The first long bus trip

After being escorted to the bus station by our incomparably helpful new best friends, we embarked on a 20 hr ride through the stark sands of Peru´s South Coast. Here we are with Rosa, her husband Miguel and their little one, Marcello.

There was no air conditioning on the bus, but the windows opened and kept us surprisingly comfortable. The only disappointment was that the overhead lights didn´t work. We woke up as the bus was pulling into Tacna, the gateway to Chile, early this morning. We negotiated a taxi on our own for the first time and were dropped off at the train station to find that the train wouldn´t leave for another 8 hrs. So now we´ve ambled through Tacna to find the city center and a computer.

More on Lima, since we have the time - drivers there are crazy. It makes New York traffic look like Sunday afternoon in Wasilla. Lanes are just a suggestion, and a cacaphony of horn sounds, some like sirens or sci-fi weapons, fills the air - apparently hitting the horn every few seconds is imperative if you want to get somewhere. The ultimate experience was riding in a "combi," a minivan outfitted for about 10 people, with a driver´s assistant perpetually hanging out of the sliding side door, yelling at people to jump in or out as the van lurched in and out of the stop-and-go traffic. Lilian, Rosa´s sister, coached us to hold bags tight in our laps, lest they fall prey to an arm reaching in through the open window. Yikes! Without her and Rosa´s help, trying to navigate around this city of 7 million would´ve been a whole nother ballgame.

We´ve got more pictures - we´ll try to get them up soon. Chao!