La Libertad

We have an early start again, the girls were supposed to leave last night, but are catching the bus with us today instead. We board the bus and tthe journey is due to take 6 hours, but well wait and see. Wegrab a coffee and board the bus that has definitely seen better days. As we leave Pucon, the bus doesnt seem to full, to a point where everybody could haave a seat to themselves. We drive just a hour out of the city and pull into a staton. The toilet on board isnt working so by the time we get there, there are people bursting for the loo. Its not until now i find out the wc is out of order and decide after my ciggie i wll myself. As i go towards the loos, the bus starts pulling out and i ask the driver what hes doing nd he says about going to the other side of the station. i spend my penny and exit through the opposite side of the station to see our bus driving off round the corner. We chase it down the street to find it parked round the corner loading loas off boxes on board an hoards of Peruvian women shouting at the top of their voices selling their various culinary wares . they kee shouting ' Trout ' and i feel deeply offended. After 20 minutes of waiting Its so funny because the Peruvian people ar really irratated at the fact we are sill here , stamping their feet and chanting VAMOS (lets go) in unison, like a bunch of football hooligans . Twenty minutes later and we are still sat there loading the bus to bursting point. A guy is pissing up against the wheel and the women are sill shouting up the stairs trying to sell their bloody trout. Eventually afetr an hour and three fags later we are on the road. We pull over to a road side stop on the way wher half the bus pile off to have a wee. There are only 3 toilets and luckily iam at the front of the queue while most of the bus cant wait an end up going in the field next door. I choose the option of being behid a door but as its my turn i enter the toilet to find to places to put my feet and a whle in the ground. I cant describe the smell but i definitely wished id opted for the field.
Back on he bus and we have a new passenger in the form of a Ginseng Tea salesmen, who spends the next hour explaining how this tea will
1. stop us getting cancer
2. improve our sex life
3. stop us being constipated
4. impove ou blood circulation......................t
I am actually surprised how many peopl e fall for this and are buying theses packets of capsues off this guy with his speaker around his neck and his book of pictures emphasising his point8. He knows better than to try and push this to the tourists on the bus as weve heard it all before and just makes the most out of the gullible locals. Three hours later and the bus stops at a checkpoint where we get off the bus to have a fag and end up being he first ones through the checkpoint and able to walk through with our cigarrettes.
As we arrive into Arequipa it looks really dusty and like a huge industrial city but when you get into the centre it is absolutely lovely. When we arrive at the hostel there are a group of guys and girls playing table beer pong, which involves having 6 glasses with beer in the bottom and throwing the ping pong ball the length of the table trying to get it in your opponents glass . We got whooped and had to down all of our beer ...... and this was how the night started ...... it ended up with losing Mark going to look for him and me being the oldest person in the bar shaking a wicked hoof while Mark was tucked up in bed.... needless to say there will be a hangover in the mornngRead more