Playing catch up

Paracas Reserva Nacional - Red Sand Beach
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

Sure, "they" say you´re supposed to record things as they happen so they´re nice and fresh. But, I ain´t so fresh like that.

As can be noted by the photos from Paracas, I can´t seem to get enough of posting them to this here blog.

This could be perceived as a disasociative form of recounting the trip, but I suppose that´s the kind of traveler recounter (?) I am.

One form of travel I learned to loathe rather quickly was the bus. There are buses to represent all classes of society and as an American with the ability to buy my way into the upper echelon of Peruvian travel, that´s just what I did.

However, I soon discovered that the "cruzero class", one step below the super elite class, on the Cruz del Sur busline is not very conducive for sleeping. One way in which they accomplish this is by playing movies very loudly. Also, the selection of movies can be a bit discomfiting. Traveling through the coastal desert south of Lima, the first movie was Babel. Said movie begins with a young moroccan sharp shooter nailing Cate Blanchett in the neck while traveling by bus in a desert. Yes. Nervous laughter as I uneasily rubbed my neck.

After the movie, or movies, finish the music comes on. Who doesn´t love the pan flute in all its varied forms, from classic Andean folclórico to modern interpretations of 80´s classics? Somehow this reminded me of the film Aguirre: Wrath of God, wherein Aguirre demands that the peruvian panflutist keep playing the same song over and over.

Another super fun bus ride was the overnight trip from Lima to Arequipa, a mere 15 hours. Sleep came in uneasy fits. Then became a kind of hallucinatory nighmare when we hit the winding highway towering above the ocean. The back and forth twisting and turning was really great in its own right. The lack of a shoulder, much less a guard rail elevated the comfort levels to altitudes similar to the drop down to the sea. Then there was the leapfrogging between competing buses. We´d pass one, in the dark on a curvy highway, mind you, then they´d pass us back. Sometimes this happened while just up the road coming at us in the opposite direction were two semi-trailers playing the same game.