Heading back to Lima

We should have just gone out and joined that big ol´ fiesta last night, because it certainly kept us awake for half of the night. But we´re glad we didn´t because the band was the same as the horrible screeching DVD concerts played in most pubs (which we´ve since learned is called ´reggae-ton), except for it was LIVE and even louder! Every 10th line of each song seemed to be `¡Arriba, Machu Picchu!` and `¡Buenos noches, buenos noches, buenos noches, Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu!` intertwined into the song lyrics. This bit is meant to get the crowd to sing along, much like Eminem waving one arm and trying to get his crowd to join in on the singing. Annoyed as we were, it was their independence celebration, and we weren´t going to complain. And I did get a nice big giggle at one of the songs when ´¡Pla-ta-no, pla-ta-no, pla-ta-no!` was one song´s crowd-getter. Plàtano means ´banana´ in Spanish.

We packed up our gear and checked out of our hotel before finding a small local place for breakfast. This was pretty hard to do since Aguas Calientes is 99% touristy, but we did find one and were rewarded with a delicious, cheap breakfast where the staff did not try to rip us off. We then headed down to the railroad tracks and sat in the shade to wait for our train. This train was only 15 minutes late leaving, and although we paid the same price (US$25.58) it wasn`t as nice as the one the other day. Still fine, but not worth the price. Arriving back in Ollantaytambo, it was a circus with everyone getting off the train and trying to find the right bus to get on. We asked every driver there if we were on their bus, but none of them had our names down. We had paid for the bus back to Cusco, but it didn´t seem to be there. And everyone was leaving. We had bus tickets leaving at 6pm from Cusco to Lima and were afraid we´d get stuck in Ollantaytambo and miss our bus. So we hopped on the first bus that offered us a ride for 5 soles (not much, but we had already paid for a ride).

Back in Cusco, we headed straight for the office where we booked our ´package´ ready to demand our money back for the guide we didn´t get at Machu Picchu and the bus ride back to Cusco that we didn´t get. But the office was closed. We sat there for over an hour waiting, left to buy some food for our 25 hour bus ride to Lima, then went back and waited another 45 minutes. We called every number we had for the place. Finally Nigel got through to the guy´s son, who said could we come back tomorrow? The phone then cut out and we didn´t want to waste any more money which we knew we wouldn´t get back, so we just left and went to the bus station. Why the heck to we book these things anyway??? Surely we`ve learned our lesson by now, haven`t we?

We waited about 45 minutes at the bus station before getting on the bus that would take us all the way to Lima. Our seats were supposed to be `semi-cama` (semi-bed) and lay back with a leg rest and plenty of leg room, but they were just normal seats that may have reclined a bit more, but had even less leg room due to the fact that the only ´semi-cama´ seats on the bus were in front of us. I tried to argue with the girls at the desk, but they were not nice and no one wanted to help us out, so I just got on the bus and we left. We did get 3 small meals on the way (1 dinner, 1 breakfast, 1 lunch), and they showed several movies. To start, they showed ´Maid in Manhattan` and `Cheaper By The Dozen`--not the greatest movies but they were in English, so we thought that was a bonus. Maybe it was becuse our seats were crammed but we were roasting during the first few hours of the trip and we had the window open. This apparently wasn´t the case for the 10 rows behind us. Nige got a tap on the shoulder and was asked to close the window and, in his limited Spanish, exclaimed ´No, Mucho Caliente!´ and turned away. Another lady then approached us and I said in Spanish, with finality, ´No! it is too hot in here and I won´t shut the window.` Then another girl approached us from further back and again I again said ´No.` Then she said she was sick and has asthma to which Nige said ´No shit, so do I.` We didn´t seem to have any complaints from westerners. I guess we all know the benefits of a little fresh air. Anyway, we didn´t shut the window and everyone survived. Oh yeah the bus smelled like a toilet and got progressivly worse throughout the journey.