El Autobus del Diablo

After Chachani, Niki, Amanda, Christine, and I made plans to go to Cañon del Colca, the second deepest canyon in the world and over twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the states. The only bus we could find left Arequipa at 2pm, so we spent the day catching up on sleep, emails, and food. Being puntual Adventure Treks instructors, we arrived shortly before 1:30, and eagerly awaited our bus ride. And then it started...

We attempted to get to the ramp to board the bus but the ticket-checker denied us no fewer than 5 times. The bus wasn´t even here, she said. Finally it arrived, 15 minutes late. We got on, opened the windows to decrease the overwhelming stuffiness, and waited until departure at 3.

Next, a young man who we mistook for our tour guide, began his shpiel about something. The only words we could recognize were Amigos and something having to do with Redemption. He handed out candy, a nice thought until he came by 5 minutes later collecting money. Christine didn´t give any. As the bus winds its way up and out of Arequipa, it stops to pick up randoms who need a ride somewhere. This bus stopped and picked up about 30 4th grade kids, and about 3 chaperones. They were well behaved and relatively quiet. Soon though, someone popped in a children´s video akin to Barney, with screechingly loud, high-pitched Spanish character voices. I was listening to my iPod, and barely could hear the music over the noise. The video ended, but was followed by over an hour of equally loud Groupo Cinco, Perú´s music sensations. Finally we arrived in Chivay, at the head of the canyon. We got off the bus, flustered, and shared stories. A man sitting next to Niki was sleeping, and as he snored blubbered spit all over her. She was visibly shaken.

But there´s no peace in Chivay. A slightly heavy woman in her 40´s continually approached us to stay in her hostal. Niki politely told her to give us a few minutes to collect ourselves after a gruelling bus ride. But she hounded. I got firm with her, reminding her that we needed a few minutes, and it seemed to placate her. But as we got out of our cabs on the town square, we noticed her chasing us down again... she had followed us! We took her flyers, threw them in the garbage, and found the closest restaurant where we could get a drink.