Travelling on the local bus system is the best way to experience the every day Peruvian person's life – how they engage in commerce, parenting, going to school, driving, getting around, etc. And what they smell like when collectively jammed together (18 people in a small van)! And, because collectivos and buses usually wait until they are full, and I mean FULL, one can end up sitting and watching life happen for long stretches of time. Many people take tou...

The funniest thing happened after our last post when I was whinging… We got up at 4:45am to make a hasty trip to the Piura, Peru airport. The Taca website instructions were to be at the airport 3 hours prior to our domestic flight. Really?! We figured 2.5 hours would be fine so we arrived at 5:30. Much to our chagrin, the gates to the airport complex didn't even open until 6:00 so we had to wait on the street. We boarded our plane late at about 8:30, settl...