To Arequipa

For this post, I will be writing purely from memory since I didn't get a chance to record this part of our trip in my journal.

So the day after our visit to the restaurant Fallen Angel, we boarded a bus early in the morning headed to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city, about 9 hours from Cuzco. We opted for the day bus because otherwise we would have had to leave the night before, and we had laundry from our Machu Picchu trip to do! Have I mentioned that we line-dried all of our clothing while we were in Peru? Also, that it barely broke into the 60s made for a long process of washing our clothes.

While we weren't excited for a day-long bus ride, we were certainly not prepared for the actual bus. It was similar to the Badger Bus from Milwaukee to Madison, only the seats were closer together which meant we had less leg room. Travis and I sat together, across the aisle from Katie and Derek. Marla had things to do so she didn't come on this trip with us.

We passed a parade! There seems to be a parade every other day in Peru. I'm not sure what this one was celebrating, but there were lots of feathered hats!

Some Llamas/Alpacas hanging out in a field in the middle of nowhere.

Some mountains we got to know on this trip. I think the one in the center is Misti, the backdrop to Arequipa. We were still quite far away when this photo was taken, but that was where we were headed!

About two hours into our trip, the "Lunch Lady" boarded the bus. Instead of offering on-route dining (a la airplanes), the day buses opt for individual vendors who are picked up at certain locations and come bearing local treats. And I use the word "treats" incredibly lightly. The Lunch Lady and her male partner went up and down the aisle, asking if we would like to buy whatever she cooked up that day. And I will never know what she cooked that day, but I pray to God I never smell it again.

She came bearing a big bag full of smaller bags that contained some sort of blackened food item. If I were to take a guess, I would say it was chicken or fish. Rancid chicken or fish. It smelled like a rotting carcass had been brought onto the bus, and the stench wafted up and down the aisle as she solicited her goods to (if you can believe it) willing victims. The stench was so foul, it turned my stomach and left us both desiring a good vomit. The worst part of this whole scenario was not that we couldn't open the window, but that the lady stayed on the bus. For three hours. Three whole hours with her stinky suspiciously black food.

On the other hand, Derek said it smelled good. It must have been our poorly trained American stomachs...

The rest of the bus ride was uneventful. They played an old movie (in Spanish), Little Man, and then we were treated to a Peruvian Idol type show, where performers sang, danced, dressed in drag and performed duets by dressing either side of their body as the artists who performed the songs originally. It was mildly entertaining, but the co-driver forgot to take out the DVD, so we were treated to an hour of the DVD home screen music playing over and over.

Eventually, we made it to Arequipa. Unfortunately, we didn't see someone holding up a sign with our names on it as we exited the bus. After wandering around for 20 minutes at the station, I was stopped by a woman asking if I was Kimberly, and our ride was found. They took us to our hotel, and we were excited to take a nice hot shower after a long day on the smelly bus. Unfortunately, Peru is still a third world country, and we ended up taking a freezing cold shower instead. At least we were clean.

That night, we went out to the Plaza des Armas and got some "American" food: Burger King and Pizza Hut with ice cream cones from BK. It was nice to have something somewhat familiar after having so much Peruvian food. However, these restaurants had their own Peruvian flair (they have different cheese down there, which was noticeable in the pizza) and their portion sizes are much more realistic. I ordered a "medium" from BK, and it was the size of an American small.

Plaza des Armas at night

Enjoying his cone!

One of the most European structures I had yet seen in Peru! The whole square was very European in style. In front of this government building you can see some people protesting. I think we saw a protest at least once a week.

The next morning we got up at 3 am and were picked up for a three hour van ride to Colca Canyon...