The past few days I have spent more time on Peruvian buses than I like to think about, in fact as I write this I am sitting in the Terminal Terrestre in Arequipa (Note to self be REALLY sure next time that buses leave all day and avoid waiting 5 hours in a bus station for a 10 hour night bus to Cusco). This weekend, two German guy friends from Spanish school and I decided to go to San Pedro de Atacama in the northern desert region of Chile (more on that later when I have photos!) and in order to get there I had to first meet the boys in Arequipa (10 hour night bus), go to Tacna- the border town in Peru (6 hours), cross the border via collectivo to Arica, Chile (2 hours), and then finally a bus to San Pedro to Atacama via Calama in Chile (12 hour night bus) and make the journey back. I don´t really like to add that up and then think about it before taking the last night bus tonight to Cusco! But to give you an image, since Friday night (it´s now wednesday) to tomorrow I will have spent only 2 nights and no more than 13 hours in an actual bed. I´m thankful I had such good company for most of the journey, now I just have to get through this last leg!
It´s pretty safe to say that the guys and I know a thing or two about buses now. The buses that we took ranged from the very nice, though pricey Cruz del Sur to the economico Flores bus from Arequipa to Tacna, Peru. Generally the buses were nicer in Chile on the way to and from San Pedro.
Here are a few of the funnier moments of the trip:
On timing: The cliche "you get what you pay for" could not be more true for this. The more expensive the ticket price the more likely the bus is to leave on time (exceedingly rare in Peru) and do be direct. The economico buses always had stops, left late and took generally longer with less comfort. On the way back to Arica our nicer bus took shockingly 2 hours less than we thought it would, we still have no idea how they made up the time. If you ever take a bus, also remember that "directo" doesn´t necessarily mean 100% free of stops as we ended up waiting an hour and a half in the bus at a closed bus station Calama for the next leg.
On breaking down: About 10 minutes after being on an economic bus to Tacna it broke down without ever leaving Arequipa. Luckily it was only 30 minutes to get a new bus, but it could have been bad in the middle of nowhere in the desert!
On bathrooms: Less expensive buses also mean no bathrooms which is definitely something to take into account while traveling in the desert (drier=more thirsty= going to want to pee) for 6 to 12 hours.
On entertainment: You can rest assured that there will be bootlegged copies of a movie to watch. My personal favorite: American movies dubbed into Spanish then subtitled in English. Best movie: Sister Act. Worst Movie: Chinese fighting movie with Spanish subtitles yelling in the background the first 2 hours on the way to San Pedro.
Stops: Probably the oddest thing is the stops that buses are forced to take on these journeys. There was one on the way to Tacna where we had to throw out all of our fruits to ensure that fruit flies didn´t pass one imaginary border to the next- I can´t really believe there is an area free of them, but I guess it exists.
The next stop down was a passport and ID control. They took all the Peruvian IDs and then came back, looked at the gringos and told us to come with them. Then we had to walk across the highway, show our passport, visa and chat with the man in charge. On the way back from Chile at this check point the man only asked the Peruvian and foreign men for their documents and no one had to leave- we figured that it was because it was the lunch hour and he wanted to get back to eating.
The most annoying stop came in Chile at 3am in the middle of the night bus to San Pedro. We were woken up abruptly and told we all had to exit with our bags. Then we all lined up and stood there for a while in the cold with our bags on a table. 20 minutes later a woman looked in my bag for 3 seconds and never looked in the bag of one of my friends. We still are not sure what they were searching for, but I can assure you it was not a pleasant way to spend time at that hour!
You and your passport: When on our way to and from Chile we had to actually hand our passports over to collectivo (shared taxis) drivers and not have possession of or know where they were taking our passports. Really uncomfortable to not know where such an important document is for an uncomfortably long amount of time.
On vendadores: On the economic buses in southern Peru with more stops, we also had the pleasure of a truly uniquely Peruvian (or perhaps South American) experience. It started with a man selling a special "mate" or herbal tea blend, with the selling point of being able to solve everything from hangovers to sexual problems. The man went on about this for about 30 min pointing people out to sell directly and relate more to them. It was particularly awkward when he pointed to men during the sexual dysfunction bit and said "caballito, tu sabes" (you sir, know [what I am talking about]). Just when we thought it was done he pulled out a second product! The more surprising thing was although the people rolled their eyes during the chat, the man ended up making a lot of sales! I guess they did "sabe".
The more typical sellers we encountered were the food vendors that run to the bus at stops to sell hot food (freshly made that day on the side of the road under a garbage bag tarp) and drinks. I don´t think any of us will ever think of "choclo con queso, chicharrones, tortilla de camarones or gaseosa" the same ever again. There were a lot of unpleasant smells on some of the curvier moments on bumpy roads that I could have done without! Thankfully as well, we were not personally spilled on, but we saw several people get "choclo" water on their shoulders as these large woman sloshed buckets of food in the crowded aisle ways of a full bus!
The buses have obviously been an interesting addition to this trip. Right now I can`t imagine having to spend another night in one in a couple hours or think about taking one again anytime soon. They have made however for some funny inside jokes and definitely a lot of lasting memories!
Rest assured that the trip was well worth the effort and we had an amazing time in Chile! The next post will be about how on earth all this bus time was worth 2 days in San Pedro de Atacama.
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