So how to get from Arequipa to Cusco in one day? Sinds a week there were roadbloks all around Cusco and no bus could come into Cusco. And to make it worse.. no bus would even go to Cusco from Arequipa :( After hearing a lot of stories about people got stuck in a small village about 30 km away from Cusco, of people travelling for more than 24 hours we decided to take our own luck.

On Thursday the 18th we left Arequipa around 5 by bus. A company called `Ryana` took us for 20 SOL to a small place called Espinar, somewhere between Juliaca and Cusco. We arrived at 11 in the night and had to wait until 4 in the night for the next bus. We spent some hours in a hostel near the bus terminal playing cards and getting some rest. At half past three we were back at the bus terminal waiting for the next bus. Together with about 20 other locals we got on a bus towards Sicuani. The busride took about 2,5 hours and costs only 7 SOL. When we arrived in Sicuani the bus made a U turn, and everyone had to get out as fast as possible. Our bags were already out of the bus. So there we were, on the S3 route to Cusco, in front of the first major roadblok. We started walking with all our stuff following the other locals. We walked about 45 minuten into Sicuani, and at the bus terminal there were no busses of course.

At the terminal a man offerdto bring us as far as possible. So we jumped onto his motorbike with a trailer and off we went. He took us about 20 minutes, but then about 20 people surrounded us and punched his tires. We were in a strange situation right than. But luckily the locals didn`t had anything against us foreigners! So we got our stuff again and start walking. While walking we met four locals from Cusco how told us that it would be a 3 to 4 hour walk until a place called `Checacupe`.

During our walk we talked to a lot of people, both comming from the other direction and people going the same direction, and all told us different things. It went from 4 hours to 9 hours :S So we really didn`t know how many km we really had to walk. We passed roadblok after roadblok, village after village. We took as many local transportation as possible, some took us pretty far without problems, but some got their tires punched.

Two kids how took us a couple of miles, had to flee away from a ground of people how saw that they were giving us a transport. Two tuk-tuks in front of us got away just on time, but one of them got a big stone thrown into the cabine.. it was really nasty to see and be honest, pretty scary as well. But once again, no one carred about us so we just got our bags and moved on.

Around 5 we arrived finally at Rio Salcca, were another major roadblok was plus a couple of hundred trucks. We passed the roadblok and were told that it wouldn`t be far until the bus.. but the truth was, we had to walk for another 2 to 3 hours.. by the time we arrived Checacube the sun was gone, and we were tired and couldn`t walk any more. I had huge blizzards under my feet which made walking a real hell.  On the main scuare we finally met some other travellers! Together with them we g0t onto a pickup how told us he would bring us to the bus for 5 SOL each. Locals warned him that his tires would get punched by he didn`t cared. The 8 km drive was really scary and exiting. Half way we got stopped by some locals who wanted to punch his tires, but instead, he talked to them, they also got onto the pickup and gave us a save passage to all the other roadbloks we crossed. At every roadblok everyone streamed something, but in the end we passed them savely.

We got to the bus just on time.. 5 minutes later, and the bus was gone! Everyone was so happy that we congradulated each other with this amazing journey!

In total we walked 54 kilometers, from Sicuani to the bus in Checacube.. I am glad we made it save to Cusco, because between these major roadbloks, we didn`t see any police how could protect us. But all the locals were really friendly and greeting us all the time. No one asked for money or what so ever. I didn`t expected that many roadbloks and I never thought we would have to walk more than 50 km to get to the bus.

So for anyone who wants to do the same route: good luck and enjoy the journey! :)