Viva La Vida: The Wheels (and doors) on the Bus

Transportation in a new culture can be similar to trying the food: you have to try a few different options, there will be something that will throw you for a loop, some of the options will make you sick, but it is all part of the experience. It's not like there is some outstanding, unique form of transportation here, like if I could say, well, people here fly in miniature spaceships. We walk, take a taxi, take a bus, etc. It is just the way we do these things. 

We walk a lot, and this is wonderful. I breathe in fresh mountain air like it is the water I need to survive, still breathe extra hard going uphill and always, no matter what, have mud caked up to mid-shin. The mountains are too beautiful and the neighborhoods too curious not to walk.

I have ridden one time in a personal car of Jane's, and we saw how well that went over (see a few below). Traffic here is exactly like China and nothing like the US. There aren't really rules. It is OK to swerve in and out of lanes (or just drive in the middle of the road) or be in the far right lane but still somehow make a left turn at the last minute. It is almost like a game where you try to get to your destination without crashing but coming as painstakingly close to it as possible. Our rigid rules of "do not pass here" or "drive with caution at the speed limit and only switch lanes after a blinker and a good look into your mirrors" are replaced here with simple honks--an individual car's rule they set for the other cars around them. It makes it seem like the US has a rigid, strict road, and it makes for car rides that make you feel like you are racing playing PS2's Gran Turismo. 

The buses are our main form of transportation. By buses I mean vans that have extra seats in them so that they technically could seat 10-14. They have names like "Servicio Rapido," "El Mirador" and "Batman." You stand on a corner and hope ones drives by, flag it down and, without stopping, a sliding door opens for you to jump in; think sweet Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine. There is no limit to how many people can be on this bus. I one time sat on a crowded Rapido, and the man next to me asked if, where I was from, they would ever let it slide to have people sitting on others' laps, people standing, others almost hanging from the bars on the van's ceiling. I smiled and said, probably not. 

My favorite bus experience has to be when Annie and I caught the last Rapido of the night to go home and, since it was packed, we were bending over some other passengers and rubbing skin with the girl who opens the door for everyone and collects the S/ 60 ($0.20) it costs to ride. On this particular night, we were swerving around when the girl flung the door open, let someone in, and then couldn't get the door closed. So Annie and I, with the wind in our hair, held on for dear life. At the next stop, the driver tried to get it closed but only pulled the door off of its hinge. There was a lot of yelling from him, and some people got off, but we rode with the poor girl holding the entire door on the bus and then trying to open and close it with much difficulty any time a passenger needed on/off. Our stops is one of the last ones, and I guess the driver wanted to call it a night because he didn't take us up the hill to our stop. An unhinged sliding door can be a problem.

Taxis are quite cheap; we can usually get to a destination for S/ 4 - S/ 7 ($1.30-2.30). There is also the idea of a "collectivo" taxi; if you have a large group of people going to one destination, everyone piles in until the trunk is full, and each person pays S/ 1. That saves gas. Rides to downtown Cuzco are quite eventful, and the gorgeous ride to Pisac is all up and down hills and around hairpin bends on the sides of mountains. I have had one driver cross himself as we headed out of Pisac. I didn't know to feel comforted or more afraid. 

However, I think the way people drive here almost makes them keep their eyes open more--no rules makes for a huge window of the unexpected, so it is impossible to just feel safe and sound in your lane, listening to music and not being aware of one crazy driver. No room for surprise here, so maybe I feel a bit more safe?