I met very nice people in Alto Libertad and I had the chance to talk to them a bit in the evening about the Interoceanic Highway. As compared to the locals in the tourist areas like Cusco and Ausangate for whom the road is beneficial, here things are more complex.
First, the tourists do not stop in the very small towns on the way. Then, as a gentleman from Alto Libertad was telling me, the road safety is very bad now, as the state of the highway is very good and the cars drive too fast through the villages. This is also symbolically true – as cars and tourists go so fast, they do not notice the small towns and villages on the way. A positive effect that I noticed though is the increased inter-town traffic: motorcycles, cars, moto-taxis carrying people and cargo between neighboring towns.
As it is a mining area, I also saw some mining towns on the way, with the bars, discos, casinos and the usual hustle and bustle. Not a nice view…
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