For a second there, even I thought I was crazy (on taking the bus in Peru)

Many people tell me I am brave or crazy to be traveling alone. I love not only the solitude, but the opportunities that arise to interact with both the locals and other tourists that just don´t happen otherwise. None of it phases me really.

Well, almost none of it. I am a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I did have moment where I actually was a little scared the other day. I was at the bus station, heading to Urubamba.

There were no other tourists around, and I felt incredibly out of place. I recall the same feeling in India, where watching the world go by from the comfort of your taxi and walking amongst everyone were very different experiences. Here I am heading two hours through the valley, past some pretty serious poverty. Wouldn´t a nice tourist bus be so much more comfortable?

Thankfully the feeling did not last. By the time I arrived I was fine, and now I fully embrace the experience. Why take a $20 tour bus when you can take a $1 autobus con la gente! I took the bus again yesterday to Pisac, this time jumping on so late I had to stand. My 30 cent ride from Urubamba to Ollataytambo was in a bus so small and crammed, I sat on a bench facing backwards so close to the woman in front of me that my knees were between her legs!