Cusco is beautiful at first sight. Already when entering with the Collectivo, I noticed the many colonial buildings. My hostel is located directly in the city center, not far from the Plaza de Armas, the central square. But to get here, I first had to embark on an odyssey hunting for my stored belongings.

Since I had a major hike of nine days around Choquequirao and Machu Picchu behind me, I first had to awkwardly pick up my stuff from my starting point in Cachora. As it is with the Collectivos, they only leave when they are full. Depending on the route, this can take up to several hours, as I had to painfully realize before. Actually, I wanted to get my things in Cachorea after my hike and spend the night in the hostel. But with the bus from Mollapata I only got as far as the main road, the Panamericana.

From there, I was told, another bus would pick me up soon. After an hour of waiting in vain, it was now pitch dark. On the busy road, it was not a good idea to stand around in the bend with poor visibility. I was already thinking of pitching my tent in a parking lot somewhere and waiting for daylight, when someone stopped and offered to take me in the opposite direction. I got in and got a ride to the next town where I got a room and a decent meal. Freshly fortified, I set out the next day to hunt for my stuff. All told, it took me eight buses and 10 hours to cover the 300 km, which saved me the original trip to Cusco and back a week earlier.

Net savings of 100 km. Whether it was worth it, no one will be able to tell me. Whether it strengthened my trust in Peru’s public transportation system, for sure. With a little bit of asking around and patience, you can actually get anywhere and, on top of that, get in touch with nice people.