Lima to Cusco

So when I first arrived in Peru and was taking the bus from Piura to Lima, I was horribly devastated by the landscape in Peru. All sand. I had heard it was desert but I didn´t realize the extent of it and quite frankly, it ain´t that pretty to look at, not like the desert in the Middle East. Also, it makes the garbage everywhere feel that much more abundant. The bus ride from Lima to Cusco though (21 hours) started out similar but once we got into the Andes, it was gorgeous. The bus ride was long and a little brutal but we both slept okay. The altitude in Cusco is 3300m and let me tell you, you notice the difference. The first day I was feeling sick but once we got the hang of it, we were okay. The next day, we were onto Machu Picchu.

And the winner is . . .

Okay, if you haven´t read my last blog ´Loja to Lima´, you really must or this one won´t make sense. So I returned to the bus station for 5:30 this evening just to announce to everyone I was there and ensure I didn´t miss the bus. I spoke to the guys at the front who were new and updated them on why I was there. I looked conspicuous since I was a foreigner and wasn´t carrying any bag. Then, I saw my bus driver from earlier today (Juan). Juan told me that the bus was in an accident but that it should be there for 6pm. At this point I was so tired and my spanish was getting worse so I asked him if my bag would go somewhere else but he didn´t know . . . or more likely he didn´t understand me. He knew everyone at the terminal though so he wandered around and talked to everyone. At 6:10 he returned to tell me that the bus was on the street and would pull in shortly. There were tons of buses coming and going from the station so he was waiting for a spot. When the bus pulled in I recognized the driver (and I had memorized the bus number from the night before, just in case). To my suprise, there were people on the bus though . . . in fact I recognized all of the people getting off of the bus . . . it was the same people who had got on the bus in Piura. . . There were 2 girls from the US on that bus and as soon as they saw me they asked me how long I had been in Lima. Apparently their bus got into an accident 3 hours outside of Piura. They waited 2 hours to be told it would be another 3 hours for a bus to come from Piura to get them. . . they had been on that horrible bus for 25 hours . . . guys, to say I dodged a bullet I think is an understatement. I think people would have died had I been on that bus for 25 hours . . . sitting with all of my best friends!! So I got my bag, said thank you and goodbye to Juan and headed on back to Miraflores! It´s funny how a few hours ago you wonder if you made the right decision but then a few hours later who wonder why you ever reconsidered your decision . . .