In Quito, Ecuador, a little after 8 o’clock on a Thursday night, 58 of us loaded up on a double-decker bus to go to Peru. That was an easy bus ride. It lasted just over 12 hours and took us to a little town on the border of Ecuador. There, things started to get interesting.
Apparently there are only two bus companies that go over the border from Ecuador to Peru, and the company we’d rented the double-decker from wasn’t one of them. So, in this little town about 15 minutes from the border we had to switch buses, no big deal. Except for the fact that new bus only seated 40 people, and, as I mentioned, there were 58 of us. Well, we needed to make it to Peru, so we shoved all 58 of our big packs into the cargo area, then we all crowded on. Some seats held 3 people instead of just two. Other people stood or sat on the floor.
Sooner than we expected, we made it to the border! The process here was quite simple, stand in line for four (yes 4) hours, then get your passport stamped and you’re done! Tired and sweaty we all loaded back up on the bus (Yes, all 58 of us on the 40 person bus), and we were off! We had made it to Peru!
30 minutes into Peru, we were dropped off in front of a small bus company office. We unloaded all of our packs onto the sidewalk and the bus pulled away. Now we just needed to find buses to take up to our final destinations so we could begin our month of ministry! Well, that proved to be easier said than done.
My team needed to go to Huanuco. At the boarder we were told this would involve a 20 hour bus ride to Lima, followed by a 10 hour bus ride to Huanuco. So, step one, find a bus to Lima. Five other teams on my squad needed to do the same thing.
It was quickly established that the bus office we were currently sitting in front of did not have buses that went to Lima. They did, however, have a very nice back room where we could safely store our packs while the team leaders and logistics people went to buy bus tickets elsewhere.
Packs stored away, team leaders sent off in tuk-tuks to find a bus headed to Lima that afternoon, the remaining 50 of us settled down on the sidewalk to wait. It wasn’t long before the police came by. They just hung out and watched us for a while, then they talked to our Spanish speakers while the rest of us watched, wondering what was going on. Thankfully, we weren’t in trouble. However, the police informed us we were not in the safest area. We needed to watch our stuff really closely and find a different place to hang out as soon as possible. We told them we were only waiting there until we got on a bus for Lima, it shouldn’t be too long. The police then left, and the team leaders returned.
There were no buses headed for Lima leaving that day, so we weren’t sure what we were going to do. The team leaders left again to try some more bus stations. The rest f us stayed on the sidewalk. The police re-appeared to check on us and ask how it was going. Our Spanish speakers explained about the lack of buses leaving for Lima that evening. The police starting trying to figure out ways to help us. They left, but returned every hour or so throughout the afternoon to check on us and give suggestions.
Around 5:30 p.m. it started to get dark and the bus office was closing, so we had to bring all of our big packs out of the backroom and stack them on the sidewalk. Two police women showed up to stay with us because they were worried for our safety. We still had no idea what we were doing. Finally, the team leaders and logistics people re-appeared with good news, we had bus tickets to Lima! The only downside? The bus wasn’t leaving until 3 p.m. the next day.
Let me just say, the tourism police in this little town were great! They kept an eye on us to make sure we were safe all afternoon, and when they heard we wouldn’t be leaving until the next day they even found us a hostel to stay overnight! Then, they provided us with transportation to get to the Hostel! Yep, before we really knew what was happening 2 police trucks arrived and we were told to throw our packs in the beds and 3 people in the back seat of each truck. After 3 trips all the packs made it to the hostel and the police returned for us. I climbed into the bed of my truck with some squad-mates, was told to hold on tight by a police women, and arrived at the hostel 10 minutes later. At the hostel we got showers, fresh water, food, and beds too sleep in. After a night on the bus and an afternoon on the sidewalk that felt like heaven!
On Saturday, after a good night’s sleep, we packed up again to head to the bus station. The hostel owner was kind enough to find us a huge truck to carry all of our packs to the station since we would be walking. (And yes, we could have carried our packs if we had to. We had a test a training camp to make sure we could all carry our packs for miles if necessary, but not having to carry 50-80 pounds a couple miles is preferable)
Finally we were all on another double-decker bus and headed along the coast of Peru to Lima! It wasn’t long before we could see the ocean out the window.
This bus ride lasted 24 hours (It was only supposed to be 20, but we had to stop several times due to flooding along the coast.), and it was the best bus ride I’ve been on so far! Not only was the view out the window spectacular, they also served us meals, snacks, and drinks, provided us with pillows and blankets for the night, and played all the movies in English for us (yep, we took up most of the bus.).
A little after 3 Sunday afternoon we arrived in Lima, and quickly discovered it would be much easier to find a bus out of Lima than it had been to find a bus to Lima! At 9:30 that night my team boarded our third double-decker bus for our easiest ride yet. We were given drinks, snacks and blankets by the stewardess and just 10 hours later, at 7:30 Monday morning, we arrived in Huanuco, our home for the month.
We have now been in Huanuco nearly a week, and it promises to be a busy month. Getting here was crazy, but it is amazing how God took care of us every step of the way. The flooding could have prevented us from getting to Lima entirely, but it didn’t. We could have been robbed on that sidewalk that afternoon, but we weren’t. God sent the police to watch out for us and help us. Travel days are crazy, but God is bigger than the craziness!
