Transportation system in Peru is a great mystery. How do they find their way in this chaos is still a great unknown.
In Lima there are different means of transport, and so we have: buses, combis, colectivos (private cars that transport individuals), taxis, motor-taxis (half motor-bikes half rickshaws). But the prevailing means of transport in most of the cities is a bus. This concerns also Cusco, where I live. Combis and taxis have conquered streets of this city.

Combi is a very interesting phenomenon. It is a van, which according to residents has enough space for about 24 people with approximately 14 (small!) seats! Just squeeze and problem is solved! Well, at least you get to know each other more Combis are owned by private companies and there are plenty of them. In a combi there is usually one person on board (except for a driver) who manages the car and shouts out loud the route (he or she usually calls the names of the streets with an enormous speed, so you better listen carefully!). When 5 combis come at once and stop at the same “paradero” (bus stop) you get a nice havoc. But everyone knows its way, so there is no problem. The only confused ones are tourists, who gaze with amazement. There are no timetables at the stops, but this was smartly solved. You can always ask the person managing the combi if it passes through a place you want to go to… provided you know some basic Spanish.

Whenever one thinks of the mountains, they either think of something majestic, mysterious and tremendous in terms of sites, nature and esthetic impressions or they just grin reminiscent of a sweat-abundant and strenuous walk they would rather avoid. For me mountains were like this, a nice but a rather tiresome place to hike for a day or two. Well, people change. Opinions change. Now that I live in Peru I cannot imagine living far away from these outstanding artifacts of nature. Whenever possible, I set off for a weekend-hike to discover new places “off the beaten track” around Cusco.

I´m a ceaseless traveler, so staying in Cusco for over 3 months seemed a bit of a torture for me. I had to travel. And so, I went to a neighbouring country, a country of Che Guevara, Morales, Bolivar and coca leaves – Bolivia. The trip was an interesting experience itself.
I went by bus, which takes about 11 hours from Cusco to La Paz. The border between Peru and Bolivia has to be crossed on foot, which basically means that you have to take off your bus, then stand in a long queue of natives and tourists, go through 3 checkpoints, get your stamp in the passport, and after that get on your bus again to continue the trip. After a couple of hours you´re safely in the administrative capital of the country. The city overwhelms you with its contrasts. On one side you can see shanty town, shabby houses built in a great hurry, and on the other side sky scrapers shredding a nice blue sky. The city centre amazes with its architecture ranging from 18th century villas until modern and smartly looking buildings, shining on you from above.