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The Horrific Bus Journey Buenos Aires to Lime (via Chile)
We left for the bus station at 5.30pm but apparently this wasn't enough time and we should have been there at 4pm. Anyway we had to take our bags to some dodgy underground area and I secretly said bye to mine as I wasn't sure if I would see it again. We then had to make our way to the international side of the bus station show our passports, put our bags through the xray machine and go through the metal detectors. The security woman gave us a funny look because we had flip flops on (it was actually really warm in BA) and then let us through. The international area was split off by a metal partition and I actually felt like I was in prison. We queued to get on the bus and thats when it dawned on us we were probably the only gringos on the bus. We found our seats and got ourselves as comfortable as we could. It stank really bad the seats were really cramped and the bus was pretty much full. Our images of comfy seats, waitress service and luxury travelling soon vanished. I half expected a goat or a chicken to rock up the aisle next to me. We had a fit of giggles when we realised there was nothing we could do for the next 3 days. to make matters worse I hadn't eaten anything as I expected to get fed so was starving by the time we stopped 4 and a half hours later. Luckily there was a Shell garage selling snacks that accepted card as we had no cash so we stocked up. I was starting with a colde and feeling generally rubbish and the thought of spending the next 3 days of my life on tis bus was not appealing.
We met the only other gringos on the bus; an aussie dude who had done lots of travelling and thought 'the only way to see a country was by bus' (his opinions soon changed to 'I'm never doing this again, this is the worst journey I have ever had to endure'); and a welsh guy who had spent the last 3 years travelling around South America in a truck! He was on his way back to Cusco to pick it up.
So after the 1st stop we got back on the bus and that's when the 'musica' started. And didn't stop. For THREE DAYS. I swear it was the same track being played over and over again -always some dodgy Peruvian guy in a bad suit, a woman or two shaking their ass and an accordian. The 'musica' was only punctuated by a couple of rubbish films in Spanish including 'Mr Bean's Holiday' which they seemed to love (ha ha stupid English man) and some others that had blatantly never made it to the cinema.
So I was steadily feeling worse and worse, the cold turning into a heaqdache from el musica and then starting to feel sick. It probably wouldn't have been as bad if we'd been left alone but since we were the only 2 gringo girls on a bus full of Peruvians baffled as to why we hadn't flown instead it wasn't great. The men in their limited English made cat calles (there seemed to be a lot of young men travelling alone but they all seemed to join forces on the bus). I was so glad to be travelling with Kate as their was one young woman on her own with a seat free (seemed to be the only one) and the guys kept taking it in turns to sit with her and generally harrass her.
The first night was definitely the worst I was really sick in the night and on a coach toilet its not pleasant -especially when the bus is going round windy mountains and you're trying to aim your sick into the toilet bowl. Good job we bought our own toilet paper as there wasn't any provided. In fact the toilet wasn't cleaned for the entire trip.
We arrived at Mendoza bus station in the morning and stopped to pick up some more passengers and get some food. I was really worried about Kate as her ankles had swollen to the size of her calves again. Mine were ok this time since I'd been up and down the coach all night. To make matters worse, the aussie guy turned out to be a nurse and told us he had had DVT and ended up in hospital. Not the best thing to tell two worried travellers who haqd another 2 days of the journey left! She tried walking around to keep the circulation going and when back on the bus put her legs up on me as there really was no leg room.
Once back on the bus, the driver started to give out forms for us to fill in to cross the Chilean border. It said on the back 'no fruit or vegetables of any kind (amongst other things) so everyone was eating all sorts of fruit before we got there. Unfortunately, Kate had bought a huge amount of fruit from Buenos Aires and couldn't manage to eat it all. I didn't realise that she'd decided to leave a papaya on the bus... We all got off the bus and went to queue to get exit stamps for Argentina and then entry stamps for Chile. In front of us were two brothers one was 17 and the other was 23. With a lot of help of mime some modification of french words and a lot of guess work we figured out that they had been in Buenos Aires for the last 3 months working in a factory sewing clothes as the wages were much better than Lima where they were from. Obviously they were really happy to be going home to see their family. They wanted our email addresses to write to us and then wanted us to call them when we got to Lima! The older one later drew a picture of me, for me, wrote a poem and presented me with it. He then went on to show me a photo of his wife and baby! The younger one wanted a souvenir from us and kept pointing at things asking "can I have that?" He even tried his luck with my jeans and then my travel pillow!
Once we'd had our passports checked we had to take all our hand luggage off the bus and put it through the machines. I was still ill so had to run off to find a toilet and leave Kate. When I got back everyone was really quiet and whispering to each other "they've found something on the bus!" All of a sudden a policeman got off the bus and stood up infront of us holding up a papaya. A collective gasp went through everyone and then they all started looking around for the culprit. I loooked at Kate unknowingly and said 'isn't that yours?' and she promptly shut me up. After 5 minutes of noone owning up (well they wouldn't would they?!) the policeman gave us a look of disdain and let us all get back on the bus. I looked at Kate and she looked white, I really thought she was going to get arrested for possession of a papaya. I half expected the policeman to bag it up for evidence and send it away for fingerprints!
After this we passed several ski resorts and went on more windy mountains before stopping for lunch in Chile. It was reasonable food but pretty expensive. Apparently Chile is on a par with Brazil for cost. In the afternoon we passed the Andes and some stunning scenery. We didn't stop for dinner as we were in the middle of the desert so we got given a sandwich instead. Same in the morning -there was nowhere to stop so we got a biscuit. After some more delightful musica we had lunch in this restaurant place (if you can call it that). The toilets were the most disgusting I've ever seen and I've seen some really bad ones. After a not so great lunch we got back on the bus aqnd made our way to the Peruvian border. We filled in the forms and then everyone cheered when we actually got to the border. We got off had our bags searched (no papayas this time) and after about an hour of waiting we were allowed back on the bus.
After setting off, a guy came upstairs selling cameras and I joked it was like Peruvian duty free. Just as I was saying this a big pile of blankets appeared up the stairs, followed by the woman carrying them; followed by a woman selling coats; followed by a woman with a bag of trainers; followed closely by a woman selling teddies. It was absolute mayhem with shoes and coats being tried on in the aisles and deals being done. We were in hysterics and it kept us entertained for a while.
For dinner we stopped at a small cafe and had our first encounter with Inca Cola. It's made with lemon grass and is Peru's answer to coca-cola. It tastes a lot like Irn Bru I really liked it. We also had the local dish of lomo saltado beef with rice and chips. In fact I got a bit sick of the sight of potatoes by the time we left Peru, apparently there are 4000 varieties and I can definitely believe it!
Next morning we made our final stop at a place to get some breakfast. It was great actually as the lady sold yoghurt and fruit and much needed aspirin. I'd left all of my paracetomal etc in my big bag so didn't have anything for the entire journey. We didn't stop again until we got to Lima and I was SOO glad to get off the bus! When we arrived, the guy who'd been working in Buenos Aires at the factory gtot off and was greeted by his wife and baby. It was so lovely to see and he proudly came and introduced us to his baby daughter. We jumped in a taxi and made our way to the hotel we had been booked for the beginning of the inca trail by Gap adventures.
I would never do such a long journey on a bus again but I'm glad I did it as it was worth it for the stories!
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