BootsnAll Travel Network



To Arequipa

29 October 2005 (Saturday) – 30 October 2005 (Sunday) – Lima to Arequipa, Peru

This Sunday, there is an election happening in Arequipa to decide if they would be united with 2 other states, Puno and Tacna. So, those Arequipeñas living in Lima are making their way to Arequipa this Saturday. I am not going there to vote, of course, but I am heading that way today and nearly all the bus tickets were booked up. As such, I settled for a really fancy bus that cost me 100 soles!! Super expensive because the bus companies took advantage of the occasion to raise the prices. Sheesh… The catchy phrase for this company CIAL is ‘Somos Peruanos’ (We are Peruvians). It was more like ‘Somos Ladrones de Peruanos’ (We are thieves of Peruvians).

Oh, bye bye to Emiko, Dante and Señora Maria who works in their apartment!! Sob-sob… How I would miss Señora Maria’s cooking!! Actually, I think Percy and Dante will find it impossible to travel in the future, since they cannot pack Señora Maria along! Well, I wish them all the best, especially to Dante who would be going to Japan next year (without Señora Maria) to study and find a job, and hopefully, get a Japanese passport (like Fujimori) as his father is a Peru-born Japanese.

With Dante, Emiko and Percy and the glass display plate I made for the family

Percy brought me to the bus company and stayed til he saw me safely tucked into the bus. What a fantastic and caring family!! I thought back and realised, when I was not at the glass workshop, I had spent nearly my entire week talking to each and everyone of them in rather deep conversations! It had really been wonderful sharing everything with them.

The bus was superbly comfortable. The stewardess served us a very tasty dinner as well. 6 years ago, here in Peru, I did not remember such buses existed. Then, 2.5 years ago, they had appeared and I was mightly impressed. Now, they seemed a common sight. If I had to rank the comforts of buses in the various South American countries, minus Guyana, Surinam, French Guinea, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia where I had not been to… I would say Argentine and Peruvian (good) buses are the best! Next, would probably be Brazil. Then, Chile, Venezuela and Colombia get so-so reviews. And lastly, tiny Ecuador, but well, for its short distances, I guess, the buses were tolerable.

After a very comfortable 15 hours-odd ride, we arrived in sunny Arequipa the next morning. Arequipa now has a bus terminal where all the bus companies gathered. Now, this was more like it! Unlike other cities, it would be much easier to compare prices amongst the bus companies and change buses.

Teresa (not her real name), from Hospitality Club who had replied to my request for hosts, came to pick me up. However, she was not able to offer me accommodations as her apartment was full of aunts and uncles who had come to vote. So, I gave Fernando, another Hospitality Club member, a surprise call. He had responded as well, but I declined his offer as I thought I could stay with Teresa.

Anyway, he was very welcoming and suggested that we go to his apartment in an hour’s time. Teresa suddenly had a suggestion, that I should stay at her sister’s apartment. She told me the apartment was very small but I could sleep on the sofa. At first, I thought the apartment just had her sister, so I agreed. But when I arrived, I realised her sister has a husband and a baby. With such a tiny apartment, with no doors to separate the bedroom from the living room, I actually felt it was not such a good idea. I felt that I would be too much trouble for them.

Well, we agreed to this arrangement for the moment, as we headed off to meet Fernando. My first impression of Fernando was that he is a nice person. Although he lives alone, I felt that I could trust him. And he had a separate room and bed.

As Teresa had to run off somewhere, I spent the day with Fernando, who later invited me to his parents’ apartment for lunch. We then took a short walk around the city centre to check out prices of the tours to Colca Canyon, but many tour companies were not opened as it was Sunday today. Well, 6 years ago, I was robbed here in Arequipa. So, I would be honest to say that frankly, I felt a little afraid of walking around Arequipa by myself. Meanwhile, Teresa and her family and Fernando’s parents had piled me with warnings. Glad to have Fernando around.

By nightfall, I decided I would stay with Fernando, so we returned to the apartment of Teresa’s sister, thanked them profusely and took my bags and left. That night, when I opened my bag, I was shocked. Everything in my bag had been rearranged. It seemed someone had run through it, searching for something. My first thought was my money. Well, they were right there, all intact. Hmmm… I felt very suspicious, but as my money was here, it seemed nothing had been taken. I reluctantly decided perhaps it was the movement of the bus that had created this disturbance. But seriously, in my 5 months’ of travelling on even worse buses, this had never happened to me.



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