to Machu Picchu and Lake Titikaka as trains run to both places from here. It was all bad luck, to MP there is a backpacker class only from Ollantaytambo and its cheapest cost is US$31 one way. The train to Puno no longer has a backpacker class and a ticket for the 10 hour journey is US$220!!! Catering only to the swollen pockets class now we see. So it will be the alternate route for us and we have heard that it is THE scenic way to go anyway.
These two days 28th & 29th are festival days for Peru, celebrating the independence from Ecuador etc. We were hoping for some fun and fiesta but neither eventuated.
Cuzco is a cool city, small cobbled streets similar to those in Europe and much nicer than San Christobal,Mexico or Guatemala. We got a room a little out of the centro historico as it was packed with tourists and high prices. We walked all over tho and enjoyed the evening and also the next day.
As it is a town geared toward trekking we were able to buy a cheap waterproof poncho and some warm gloves and hat. We caught a local bus to the Santiago Bus Terminal which is in another part of town and it was an experience. It was so full that we had to stand, well that is to say that Carol could stand but Kent could only fold himself into the vehicle much to the amusement of the locals. Meals in Cuzco where the locals eat are only 2 to 2.5s some of the cheapest we've had.
