Do you remember when I said that in a post about Brazil? Well, at least this time I wasn't nearly killed. But you never know how these things are going to go. I'm several posts behind, but I want to tell you about our trip from Cusco to Puno at Lake Titikaka.
I should have learned by now that a trip to South America is likely to provide some unexpected events. The plan for Monday was to fly from Cusco to Juliaca then take a bus for an hour to Puno on Lake Titikaka. That was the plan. But it didn't quite go that way. Our flight was weather delayed which meant we probably wouldn't get our walking tour of Puno before dark. But it gets much worse.
About a half hour into the bus ride was came to a massive traffic jam on the highway. We learned that a group of protestors from a local village in the jungle had staged a well organized road block to protest the government's lack of attention to their needs. They are asking for basic services such as schools and roads. They had tried a march in the square the previous day with no success and decided to take more drastic measures. They had filled several miles of the road with rocks, boulders, glass, bonfires and protesters to prevent all flow of traffic.
After sitting for about 45 minutes, our guides decided the best course of action was for us to get out and walk the two mile blockade. Treking two miles in the dark, uphill at an altitude of nearly 12,000 feet was not what we had anticipated for the evening.
We scrambled to gather our most important belongings and put on warm clothes since the temperature was dropping quickly and would soon be near freezing. We formed a line and began to weave carefully between the improvised rock walls, bonfires, boulders and glass that covered the highway. We wove between abandoned cars, bulldozers, gas and oil tankers and even a truck loaded with furniture for delivery . Everything had come to a standstill. It was hard to tell which vehicles were a planned part of the blockade and which were stranded.
Hundreds of people joined us as we slowly marched toward Puno. Almost as many headed the other way. Businessmen, tourists, schoolchildren, dogs, Andean women with large bundles on their backs and parents with crying babies. We looked like a mass exodus of refugees trudging toward a new home.
The trek went smoothly until we came to the main point of protest. A gas tanker blocked the intersection and hundreds of people milled around bonfires singing. We weren't sure if they would let us pass. It was a tense moment as we all bunched together and passed through the protesting crowd. They made no attempts to stop us and as I looked into their faces they looked pleasant and friendly. Just like us. Why should people who are asking for so little have to resort to such extremes?
A shuttle picked us up on the other side of the blockade took us the resto of the way to our hotel. Our luggage arrived at 1:30am due to the perserverence of eight men who made multiple trips all night on a back road in small vehicles to retrieve it. We were very grateful since we expected to spend the next few days in the same clothes.
The next day our local guide said that many of the protestors had shown concern for us. Many of them said "ola" to me as I passed through and others heard "desculpe" which is an apology. Our guide said some spoke words of encouragement such as "you can make it" and "it's not much further" and asked her if we needed water. We decided they were worried because we were old!
Now it is Wednesday and the road is still blocked because the governement refuses to agree to their demands. Life goes on in Puno. The protests continue in the plaza around the corner. We expect it to take three hours to get to the airport on the back road this afternoon. I hope someone will listen to the protestors. Everyone deserves basic dignity and respect.
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