"We leave when the bus is full," and other travelling lessons

One of the first things I noticed about Peru wasn't its architecture, or its food, or its smell. It was the traffic. At 8pm it was worse than downtown Paris, with even less space to maneuver. Peruvians don't drive exclusively with their horns, but they could not drive without them, either. Besides the constant beeps and beep-beeps (there is a difference), we also had to be wary of "unofficial" taxis, stoplight robbery, and getting on a Colectivo that was leaving soon(ish). It took us a little while to figure the system out.

official taxi, or "pirate" cab? (photo by Jone)

There is the danger in Lima that you hail a cab and get whisked off to a brisk mugging. Jone asked a policewoman our first day how ID a ligit ride. Her response: check for the sign on the roof, license info in the window and somewhere on the body, checkered sicker (a recent requirement that not all drivers had complied with), and a company phone number somewhere on the vehicle. No worries. Just put your valuables in the trunk, roll up the windows, and lock the doors.

If you want to entirely avoid using taxis in Lima, there's always a bus option. City Colectivos, usually brightly-painted mini-buses, are everywhere. The termini are painted on the front, with the route on the side. For S/1 (USD ~0.30), you can go nearly anywhere. There are no set stops; just wave them down.

A really nice Peruvian colectivo, conductor at the door
(wikimedia commons)

Colectivos run in the country, too. For  S/10 (~$3.25) we caught ride from Cusco to Ollantaytambo, roughly an hour and a half. The long-distance colectivos usually leave from a set point (or main square) in a town whenever they are full. If you're lucky, there's a bus with 2 seats open. Otherwise, you're likely to drive in circles for a while while the driver yells your destination out the window.

Loading an already loaded colectivo near Huaraz
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I have a theory that Peruvian airlines operate on the same principle as colectivos. When we checked in for our flight to Cusco, the plane was not even 1/3 full. We arrived at the airport and found that our flight had been delayed "due to weather." When we took off 2 hours later, it was at the scheduled time of another flight. Two girls said that their afternoon flight had been moved up 2 hours... and until the doors were closed, the flight attendants were finding open seats and putting people in them. We leave when the  bus  plane is full!

The one industry that did leave more or less on a schedule was the huge distance buses that run from city to city. They always include a snack of some sort, Inca Cola, and Spanish-dubbed Hollywood movies. But, for an 8 hour ride, you really can't beat them - or the view from the second deck!

photo from www.go2peru.com