Bus Chaos

Our time in Paracas was amazing, I would have liked to stay another day - but we had to continue onto Arequipa. We left on the 5pm bus to Ica (1 hour) then were to transfer in Ica onto another bus for Arequipa (12 hours). So we hop on our first bus, enjoy the comfortable seats, a snack and get dropped off at a fancy hotel in Ica. Our next bus is at 8:30. We get our new luggage tags from the front desk. Joel and I sit there... waiting... waiting... until 9:30. I finally go up to the desk to ask where the bus is (in Span-glish), and the girl makes a phone call, oh - the bus left from the main bus terminal in Ica. WHAT! No one told us we had to be somewhere else, and we were an hour late to catch it. They call a cab for us and we get into the main termial. I try to explain to the guy that we weren´t told that where we got dropped off wasn´t where we´d get picked up. But he spoke No English, and I´m too frustrated and exhuasted to try for any Spanish. So he calls someone, and I try to explain to them, but the guy on the line doesn´t speak much English, and keeps calling me ´Lady, Lady.´ They think we´re just an hour late. And want us to pay for the full bus fare again. So I try something that often works - I cry. Not big sobbing tears, just ones that stream down my face. The guy ends up making us pay for 2/3rds of our new tickets (did the crying work?). So we had to pay for new tickets and a hotel. Yea, that has definately hurt the bank account a lot! And the travel book reccomeneded to stay away from Ica, it´s dangerous, noicy and not friendly to white travellers. I´ve never felt so stared at in my life. On top of that, I´m not recovered fully from food poisoning. I think I should be, but it doens´t help that we haven´t had any fresh fruit (is it safe?) or whole grains (everything is white!)

That was so far the most stressful thing yet, but I´m sure it won´t be the last.

On a positive note, because we were stuck in Ica for 24 hours, there is this little oasis lagoon just 5 km outside where we spent the day. Joel tried sandboarding (much different from snowboarding, but the same board!). We hiked up a sand dune, the view was amazing! We met some locals who were really friendly and we able to practice our Spanish. I bought a pretty necklace with a chunk of petrified wood off a guy, Pedro, who found it in the desert. And we ate some yummy (but expensive) food. Apparently this place used to be a playground for the elite Peruvians a few decades ago, now it´s mostly just backpackers wanting to sandboard. So it was a good day.

Now we are Arequipa. It was a loonnnggg bus ride, but a whole lot more comfortable than a Greyhound! We spent all day yesterday just bumming around the hostel, Joel´s not feeling very well, so he´s slept for almost 20 hours (on and off, up for food occastionally), and I read the last half of my book. (Now I need to find somewhere with English books!) We´re not sure if we´ll be here another day, or leave today to Puno. It depends on how Joel feels. I´d love to stay a week and explore the area around Arequipa, but it just adds too much time that we don´t really have.

Well... that´s the recap of the past few days.... ugh. I´m still exhusted!

And I can´t believe it´s just been one week! 11 more to go!

Sorry, this place we´re at doesn´t allow access to the USB ports on the computer so I sill can´t upload pictures!