I say that because the actual bus journey took 32 hours and at the 26 hour mark I do believe I was rather ready to get off of the vehicle. I have to admit the bus ride could have been far worse. When we first walked up to the top floor of the double decker we found our seats and were impressed with the amount of leg room. I sat beside a lobbyist from Ottawa and we chatted about his adventures through South America and compared notes.
As the bus drove out of downtown Lima I started to notice the city scape change. Suddenly sky scrapers vanished and we were coasting across sandy desert full of mountain side shanty towns. We drove past cluttered streets full of mattresses, used television shops and heaps of old broken fans. We continued north along the Peruvian coast for the next several hours with the ocean on our left and agricultural fields to our right. I stared out into the ocean and could not tell where the ocean started and the cloudy blue sky ended.
It was as if they never met at the horizon. The farther you drive up the Peruvian coast the more desolate the desert becomes. The shore is also rather dismal, entirely undeveloped and not sun bathing friendly.
The hours oddly enough go faster than you would believe. At the front of the bus there is a lovely little lounge area where you can sit on benches around a table.
We sat there eating a splendid box of chicken fried rice and Inca Kola the colour of urine, the taste of Cream Soda. We sat back and stared out the front window of the bus as the high beams from bellow blasted through the desert darkness.
