Warning: Peruvian bus driver may actually be Mario Andretti

Leaving Huaraz, we knew that we had to get moving to get to Cuzco. It was a long trip, but we knew it would be, so I suppose we were mentally prepared. But you can’t really prepare for something that long. We left Huaraz around 10pm and got into Lima around 6am, so that’s about 8 hours there. We switched to another bus line and took off for Ica. That was about 7 hours or so. Then we connected from Ica to Nazca, which was only a couple hours. So we left around 10am and got to Nasca around 3pm. Okay, so now what?

We had decided not to make a decision until later. Well, this was later. We had to decide whether to press on to Cuzco that night or stay in Nazca and rest up. We felt that Nazca didn’t really hold much for us other than a bed, so we went on the bus. Unfortunately, all the “good” bus companies were full, so we had to take another bus line that was not on the recommended list. We were a little worried, but figured it would be fine. It was.

But first, we took a taxi out to the mirador in the middle of the desert to see the Nazca lines. It was very interesting. We hire a taxi to take us the 22km out of the city to the middle of nowhere so we can climb a 3 story metal lookout over three of the figures drawn in the rock/sand/dirt. You never would know if you were driving past that there were so many designs in the ground right next to you. They were large, about 50m across or so, but the lines weren’t very wide or deep, probably about 30cm wide and 10cm deep. It’s a wonder that they haven’t been washed away in the rain after all these years. As Erin described it, “It looks like some kid dragged a stick through the sand and made some designs.” Just awing over the sights was great, really got your mind racing about the possibilities of what they could mean. I may have still been in the bus-haze from the long ride, but I still thought it was really cool.

So, back to the town, we look for the museum, but of course it’s sunday and the museum is closed, therefore on to dinner to wait for our bus. The bus leaves around 7:30pm, except not from the bus station. The bus guy comes running up to us, saying, “Paradino? Paradino? Cuzco? Come, come!” So we lug our backpacks, guitar, and bags of dry food to the roundabout that happens to be a five minute walk away. Why couldn’t they simply tell us earlier to go wait by the roundabout? Or perhaps they could actually use the bus terminal where they sold the tickets? Oh well. We made it on.

But the bus ride, oh, the bus ride. We were in the very back of the second story bus, trying to get to sleep. I knew this would be a bad bus ride when the attendant comes around offering puke bags and, not only that, is truly surprised that we don’t take any. “Really? You sure? You won’t need one? Just in case?” It was not a good omen. I don’t think the ride is necessarily a bad drive, but if your bus driver watches too many Mario Andretti films, then you’re in for it. Screeching around corners, people’s bags and bottles and stuff falling from the top shelf onto people and the aisle, the gringo girl next to us literally falling out of her seat into our seats, it was something else. But, we did make it safe and sound. Whew. Left 10pm on Saturday, arrived 8am on Monday. That’s only 34 hours or so.

Cuzco has been awesome so far. We spent the first 2 nights in the Pirwa hostel, which wasn’t so bad. We watched some movies, played on the internet, cooked some crappy pasta and fell into bed around 9pm. The second night we were supposed to meet Elizabeth, the best woman in our wedding, but she was coming back from the Inca Trek, so she was too tired to meet up. We lucked out and got to sleep early again. Yesterday, we made the switch into the Medics Away house, which houses only medical students (and friends of medical students, apparently). Elizabeth, who has already been here for 3 weeks or so, showed us a delicious restaurant where we ordered salads (!) and steak and onions sandwiches (!!). It even came with pita and hummus, which was wonderful. For dinner we hit up a local pizza place, Pizza Express,  and chowed down on the wonderful mess that came out. Mmmmm. It’s so nice to be in a tourist town where there are so many options. It’s, of course, the very options that make us blow our budget, but you can’t always be on budget, right? I didn’t think so.

All the students are away on a Lake Titicaca tour right now, so we have the entire house to ourselves. We’re loving it. Just awesome. Tomorrow or Saturday we’re planning a motorcycle tour of the Sacred Valley and then Sunday/Monday is Machu Pichu. Should be a great couple of days of sightseeing!