On principle, we decided that we'd take the bus back instead of paying $600+ for a one-way ticket from Buenos Aires to Lima (more than we paid return to Lima from FL). When shopping around bus companies to make this purchase, we were puzzled by the fact that for this particular journey, none offered the nice, reclinable chairs that we had become accustomed to. They also did not provide more than one meal on the 3-day trek. Nonetheless, we handed our money (and our souls) over to the Cruz del Sur salesman and took the plunge.
We arrived at the bus station for our 2pm departure to find the worst bus that we had taken in all of our travels up to this point. The seats had about a 10% recline. The TVs were cracked. There was only one bathroom and the toilet was equipped to handle urination only. This was going to be interesting.
The bus was packed full. The entire crowd was made up of lower-class Peruvians and us, the only two gringos. Although I felt like an alien at times amongst this group, they really were warm and friendly with me when trying to help explain the quirks of the bus company.
Here is a short list of the few oddities we encountered:
Caribbean dance music from the 1980's is making an enormous comeback in Peru. Videos of live concerts and women in Brazilian-cut bathing suits played throughout the early evenings into the night. Sometimes the music blared over the speakers as late as 11:30pm.
Food was a calamity. The first night we stopped for a full sit-down dinner at the South American equivalent of a trucker stop. Breakfast the next day was served at 7am and consisted of a tray of prepackaged chicken sandwiches, beef empanadas and cookies. The stop for dinner wasn't until after midnight. On the final day, we did have two reasonable meal stops, and one was at a restaurant that seemed to only cater to Cruz del Sur buses and served Chifa, Chinese-Peruvian cuisine.
For some reason, the drivers had no problem letting hawkers board our bus. Some particular men were unloading and loading our bags at the Peruvian border crossing, then boarded our bus to try to sell us cell phones, digital cameras and watches, and then rode the bus with us to the restaurant we stopped at where they moonlight as waiters. There were many police checkpoints along the way where ice cream men, ladies with empanadas, and even young guys with homemade jello cups got a shot at bothering us until someone made a purchase.
Another quirk that we found funny was that the entire bus ride seemed to be planned out precisely for time -- except for the fact that we arrived four hours early to the Chilean/Peruvian border crossing. We rocked up at 4am, but the doors didn't open until 8am. So how come the entire bus ride didn't just start four hours later to cut the entire journey down from 67 hours to 63?
The fellow passengers provided a bit of entertainment as well. All of them carried US dollars. When I asked why, they gave me a muddled Spanish response that said that "it makes more sense for Peruvians who go to Argentina." There were a few grandmothers traveling along with little 2-year-old boys and a newborn on the ride up. The infant's parents were pretty interesting to watch, as the father took care of the baby the entire time unless the mother was breastfeeding. This included at stops, where she ate a heaping plate of food, and then switched plates to consume his heaping plate of food, leaving him about five forkfulls as he paced around with the baby.
Another notable experience was the Argentine border crossing. We crossed into Chile, near Salta and coming from sea level Buenos Aires, the ascent into this mountainous region was rapid. While on the bus, I felt fine, but while waiting in line to get my passport stamped, I nearly fainted. Two or three men (I think from another bus) helped me into the first aid room where I was put on oxygen, and then later given another mysterious chloroform cotton ball (I think it is just rubbing alcohol afterall). So the lesson to be learned here is to practice caution when arriving at 4,330+ meters overnight, and to take the altitude sickness pills when the bus steward offers them!
So to finish this post, I just want to make it known that three days without a shower or vertical bed takes a toll on your body. And I now have a heightened sense of compassion for my disabled father after being confined to the same chair for 67 hours. However, the ride was scenic and it definitely was a notable part of our trip. I learned a lot as well.
We arrived back at Lima, and the first thing we did was shower, which was one of the most gratifying cleansing experiences of my life. Then it was on to relaxing and enjoying our last couple of days, which mainly consisted of the beach and eating. I think we dined at our favorite sandwich place, La Lucha, four or five times in 2 days. This little kiosk specializes in cheap, fresh sandwiches and heavenly fruit juices. That's all they serve, but they do it well. La Lucha was packed every time we ate there except when we showed up at 7:30 am for one last sandwich before the plane ride home.
explored the main square and surrounding streets, which was a nice change from Miraflores. The next day we were on the plane back to Florida.
