Journey to Lima

On Tuesday afternoon I got on the bus to head to Lima with a lovely girl called Su, from Chile. As I was travelling with Su, we got a cheaper bus than I had originally planned. 

Initially everything started well, although there wasn't as much leg room as I'd have liked. The views were stunning and I managed to sleep a bit. The bus stopped quite a lot and there didn't seem to be much air coming out of the vents, but I told myself it was okay and not overly surprising as it had been more than half the price of the bus I originally considered.

Eventually I managed to get into a fairly deep sleep. I suddenly became aware of a knocking sound and have to admit that my first thought was that we were about to be robbed. Luckily Su was there and explained to me, in my befuddled sleepy state, that the bus had broken down and the air conditioning wasn't working. The lack of air con had been apparent from the start, so it surprised me that it wasn't till sometime after midnight that the bus driver also decided it was a problem. All we could do was wait for the replacement bus which would be at least an hour (it was actually over 2 hours). 

We decided to wait outside as it was horribly lacking in air on the bus and very hot. Trying to keep positive, my first thought was that the stars looked beautiful. We were so far from civilization that there was no light pollution - which was lovely and also quite concerning.

I was very glad that I was with Su as she could translate for me what was happening. However, I have to admit that on more than one occasion I wished I'd bought a ticket with one of the better companies. I was also fighting my own fears that we would be robbed, or worse, as we waited.

I kept having little chats with myself, doing my best to find the positive. The company was good; the stars amazing; all part of the adventure. I also calculated that even if we on the side of the road till 5am, there would still be time for me to catch my flight to Rio.

At about 2.30am the replacement bus finally appeared. I made sure that my rucksack got on to the new bus (actually carrying it myself). 

Finally we could sleep, I thought. The air conditioning certainly worked on this new bus and to prove the point, the bus driver made sure he chilled us all to the bone with it. Therefore I didn't get to sleep as quickly as I'd hoped - thank goodness for my alpaca shawl.

We arrived in Lima at about 9am and I got to the airport by about 11am. 

Once at the airport I discovered that many earlier flights had been delayed or cancelled - I hoped that mine would still be okay. Although considering some of my recent luck (or lack of it) I wasn't overly hopeful.

I managed to check in much earlier than I had expected thanks to information provided outside the airport. Also, as I hadn't realised I would need to, it gave me time to get the information about my onward flights and my flight home at the beginning of June.

I finally boarded the plane just before 4.30pm and to be honest was really quite glad to be leaving Peru.