I'll remember yesterday the rest of my life! It began simple enough...wake up in Iquique,Chile. It was a nice beach town,great place to kick the dust off from the road. Chile was nice enough,although traveling up the panamerican highway was like traveling up Hwy 101 at home from San Louis Obispo to San Jose,nice enough but felt like I had been there before. Well yesterday finally was the start of an axventure. Took a taxi to the bus stop,a nice old colonial building that was run down just enough for atmosphere. Took the bus to the northern frontier town of Tacna,where you take an international bus to Peru or a taxi across the border and catch a Peruvian bus to your destination. Simple? No no no. Here I intrduce my two angels for the day. One young doctor from Italy (yes of course handsome) named (no kidding) Angelito! His travel mate, a young English guy (from India) named Te.Both on my bus, they said they were going in a taxi so as to avoid 2-3 hours wait while everyone on the buses clear customs. Ok , I said, I'll go with you! So we got to Arika, a desert town you cant wait to get out of, looking like the end of the world. Angelito spoke good spanish ( he had just finished volunteering at a medical school in Boliva. ) He found a taxi woman who drove an old dusty buick and agreed to take us acroos the border for $6 each. Wow she hustled us though the border pronto and let us off at the bus station. We were met by a hustler (good kind) who took us across the street to the right station. I was leaving first to Ariquipa, they were going to wait for the night bus. The man bought my ticket for me and I imagine keeping a comission, the bus was $15 for what I was told was a 8 hour ride! I was talking to Angelito to say good by,and I said "of course you can see Im an old guy" and he says "anyone that can travel around South Ameica by themself for six months is no old. Age is all in the mind" No, he did not have a halo over his head. So I go over to a lunch counter by myself now and have a great "meal of the day" which consisted of Oxtail Soup with a chicken consomme base, noodles and corn on the cob. I picked as my entree Grilled Chicken with rice and boiled potatoes and salad.The reason being it was the only thing I understood on the menu. So after my lunch I have a whole pocket of Chilean coins that I wont be able to change anywhere,so I leave it on the table for the diners son who served me. Well you know whats next the bathroom. So I walk down in search. Walk down to the other end, someone tells me it was back where I was ,so I head back and see a very confused young man picking up a pile of coins!!!!!lol Well the bathroom was called Servicio de Hygenico!!! Well you might get the joke if youve been in very many bus stop bathrooms. Now ten minutes untill my bus leaves , I head out out the right gate, the bus station lady checks my ticket and says no I have to go somewhere else and points (to the blank wall) So I go down the other side of the station the other lady says about 50 words none of which I understand , and I plead Senora por favor no hablas espanol mucho. She smiles and walks down the aisle and points to a booth. It turns out you have to pay a dollar to leave the station! So I give the first lady my reciept for that and she lets me through the gate. I walk out and none of the buses have signs of where theyre going. I finally find my nice inexpensive bus and get to my seat .. Phew! Everythings ok now right? Well my seat mate boards and smiles at me with her 2 Year old boy,and they are both sitting in the same seat ...next to me...for what I was told was 8 hours (about 300 hundred miles up in the mountains) but which took 10 hours. Of a 2 year old boy squirming, jumpimg up and down, and at one point hitting me with his coke bottle (plastic luckily). We are still in the desert, but up in the mountains we come upon a canyon with small farms. Ther is a river running through it so the fields of alfalfa,cows,corn and apples are very lush and well tended. I see a family hearding they're sheep across the road. It is a timeless scene of immense beauty. Around midnight, we get near Arequipa. I take out my tablet to check the name of the hostal Im going to , and my tablet is dead,no more juice. So I have no idea where to stay in an ancient town in the andes at midnight. So I do exactly what guidebooks tell you not to do . I get in the first taxi, and say a hotel in the center of town please.The taxi has no meter and I dont negociate a price. The nice older gentleman (older than me) brings me to this really nice old colonial hotel. Well end of very long story I just wanted you all to see traveling is not always a bowl of cherrys but it brings some great rewards . I am in the center of a beautiful old city, and I will never forget that valley and the people I met today.
