The Journey Home

Sadly our journey is over- thankfully we made it home safe and sound! Let me fill you in a bit on the exciting adventures we had before making our way home! From Arequipa we jumped on a bus headed for Lima. Check out the fine cuisine of the bus station (Greg's first experience eating cuy aka guinea pig!) The 16 hour bus ride ended up being yet another exciting form of transportation. As usual, the bus ride began just as normal. At some point during the late evening Greg's inability to be a passenger started a small riot! He was of the opinion that the bus driver was exceeding the recommended speed (I however, thought that the driver was better than most we had experienced during the entire month). To prove his point, he stomped his foot on the floor- we were riding on a double decker bus, thus his foot pounding was right above the drivers head! The bus came to a sudden stop, the driver came up to the upper level and all caos ensued! After giving Greg a piece of his mind, the driver was laid into by every other passenger on the upper level. Let me explain. For over an hour prior to our abrupt stop, the bus was courteous enough to provide a movie for our viewing entertainment. There was only one small problem- the tvs in the upper level were not functioning, thus, we had very loud audio to a movie that we could not watch! The drivers, even after all of the complaints that were voiced, were unwilling to turn off the audio because then the lower deck would not be able to hear the movie they were watching! The rest of the drive into Lima was uneventful and provided somewhat of an opportunity for a good night's sleep. Once we arrived in Lima however,

everything went downhill! During a random stop along a busy Lima street, the driver and a passenger whose cargo had been damaged during the drive got into a full blown fight. Nearly an hour of intense screaming and scuffling insued- all the while the rest of us are still seating on the sweltering bus! Every street passerby and bus passenger was all eyes on the two parties. The street ice cream vendor was even trying to give his icecream knife to the bus driver. The passenger grabbed a small boulder from the side of the road and the fight escalated a bit. He had brought a knife to a gun fight however, and was the one that ended up with a bloody head. The entire time that this was going on, Greg was flabergasted that no one was calling the police. He did learn through the experience however, that what everyone else had been telling him about the police system in that country was true- there was nothing that they were going to do!

We finally made it out of the hustle and bustle of Lima and headed toward the beach town of Huanchaco! What a relief it was! For the next three days we were able to relax- taking long walks on the beach, visiting several museums, and even taking our turn in the great surf on an extra long surf board! It was amazing to witness the local fishermen going out in their reed surfing boats to bring home their daily catch!

One of the museums/ruins that we visited was that of the Chan Chan culture- yet another pre-Incan civilization. They lived in an amazing adobe city- the largest one in the world which had over 60,000 inhabitants at one time! It definitely helped to put our home and community into a uniquie perspective for us!

After our relaxing days at the beach, we headed back to Piura to pick up the rest of our equipment and to undergo the daunting task of packing everything! Then it was another 12 hour bus ride to Guayaquil, Ecuador and our flight home. Once landing down in LA we drove straight through making it to Riggins and the little boy that we missed sooooo much in just 25 hours, 4 tires, and 1 car axle later!!!

The sun has set upon this journey- it truly has been one for the books. Thanks to everyone that helped us along the way- by providing shelter, love, and continual support! We will keep you posted on the developments of our next adventure!

With much love-

Jess & Greg