Cabanoconde, Peru

We got up early so we could make the 8:30 bus, only to find out that the schedule had changed and we had to wait till 11:45.

Bus stations are pretty crazy. Usually one side is a row of 15 or so different bus companies, and the other is a row of identical looking convenience shops piled high with american looking junk food and enticing fresh baked bread.

We found seats as away from the shouting ticket sales people (90% of all words uttered were "Puno", the touristy city on Lake Titicaca).

We ate at one of the sit down eateries on the second floor (many bus stations have a balcony level which is often ATMs, internet places, and restaurants) where Janet's attempt to order a ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich hilariously resulted in 3 sandwiches prepared separately, then smashed together. I will swear to my grave that my spanish was not the problem this time.

Most of the road was through flat desert area between the mountains, but would occasionally wind their way up cliffs and over rocky mountain passes.

The bus was insanely hot, and as luck would have it our window was stuck. Incredibly, no one else seemed interested in opening their window.

Janet proved that she didn't need to know spanish to pick up most of the plot of Catch Me if You Can, the store of an adolescent love triangle's successful heist of a multi-million dollar corporation with a baby in tow to gather enough money to save her father who was sick. Insert climbing and go-karting scenes liberally.

We stopped in the tiny, dusty town of Chivay, a popular home base if you are determined to see condors, and I rushed off the bus to keep an eye on our bags (which had not been tagged as on previous buses). We'd heard too many stories of bags disappearing during a stop like this.

Little did I know that as soon as we got off, the crowd that had formed outside rushed on nabbing all the "available" seats - including ours. I had to get back on quickly and kick an elderly couple out of our seats. Standing for the last 2 hours of the trip was just not something we would have been able to handle at that point.

Some other lady just sat on the armrest of my seat, spilling herself well into my personal space. I spent the next 15 minutes politely jabbing her with my elbow in a desperate attempt to not have to lean over at a 45 degree angle into Janet's seat. Thankfully, she got off at the next town.

Though the bus was full, we kept stopping for random people on the side of the road, filling the aisle even further. Remember, this bus is hot and no one is opening the windows, which we know realize is because the bus would have been filled with dust.

Finally we arrived at Cabanoconde, a little town of 1400 people, at 10,000 feet.

After the hellish ride, we tried to go all out and stay at the nicest place in town, but it was full. The did refer us to a "new" pizza place, where we awkwardly tried to get a room, which involved walking into the kitchen, interrupting someone, who then had to go wake someone else up, who then had to show us the room. It was decent and cheap, but about 30 feet from a loud and rowdy restaurant that was sure to be playing music all night long.