You have three main forms of transport in Cusco – take the bus, grab a taxi or walk – and all three comes with its own perils! I have never experienced road (non-existent) safety like it here.
Walking – Great for those on a budget, stretching your legs and soaking up the atmosphere on street level. Bad for your breathing and I’m not just talking about the altitude difference. Just a five minute stroll on the busy Avenida de Cultura (whilst shuffling past hordes of school children and eager sellers) leaves you with a mouth full of grit and dust in your eyes from the pollution.
There are traffic lights here which helpfully count down the seconds you have to race across the street but for a lot of drivers a red light is more of a hindrance than a legal stop! My dad has a theory when you are swimming in the sea that you should always ensure there is someone swimming further than you so any sharks will get them first. Cheerful chap my dad! But this advice has been well used here when we are stood on a dirty dusty corner waiting for the traffic to stop briefly enough for us to cross, only to follow ‘shark bait’ as when they think it’s safe to go then so do we!
Buses – These come in all shapes and sizes from luxury coaches to pimped up minibuses that have crammed as many cheap seats in. Costing less than 20p to travel over 25minutes it is great for getting around longer distances. There are no bells to ding when you want to stop but some guy/girl will hang out of the open door shouting out the names of the stops and you have to call out ‘baja’ when you want to get off. Then exit as fast as you can whilst they are screaming at you to hurry up! They pack the buses as full as possible race down the roads and stop at the last minute meaning if you are not holding onto something you will soon be flying into a Peruvian old man’s lap.
Taxis- When we arrived at the Spanish school we were told that a number of illegal taxis roam the streets and unwitting tourists have been driven to the middle of nowhere and mugged. Welcome to Cusco! However, there are plenty of ‘safe taxis’ that have a large plastic sign on the roof and as long as you agree a fare before you get in (there are no meters here) they will take you where you need to go.
Who thought something as mundane as crossing a road would become such an adventure!
