Seventy Four Hours On One Bus
With very little time to make good on my promise to be back in Lima before my birthday, I booked the three day direct bus from Buenos Aires to Lima. I bought the ticket the morning of the massive earthquake in Chile, that decimated the nation's capital, toppling skyways and buildings to rubble like you see in disaster movies. It was very real and the news everywhere in Buenos Aires was about that tragedy, as well as the recent smaller quake in beautiful Salta of Northern Argentina. The quake didn't impact my travels, though the bus had to change its route to avoid the disaster zone. All in all, three days on the bus wasn't so bad... if you can believe that!
The most memorable things of the trip included the ever changing scenery out the window as we drove across Argentina, in particular, the Andean snow capped peaks, pink with the low light of the rising sun. It was quite a sight when I woke up that morning. We entered Chile in the middle of the freezing high altitude night, with me dressed in my warmest clothes of a t-shirt under a long sleeved shirt, and continued for a day driving north through the dusty desert. Fortunately, I had the sense to ration my snacks because we went half the next day without being fed or stopping to eat... there was nothing and nobody out there, let alone a roadside diner.
Finally, we stopped in the early afternoon and had something basic to eat. We got to stretch our legs for a bit, take some photos of the greener countryside we had just entered and then get back on the bus for more lame movies. The dusty desert came back and we crossed it into Peru. As we drove along the coast, we could see the sea and beach to our left merge seamlessly into the desert sand dunes on our right. It was still several hours before Lima, but fortunately, the roadside diner food in Peru was superior to the ones in Chile. I had missed the Peruvian lemons.
It was about 9pm when I reached the Lima bus station. Tired, I stepped off with my sole piece of luggage and went out to look for Joe. I was greeted by a tight hug from behind and it suddenly hit me; I really was finally back!
The most memorable things of the trip included the ever changing scenery out the window as we drove across Argentina, in particular, the Andean snow capped peaks, pink with the low light of the rising sun. It was quite a sight when I woke up that morning. We entered Chile in the middle of the freezing high altitude night, with me dressed in my warmest clothes of a t-shirt under a long sleeved shirt, and continued for a day driving north through the dusty desert. Fortunately, I had the sense to ration my snacks because we went half the next day without being fed or stopping to eat... there was nothing and nobody out there, let alone a roadside diner.
Finally, we stopped in the early afternoon and had something basic to eat. We got to stretch our legs for a bit, take some photos of the greener countryside we had just entered and then get back on the bus for more lame movies. The dusty desert came back and we crossed it into Peru. As we drove along the coast, we could see the sea and beach to our left merge seamlessly into the desert sand dunes on our right. It was still several hours before Lima, but fortunately, the roadside diner food in Peru was superior to the ones in Chile. I had missed the Peruvian lemons.
It was about 9pm when I reached the Lima bus station. Tired, I stepped off with my sole piece of luggage and went out to look for Joe. I was greeted by a tight hug from behind and it suddenly hit me; I really was finally back!
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