"On the road again/Like a band of gypsies we go down a highway/We are the best of friends/Insisting that the world keeps turning our way..." - Willie Nelson
Life passes by in blinks. Blink, and I am five years old playing with my toys in the living room in Chishinau. Blink, and I am thirteen or fourteen going to Natchez with my parents for my birthday. Blink, and I am nineteen packing my stuff in bags and boxes to move away to college in Oxford. Blink, and I am twenty-one on a bus in Peru on my way to the study-abroad program in Ecuador.
We boarded the bus in Cuzco around 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday night armed with pretzels and tuna fish for our three day bus ride. I read a book on my computer for a few hours because I couldn't fall asleep. I finally dozed off around midnight but kept waking up through the night because of the motion of the vehicle.
The next morning we woke up early because the driver turned on a movie on the television. I ignored the televison and instead watched the mountain scenery we passed by. We were above the clouds on a narrow, winding road that had 360 degree turns in some places. My stomach is not very strong under the best circumstances, and I began feeling motion sick very soon. We kept driving and driving with a few pit stops along the way. We were supposed to arrive in Lima at 2:00 p.m. and get on another bus later that evening. When 3:00 p.m. rolled around we were still driving along the highway, although we were parallel to the sea coast which was a positive sign. (Lima is on the coast of the Pacific Ocean). We finally arrive in Lima at 4:00 p.m., and we were hungry, tired, and upset with the bus company. I seriously contemplated staying the night in Lima and just getting a plane ticket to Quito, but I was too far along to give up. After grabbing a quick snack from KFC (the wonders of comfort food are amazing), we went to the other bus station (across the entire city) and waited to board. We got on the bus to Quito around 7:00 p.m. and settled for a 40-hour-long bus ride.
This second bus was far worse than the first one - it was much smaller and much more cramped. The bathroom situation (already poor in Latin America as most bathrooms do not have sinks or provide toilet paper) was pathetic and only got worse with the passing of time and distance. Thursday night was not too bad as I drifted in and out of sleep, but Friday was a very long day. The scenery was not spectacular - most of coastal Peru is a drab desert - and I had nothing to do because the batteries in my computer and my ipod died. The one interesting thing on this trip happened around midday - a road block in the middle of the desert with no towns around for miles and miles. We panicked a little at first because we were concerned about getting to Quito on time, but the blockade proved to be short-lived. The police arrived at the scene and dispersed the protestors with a healthy dose of tear gas; I also caught a good whiff of the stuff as the windows in the bus were open, and I can testify to how much it hurts.
We finally stopped in a costal town around 4:00 p.m. and had a quick lunch/dinner because we haven't eaten warm food since the day before. Then, we got on the bus again and were off into the mountains once more. Around 7:30 p.m. we arrived at the Ecuadorian border; after waiting for about an hour, we passed the check-point and were on the road again.
The road from Cuzco to Quito is a triangle: we went down one mountain and then went up a different mountain. We finally arrived in Quito around 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning; we never wanted to see another bus again. We took a taxi to the University where our host parents picked us up. The new stage of our adventure has begun.
