Mia's on Vacation!: The Longest Bus Ride

Ready to leave the bright lights and movie theaters of Lima behind, I cheerfully boarded my Cusco-bound bus at 5:30 in the afternoon this last Wednesday. What luck! The seat next to me would be empty until we reached Ica, a few hours away. I settled in for the 17-hour ride with a belly full of ceviche and a bag full of yarn to keep me entertained.

At Ica, an older gentleman got on and sat next to me, and he was apparently meeting two other people already on the bus. As they spoke across the aisles, I thought I heard some familiar words, but not in English or Spanish. I pulled out my headphones and lo! They were Koreans! Another sign of good things to come.

Fast forward to about 5am. In a haze of sleep I noticed the bus had stopped. I rolled over and forgot about it until about an hour later, when light began creeping in through the cracks in the curtains. We were still stopped. Odd. I lay there wondering what had gone wrong, and pretty soon people around me began wondering out loud the same thing. Eventually the bus attendant came over and said something to the passangers in front of me. All I caught were the words "closed," "open at 11," and "no food." Oh dear. Eventually enough people were awake and grumbling that she made an announcement to the whole bus. This time I caught that we weren't leaving until 11 and to go out and get food. After asking her to repeat herself a few more times I finally understood that the roads were closed for a car race, and after a breakfast of chicken soup I joined the rest of the town at the road to watch the racers go by.

People begin filling the sidewalks.

More people.

Here one comes!

Here it is!!

Oh, it's slowed down now to go over a speed bump.

All in all, it was another experience. It never got super thrilling as none of the cars passed at the same time, so the most entertaining thing for me was seeing which ones slowed for the speed bump and which ones simply kept going and caught some air over it. It ended slightly before 11 and we filed back on the bus for an uneventful rest of the ride.

My Korean seatmate, fast asleep after an exciting morning.

Two nights ago, I was having a cup of tea in a gringo cafe on the main plaza here in Cusco, when I heard the noises of car engines, crowds, and a brass band warming up. I looked out the window to see that the plaza had been taken over by the same car racers as before! Parked, this time, for some kind of show.