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Published: January 31st 2011
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Somehow against my better judgement I was talked into taking the "special" bus from Cuzco to Lima. The agent, a swarthy looking man with a hair lip and a wandering eye managed to convince me that the extra 20 soles (£5) was worth every penny for the pure luxury I was to experience. Four foot wide leather seats that would recline almost into a bed, stewardess service with food and drink, TV, Video, Toilet. I was to be borne on the wings of angels all the way to Lima.
I've heard this luxury bus story so many times and usually I'm just happy to get a seat I don't have to share with a goat, so I tried not to get my hopes up too much. So imagine my surprise, in fact utter astonishment when the bus turned up and was exactly as he described. It even had drivers who had at some point learned to drive.
Mind you the stewardess was a grumpy old cow and 22 hours on a bus is still 22 hours on a bus however nice.
The bus pulled into central Lima and I was staying about 5 miles away in an area called Miraflores
so jumped into a taxi that I had inadvertently stolen from someone else which he driver seemed to think was the funniest thing that had happened to him all day. Strangely so did the family whose taxi I'd jumped into. Very odd. anyway off we went with no one taking offence. Usually a 20 minute cab ride will throw up more drama than a 20 hour bus ride and that proved to be the case. As we were about to pass under a bridge a body dropped into the road about three cars ahead of us. It turned out to be a young girl about 20ish. No idea if she fell was pushed or it was a suicide attempt but not surprisingly she was in a terrible old state. She was lucky the traffic was all backed up and only creeping along or else she would have got run over as well. There then followed ten minutes of people in and out of cars seeing if they could help (although I think she was a little beyond help poor thing) and trying to direct other cars out of the way. After a while the old bill turned up and we
all got under way again.
As we neared the area I was staying in it became apparent that the driver didn't have a clue where the hostel was. he kept stopping and asking only to be met with shrugs as no one else knew where it was either. In the end he found someone vaguely official wearing a yellow shirt and manning a barrier in the road who knew where it was, but we couldn't drive so before I know it i'm humping all my gear down the road after mister yellow shirt. At long last found the damn place just to be told that they had no knowledge of my reservation and there was no room left at the inn. It was all getting a bit late and dark by now so things weren't good. Not to be thwarted Mr yellow shirt led me off into the night in search of a place to stay. Finally found somewhere with room and all was well. Not sure who Mr yellow shirt was or what his official function was but he was as helpful as could be and when I offered him a couple of dollars for his help he
refused to take it!!
Not a lot to tell you abut Lima. It was all very nice at least the bit I was in was. Spent a few days there seeing the sights before getting the bus out to Guayaquil in Ecuador. Not such a good bus journey this time. The bus was OK but nothing special. It was meant to leave at 3pm but didn't get underway until 9pm. The journey was set for 24 hours but it took over 27 meaning we arrived in Guayaquil at 1.30am not the best time to get dumped off a bus in a strange city. The only up side was I meant an English couple on the bus so at least I had someone to talk to. Guayaquil isn't really on most peoples list of places to see in South America but I've had a really nice time here. Its Ecuador's biggest city but doesn't seem like it. It has an area called the Malecon which is a tarted up river front (a bit like Havana) that makes a nice wander. While I was out roaming about I came across a park full of Iguanas sunning themselves and trying to mug
people for their lunch. Very odd.
Also took a walk up the 450 steps to an old lighthouse, nearly finished me off, not so much the steps but the fact it must be 90oF here.
In other news, after not shaving for a week I decided that a goatee might be a bit of a laugh so have been sporting that for the last week. Its nearly all grey and either gives me a distinguished look or makes me look like a complete armpit have yet to decide but it saves on razors.
Off to Quito in the morning which should be a breeze at a mere 8 hours.
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