Is There a Pig on this Bus?

Wednesday, Spetember 15th I set out on a bus for Ayacucho, Peru. It is located high in the Andes Mountians. I am told there are locations and towns much higher (ugh!). I was aboard one of those double decker Greyhound buses. They come through and give you a snack, then they come back through and give you a small plastic bag, with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol, just incase you may see that snack again. Before I left I took some motion sickness pills and a sorojchi pill. Sorojchi pills are for the altitude sickness that often accompanies a quick trip up into the mountains. Those mountain curves are crazy, especially as you get closer to Ayacucho. After a ten hour bus ride and making friends with my little plastic bag I arrived to the greetings of Rosa, my host, and Yanette from Paz y Esperanza at the small bus station. I even made a friend on the trip. His name is Edgar. He works for the bus line and said whenever I am traveling if it is on his bus he will look out for me.

So I thought that since I was traveling on a double decker greyhound bus there would be no replays of the chicken buses in Guatemala. You know the ones that get there name becasue sitting next to you might be some sort of barnyard fare. Well the double decker bus stopped in this little town called Huan Tara (I think that was it). People waiting to get on at the stop/station had there things lined up. This older gentleman had a couple of bags and some cow hides, fresh ones I think. One of his bags kept wiggling. I thought I was hallucinating from the Sarojchi, but no. When he picked up the bag, a pig stuck its head out and squealed really loud. That pig and the cow hides where going under the bus with the puppy that had been put there in Lima. Yes, travelers there was a pig aboard the greyhound bound for Ayacucho. No one else thought it was unique, but who is counting?