Normally a 6 hour trip, Cuzco to Puno turned out to be a 34 hour sitting around and waiting experience. Anti TLC/FTAA protests blocked the road with tens of thousands of rocks and boulders stretching for what looked like 30 miles. Every time we would make it through one village and its protest, 5 minutes away was another village with an even larger and longer protest. As we passed through some of the blockades, seemingly with their permission, the bus would be pelted with rocks.
After an entire night, from about 5:00pm to around 2:00am we passed through all of the little protests and hit the big one, the final protest. The small farmer town was called Canchis, and they had blocked the road with thousands of boulders, and a giant tree with about 75 farmers and their families sitting on it.
There were hundreds of cars and busses backed up for miles, and even more people all just milling around, waiting for this thing to end. The protesters were not very interested in photographers, and made it known by throwing rocks, and making comments about stealing cameras. I asked one lady involved in the protest if she would share her thoughts with me about the protest, and the reason for it. She clucked her tongue, called me a stupid gringo who thinks he can buy the world, and then she and her many friends laughed at me riotously. I thanked her and moved on. I later found a very nice guy, also involved in the protest who spoke with me at length, and attracting a crowd of about 40 people which then became a very heated discussion of which I lost track of when the spanish became rapid fire.
At 5:00pm, hour 27, the busses all started and Megan and I had to run for it in order to not be left behind. We found our bus, which had moved up about 100 yards and was not going to wait for anyone once the traffic moved. We finally made it to Puno at 10:00pm.
