Slow Bus to Piura


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South America » Peru » Piura » Piura
January 22nd 2008
Published: January 22nd 2008
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Get yourselves a coffee and make yourselves comfortable this is a long one!!!

Ok so we boarded a plane from Quito to Loja. It was a 40min taxi ride to Loja to get a bus to head out to Piura. The taxi ride was not without incident. The taxi driver booting out the two women who were already in situ for our fare instead. We avoided our first international incident!! The taxi was held together with sellotape and gaffer tape!!! There was carpet on the dashboard along with dead flowers!!! Hmmm. On finally arriving in one piece we bought our tickets for the onward journey which left some very many hours later and was advertised as the direct non stop to Piura - 8 hours!!!

This journey is not for the faint hearted. We headed back to Loja airport and then up into the mountains. Oh my goodness those were high mountains with very big drop offs!! The bus driver didn´t hesitate in overtaking the lorries on the hairpin bends without being able to see what was ahead - even though he must have only been going 10 miles an hour!!! After about 40mins of travelling we got pulled by the local police who were heavily armed!!!! All they did was get on say hello and disappear!!! Oh well least it was nothing more!!!!

There were many casualties of previous accidents on the road, so this was a high road definatley not for wimps!!!! It was very reminisanct of the Italian Job when the coach hangs over the edge!!! We had a stop after a few hours where running repairs were carried out to the bus for about 40 mins!!! Three men with their bottoms facing outwards from underneath the bus!!!! Much hammering, head scratching and taking tubing to the side of the road to hit with a hammer and hope!!! We did finally move off and the driver then desperatley tried to make up time with us all hanging on in the bus!!!

I say non stop supposedly due to the fact that the driver would pick up any one oen route and drop them off!!!!

We nearly escaped Ecquador without detection until we had to stop for a routine police check!! We had to get off the bus line up and hand over our passport, whereby the guard/policeman wrote our details down and that was that!!! We then some half hour later goto the peruvian border, where we all duly got off!!!

Bug alert Bug alert!!!

We were all queued up at the border. It was dark and there was very powerful lighting. Well we all know what happens at night with the lights on don´t we???? Well guys you should see the size of these bugs!!!!! David thought they were moths until they start dive bombing you and leaving bruises!!!! Well not quite but they would certainley prove a good meal!!! This is the beginnings of bueacracy at it´s best. We handed over our passports to have them handed back to complete a form and then hand back the passport and form to the guard. Who would then find an empty page and stamp your passport!! David got a full form I only got the end bit. Still I was past caring as the dive bombing bugs were more than messing in my hair!!!!

Looking left from the guard point saw more lights and a fog of bugs - David Attenborough eat your heart out!!!! We survived the onslaugh althought my tshirt is slightly worse for wear now and then thinking we could go straight to the bus aimed for it - only to be pointed towards another building. Here we repeated the performance of form filling and passport handing over, only then to be pointed in the further direction of the Peruvian Police for them to do their checks!!! Aaaaggghhhh!!!!!

Finally Finally folks we got to Piura found a hotel and collapsed for the night. We were met by a welcoming committee of a cockroach in the room who rather unfortunatley met its maker by way of my rucksac!!! Schucks!!!

Today we hopped on a bus to Chicalyo further down on the Peruvian Pacific coast. Gone is the cooler atmosphere of Quito and we are into hot and sultry. We´ve been across the desert seen vultures and various other birds but we don´t know what they are!!!! David has swam in the pacific whilst I paddled, but got equally as wet somehow!!!!

Tomorrow we are going down to Truijllo and then onwards to Lima!!

I´ve forgotten to say to all those botanists out there it was truly amazing on the bus journey seeing all the flowers and plants. There are airplants growing from electricity cable and telephone cables. Hibicus that are the brightest of pinks that if you bought them at home you would swear that someone had coloured them in!!!

For the those who did geography at school. On the journey we saw subsitance living at its truest. Four walls corrugated roofs and that was if they were well off. Going across the desert today people were living in straw houses - it´s what you would expcet to see in Africa. There ar vultures circling everywhere, even in the towns!!!! We have to keep pinching ourselves to remind us we are in Peru. It´s not all a place of jungles and mountains!!!

Tonight David has been very brave and eating a huge salad, and then had some sort of chicken dish again with salad!!!! Watch this space folks!!! I must admit we haven´t been very brave with the food but we are getting there!!!

That´s all for now its 9.10pm and i think we are going to head for bed!! Unless i can find a desert to munch on!!!! Oh and very many apologies we haven´t i dont think brought the technology to download photos onto here, so sorry they are going to straight forward blogs, but then watch this space anything is possible!!!!

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