The Roads

These photos were taken on the walk back from the Pumamarca village.




All the roads in Cusco are rough and pot holed, except of course for the Plaza de Amas which is beautifully stone paved from the Inkan and Spanish colonial times. The road in front of the volunteer house is made, but most roads in the area are not. They are all rough dirt roads.

The main road to Cusco is a divided highway, but it is very rough, rocky, dusty and potholed all the way. There are no lines marked, and all traffic lanes are very haphazard. It is not abnormal for three lanes to become four or five and there is always someone trying to butt into any space they can see. Horns are used frequently as indicators and notice that you are going to be cut off or that you are getting too close or just in case you didn´t see them. Fortunately they do not usually drive all that fast, but they will drive down the smallest alleys without hesitation, blowing the horn regularly to indicate they are coming through and for pedestrians and animals to get out of the way. The suspension in most cars and buses is wrecked with good reason. It is rare to see a good car and they are soon wrecked because of the rough roads.

The road up to the community is a very rough dirt track that winds it´s way up into the mountains. We have to keep the windows closed to avoid choking with the dust created. We always arrive with a very dry throat. It is not uncommon to be held up by farmers or their wives and children with livestock along the way including cows, bulls, sheep, llamas, donkeys, pigs and chooks.

Dogs are allowed to roam free all over the villages and the city alike. They are domesticated but they roam in packs and there is always a dog to be seen sleeping somewhere, even on the main roads. One time I counted 7 dogs in a pack wandering backwards and forwards across the main road which is 3 lanes wide either side. The cars just go around them.