Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [262]
Most transport connections are with Lima via the relatively fast and spectacular Hwy 24 that traverses the Andes via Rumichaca to Pisco. Night departures outnumber day departures, but day trips are naturally more interesting for the wild scenery en route. Choose your bus and company carefully. Ticket prices to/from Lima range from S30 for a regular seat to S60 for a reclining armchair that you can sleep in. The trip takes around nine hours. Take warm clothing if traveling by night.
For Lima, Empresa Molina (31-9989; Jirón 9 de Diciembre 459-73) is probably the best option (and has the nicest terminal to wait in). There are two daily departures and no less than seven night departures with the ‘special’ cama service being best for comfort. Expreso Internacional Palomino (31-3899; Manco Cápac 255) also offers an evening cama service. Cruz del Sur (31-2813; Cáceres 1264) and Ormeño (31-2495; Libertad 257) offer executive-style services with comfortable seats, but not fully reclinable. Other cheaper options include Turismo Libertadores (31-3614) at Tres Máscaras 493, on Pasaje Cáceres and on Manco Cápac, and Rey Bus (31-9413; Pasaje Cáceres 166).
Traveling north or south to other Andean towns presents some challenges. Many roads are unpaved and subject to washouts in the rainy season. Destinations in this category include Abancay, Andahuaylas and Cuzco to the south and southeast and Huancayo to the north. Be prepared for delays. For Cuzco (S50, 22 hours) and Andahuaylas (S30, 10 hours), seek out Expreso Turismo Los Chancas (31-2391; Pasaje Cáceres 150), which has four departures daily. It’s a long, rough trip: the journey can be broken at Andahuaylas.
For Huancayo (S30, nine to 10 hours), Empresa Molina is the preferred choice, with one daily and five night departures. Take note: this is a tough 250km trip and not for the faint-hearted. Around 200 of those kilometers take you along a narrow, potholed, unpaved road between Huanta and Mariscal Cáceres through the wild Río Mantaro valley. The road runs at times high along unguarded cliff faces with nothing but space between your bus window and the foaming river below. Sit on the right side of the bus if you don’t like vertiginous drops.
Huancavelica to the northwest is notoriously hard to get to from Ayacucho (Click here).
Change in Huancayo for onward services to Huánuco, Tingo María, Pucallpa and Satipo.
The new Terminal Terrestre Zona Sur has at least brought order to regional south-bound departures. Buses to Julcamarca and Vischongo (S10, four hours) leave from here. Departures are normally in the morning. There are also buses to Vilcashuamán (S14, five hours) about hourly from 5am to 9am. A taxi to the terminal costs S4.
Pickup trucks and buses go to many local villages, including Quinua (S3, one hour), and to the Wari ruins, departing from the Paradero Magdalena at the traffic circle at the east end of Cáceres.
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WARI RUINS & QUINUA
An attractive 37km road climbs about 550m to Quinua, 20km along which you will pass the extensive Wari ruins (admission incl small museum S3; 8am-5:30pm) sprawling for several kilometers by the roadside. The five main sectors of the ruins are marked by road signs; the upper sites are in rather bizarre forests of Opuntia cacti. If you visit, don’t leave the site too late to look for onward or return transport – vehicles can get hopelessly full in the afternoon. Note that you have to pay the full fare to Quinua and remind the driver to drop you off at the ruins.
The ruins have not been well restored but a knowledgeable site attendant is on hand to inform. You can also visit with a guide from Ayacucho as part of a tour combined with Quinua (you need to speak Spanish and may well end up shelling out for a guide that knows no more than the site attendant). It’s more magical to go solo.
The road climbs beyond Wari, yielding great views, until it reaches the pretty village of Quinua; buses usually stop at the