Sunday 14 March 2010

On the bus

Sat, 7:45pm. Some moderately impressive views (although most of the curtains are shut) of sunset over what I take to be a desert earlier.

We are at a service station, there was a semi-incomprehensible announcement a minute ago, all I caught was that we have to put our seats in the upright position. I have no idea why, even if there is a problem with the bus I fail to see why that would be necessary.

Well, we seem to be moving. Second film (which I am also ignoring) is about some comedian who runs for the US presidency and wins, with some mental illness and voting corruption stuff in the background. It may be worth watching some time if I can find out what it's called, but I just didn't want to watch it now.

8:30pm Just been served a surprisingly palatable meal of chicken & rice. Amazing how un-hungry I am, although I forced it down anyway.

They served us a tiny plastic cup of soft drink with it. That reminds me that one thing I miss is being able to just indulge in a huge quantity of cold soft drink. At home I can buy a two litre bottle of diet coke, cool it down in the fridge and drink til I just don't want any more. Here the drink is rarely cold and paying through the nose for 500ml at a time spoils the 'as much as I want' quality of having a big bottle in the fridge.

The last time I was able to do that was when I had the serviced apartment in Santiago. I was thinking about it anyway, but I will have to see if I can get a serviced apartment in Buenos Aires. On the other hand a hostel might be more sociable, but right now the serviced apartment looks more appealing if it's possible.

I might wonder if the 'seats upright' announcement was related to the meal being served, although it came ages beforehand.

It's bloody miles from Arequipa to Nazca. Nine fricking hours total and we still have four and a half to go. My arse feels like it's been welded to the seat. So do my trouser legs for that matter.

I just hope I can get into the hostel when I get there, I am not tired yet but a shower would be nice.

Oh, although I assume we are well below 1000m now, and my ears did pop on this bus and the earlier one, I am not actively noticing the richer air. It's only when I think about it that I realise I can e.g. take a long swing at a bottle of water without gasping for breath afterwards. (At least at 3am this morning that was a problem, I am not sure if it generally was.) Maybe I will appreciate it more actively when I am moving about, although I didn't while lugging my cases up and down stairs in Arequipa. On the other hand, looking back, it was less of a strain than I have been used to for the last couple of weeks. (Arequipa is low enough at 2500m IIRC that there are no issues with thin air.)

There are some fierce curves on this road. I keep having to brace myself to avoid sliding about in the seat.

1am. Just got chucked off the bus at Nazca, obviously most people aren't stopping. Major confusion collecting all my stuff in the dark, hope I haven't lost anything. 80s night at club across the road pumping out "Gloria" and "Roxanne" as I tried to get a cab. Am here now, just checked in. Thank fuck for that. Now to try the shower and to bed, will try to be up earlyish tomorrow (well, today) so I can maybe see the lines the same day.

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