The culmination of the longest bus ride EVER

A few things about the 30 hour bus ride from Santiago to Arica, on the border between Chile and Peru: it was long. It was uncomfortable. We slept a lot. Now that we have the basics covered, it was actually a really gorgeous drive. We started in the Atacama Desert, one of the biggest deserts in the Americas. Then we drove along the coast in a drive that is probably better than the 101 along Santa Barbara, Pismo, etc. There was such a stark contrast between the beautiful ocean and the very rocky, Mars-like landscape around it. Very eerie, and just how I imagine Mars to look like, if it had massive bodies of water.

Once we got to Arica, we immediately had to get into a taxi to cross the border into Peru. Apparently there was a bus to Puno leaving in an hour, so we made a mad dash across the border and into Tacna. Our taxi driver was a really nice guy and really wanted us to catch that bus, running around at the border crossing and going waay over the speed limit. Sadly, we missed the bus by just a few minutes and had to spend a night in Tacna.

Dancing pharmacy workers and crazy bus rides

Our first experience of Peru was an interesting one. Everything is very cheap, the food is good, there are casinos everywhere, and we saw a group of people dancing to folkloric music in a drug store. I claimed they were practicing for a talent show, others thought they were doing some sort of divine dance. Or something. Whatever it was, it was cool.

A quick note on the bus to Puno: it was weird. First, we made about 100 stops along the way, whenever someone flagged the bus down. We made a bathroom stop and all these traditionally dressed women ran into a field and squatted down, taking care of business. Some guy made a 30 minute speech while the bus was randomly stopped, talking about kids going to college and god knows what else. But it was an experience, to say the least, and we got into Puno safely and alive, which is really all that counts.