The trip to Arequipa

Ingrid wrote:

Our bus left Cusco at 8.30pm on Thursday from the craziest most disorganised bus station ever...people shouting ¨ArequipAreqipArequipa¨, ¨Lima Lima Lima¨etc at high pitch and even higher volume trying to sell bus tickets, the place crowded with food stalls, people everywhere, luggage everywhere, dogs everywhere.... We managed to get on the bus just fine and left Cusco just fine, only to be held up close to midnight. The bus was stationary for an hour or more, so we tried to keep snoozing in the meantime, then I heard all the passengers above us get off (we were downstairs in the fancy sleeper/cama seats). They then got back on. Then a passenger in front of me went outside to have a look, and returned informing us there was a road block, but that was all they could see.

Protesters at the road block

Next thing, a man burst in and told us all to get off the bus in rapid fire spanish, that there was a strike, that we had to pay to get through, then (after a hurried discussion with another man) that we didn´t have to pay, then we were all told to get off so we could walk through the blocked off area! So we did, in the freezing pitch black conditions of a peruvian winter night. It turned out that this was a protest about the violence in the north of Peru...I am not sure how much has filtered through to you in NZ, but there have been ongoing issues with the President here signing a free trade agreement with the US, but subsequently trampling over indigenous peoples´ rights, particularly in the Amazon regions in the north. In the last few weeks, many native jungle people have been killed by police during protests (and a few police killed as well), and there has been a massive public outcry...the general feeling I get is that the people of Peru are very anti Alan Garcia´s actions....in Cusco there have been posters of protest everywhere, and the same in Arequipa along the fence in front of the cathedral in the main square.

Buses and trucks waiting to get through the road block

Anyway, these people, from a little village in the middle of nowhere managed to effectively block the road with stones and burning tyres and would not let any buses or trucks through. While we were parked up, they covered the sides of the buses with painted messages, anti Garcia, pro indigenous rights. After a lengthy discussion with the drivers, they let us walk through the block (at which point many of the Peruvians on the bus joined in with their chanting, clearly having similar sentiments), and they cleared the road so we hopped back on the bus on the other side! They were on the whole peaceful protesters, but very effective!

The fiery blockade