Quick, flexible and cheap, Marshrutka’s are local shared taxis of Russia, operating on fixed routes.
A Marshrutka in Sochi
A Marshrutka is a minibus, a shared taxi seen is most of the erstwhile Soviet states. Similar to privately-owned public transportation in many countries, these vehicles operate on fixed routes, picking up and dropping passengers on the way, often waiting until they get full and squeezing more passengers in.
Bus stop
I traveled by Marshrutka on several occasions, in Sochi, in the Golden Ring cities and in St. Petersburg and I loved it (oh my hatred of private taxis and love for crowded public transport!) All these vehicles ran on the honor system – you pay your fare, usually fixed and clearly displayed, on your own. If you don’t know, just ask: Skolka s-menya? (Сколько с меня? / स्कोल्का स् मी्न्या?) meaning “How much from me?” You could even ask other passengers to pass the money to the driver and expect change to come back the same way.
Bus
Marshrutka’s were introduced in Russia in the 1930′s but their presence boomed post liberalization (1990′s) when private ownership of public transport grew. Equivalent vehicles that I have traveled in in other countries are: tuk tuk / tempo (India), Sherut (Isreal) and Collectivo (Peru).
Marshrutka stopping at a bus stop
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Exiting Arequipa
I came back from the Colca canyon trek and bid adieu to fellow trekkers. I was goddamn exhausted after the trek but considering the paucity of time, I booked a bus to Puno, the next city, that night itself. Fortunately my hostel allowed me to use the shower for free and I gladly took that opportunity to shower, shave and emerge as a new guy. I would definitely recommend staying at The Point Hostel.
Arequipa is a nice town and I liked the quiet streets and the overall feel of the town. As my bus cruised out of the city, I gave in to screams from my tired body and fell asleep right away. There was a problem though – my feet needed to relax but I couldn’t take my socks and/or shoes off because a special fragrance would have filled the bus. I attribute this to a manual error in planning my inventory of socks.
“Hola!” Some Spanish travelers I met sent me this picture. That’s me, returning from Colca.
Bus travel in Peru
There is no public transport in Peru that you can use to travel between cities. Instead, there are a lot of buses operated by private companies. They cater to all kinds of budgets, for example the ticket from Arequipa to Puno by the finest luxury bus was S/. 80 while for an economy bus it gets as low as S/. 10. Laws of demand-supply persist and best deals are available as the bus is just leaving the terminal. Naturally, cheaper the ticket, lower is the predictability. Low cost buses might take frequent stops, have bad toilets, not arrive on time or have other surprise problems on board.
Rail network is almost absent in this region, but there are lots of airports.
Currency (I missed this in the intro post)
S/. is the symbol for Peruvian currency (code PEN) – Nuevo Sol (Nuevos Soles in plural), simply referred to as “Sol/Soles” (सोल / सोलेस्). As of today, 1 USD = 2.8 PEN
chor chor! Thief!
At night, there was a commotion and I woke up to sound of the French guy running out of the coach hurriedly. I met a French couple while waiting at the Arequipa bus terminal. It’s funny how you make friends out of practical or situational problems. I needed to pee badly and I didn’t want to take my backpack inside the Peruvian toilet, so these people helped me out (by guarding my luggage). Later, I got them exit tickets – some bus terminals in Peru have small exit taxes – ½ soles or so. This is a good price to pay for having a decently clean bus terminal.
Anyway, back to the story. Apparently while the bus was taking a stop, a thief sneaked in and attempted to steal from inside the bus while everyone was fast asleep! I was sitting on the single seat right in front of the door and was fortunate enough to be saved. But then my little backpack with all the valuable stuff was safely tucked in and entangled between my legs. Still the episode was as close I ever got to see crime in Peru.
Cross on a mountain, opposite Chivay bus terminal
Safe travel tip
Get one of those pouches that strap on to your shin/calf or thighs (if you are wearing shorts) and are safely concealed. Important “SOS” stuff – Passport, travel permits, reserve cash, credit cards and essential phone numbers (local police, embassy) – should go in this pouch. This pocket is inaccessible, so at checkpoints you are likely to panic and fumble (I had a problem in Israel especially, where they have hundreds of check points). But security doesn’t come for nothing, especially if traveling alone in a foreign place.
Finding a hostel in Puno
…or Peru is no different from a typical experience in India. As the bus arrived in Puno, the air smelled different. It was cold wind probably blowing over the gigantic Lake Titicaca the shore on which this city is located. The French couple and I deliberated over which hostel to check in, while touts gathered around us like fruit flies on jelly cake. The agents were almost pulling us and claiming to have the “best hotel just for you.” Finally we went to a cheap place and I got a fabulous double bedroom for just S/. 15. Perfect!
I crashed immediately since my sleep has been erratic but eventful so far. First night I arrived from Toronto and slept at 2 am, second night was in a bus, third night was in another rickety country bus, fourth night was in a tent and fifth night was again in a bus which reached Puno at 4 am. I needed a place to sleep that was quiet and where my ass remained stationary. Aww… Good night!
Arequipa region is barren and has few volcanic peaks
Next post: Puno City
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Lima was too much city’ish and wanted to move to the interiors so I prepared to go to Arequipa (आरेकीपा) and left for the bus station. Arequipa is to the south east of Lima and a perfect base to visit the Colca canyon region. The taxi driver who drove me was thrilled to see someone from India. In broken English he was trying to tell me that he knew 3 Indian people who lived in Lima and that they were very nice. The taxis in Lima are supposedly not friendly, but this guy took me inside the bus terminal and showed me where I can purchase the tickets. He even thanked me with palms joined together and saying Namaste. How much do Indians know about Peruvian culture?
I took the bus company Cruz del Sur and traveled in their double decker bus that had good seats and facilities. They even served food on the bus – rice and chicken, which was pretty good. They eat lots of rice in Peru. I was sitting on the front seat of the top floor of the bus and there was a huge window in front of me. They also tried to brainwash me by playing 4 spanish movies (omg) on that 15 hour journey. But, I survived, and lived to tell the story 
Pan-American Highway – Lima to Arequipa (view from my seat inside the bus)
Traffic in Peru is worse than India. So if Canada is 10 on the degree of safe road conditions and Peru is 1, then India would be 2.5 (overly generalized), Israel would be 4 and Palestine 1.5… See, I can do a PhD research! I think there was a traffic jam even at Lima air strip. I was sitting on the upper floor of the bus right on the front seat (a huge window in front of me) and the driver was freaking me out. He cut thru the 2 lane road (Pan American Highway) inches away from the vehicle approaching from the other direction. After I remembered all the 33 crore Gods and Goddesses, I figured it was easier to just fall asleep. We desperately need a “God of Traffic” or “God of Travel”, is there any ‘yatra dev‘ (यात्रा देव) so that it would be easier to pray to him? I was making emergency plans to exit (just in case) and was about to talk about them to others, but they were snoring already. There was a nun (priestess- is there such a word?) on the other side with the cross firmly clenched in her palm – out of devotion or fear, only she knows, but I wished she didn’t choke little Jesus!
Thats me, taking notes on my laptop. It was early morning. yawn…
Lesson learnt – don’t sit on the front row of the bus. Also now I exactly know why they say ‘ignorance is bliss’. I grew wiser and in my subsequent trips I never took front row seats.
Views from Mars, oops no, that’s around Arequipa!
I made a good friend, my co-passenger in the bus, who helped me the next day to get a taxi and find my hostel. Arequipa was suddenly different – so much quieter, smaller, laid back and the air was crisp and cold.
Next: Arequipa, the city of artists. More pictures and less ramble 
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Finally I start narrating the story
20 December: Canada to Israel
Someone told me that El Al (एल आल) terminals are always located at the end of the airport, because they need elaborate security arrangements. El Al is the national carrier of Israel and being a direct flight (12 hours), I preferred it. Indeed, being the only non-Jewish, non-Canadian passenger on the plane, I was given a special treatment (expectedly). They took away ALL my baggage including my laptop and didn’t return it until the plane started to board. Since I was left for 2 hours only with my passport, boarding pass and the e-ticket, I dutifully read all of them at least thrice and then started watching people. Later the security person scanned my body in such detail, touching me in places I never knew existed on my body (it was difficult to control giggling and other body reactions) 
Have you seen the guy that falls asleep on chairs or at some obscure corners of the airport? I’m usually that guy, but I spent 33 hours almost without any sleep. The El Al seats are designed for maximum discomfort, aided by the firm and thick pillows, the usefulness of which is still a puzzle for me. There were so many kids on the plane, and since I hate kids, a nasty application of those pillows crossed my mind but then the cute attendant served some wine and things were okay. The movie “Darjeeling Limited” on the big central screen was interesting enough. My neighbor had plenty of questions and I attempted to answer them, but then I gave up because the movie was too stereotypical of India (snake charmers and elephants, you know)
21 December: Israel
I reached Ben Gurion (बेन गुरीयन) airport after a journey of 12 hours. The landing was really jerky (and my neighbor snorted phew, how typical Israeli) but the passport control and entry was surprisingly fast. My passport has been stamped by Israeli Visa and immigration now, which effectively bars me from entering any Islamic country in the future! (अरेरे…)
Israel smells different than Toronto. The weather was really good, around 15deg and quite sunny. The landscape and the feel (including chaos on roads) reminded me a lot about India, specifically the city of Indore.
Airport to Jerusalem:
It is confusing to navigate from the airport to Jerusalem (सर्वसाधारण उच्चार “जेरूसलेम्” असा आहे.), and here’s what I did: Go to Level 2 of the airport and exit from the sign marked ‘Buses’. Once you are out, cross the street and walk left for some distance until you spot bus stops. Bus #5 takes you to Airport city from where there is a connection to Jerusalem (and other major cities). Bus 947 will bring you to Jerusalem Central Bus Station (CBS). Ticket 20 NIS.
New Israeli Sheqalim (NIS) – referred simply as Shekel (शेकेल) – is the official currency of Israel. Approximately, 1 USD/CAD = 4 NIS and 1 NIS = 10 INR.
Shabbat:
Shabbat (शब्बात) is the Jewish holyday holiday and it lasts from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Literally, ‘Shabbat’ means ‘a day of rest’ in Hebrew (हिब्रू). A Jewish ‘day’ starts with sunset (exactly opposite to that of the Hindus). The phrase ‘sabbatical’ originates from this word. Weekend in Israel is on Friday and Saturday. The implication of Sabbath is that everything in Israel (specifically, Jerusalem) stops on this day. This includes shops, buses, everything. I will have more interesting details later (in the same sequence that I learnt them).
By the time I reached Jerusalem CBS, it was 15:30 and Shabbat had begun. This meant that the whole city virtually shut down. The crowds and chaos on the street barely 10 minutes back had gone and everything had a deserted look. The only way out was to hire a taxi, and just like one would expect in India, the taxi drivers had complete monopoly to decide their own rates (demand-supply economics). Little did they know that I was born with bargaining skills!
Taxi drivers – same all over the world?
I paid the cab driver and was supposed to get 10 NIS in return. I was unfamiliar with the currency and too tired to check what he gave me. Later I got to know that the driver returned me a 10 Agorot coin instead of 10 Shekels (That’s like giving you a 10 cent coin instead of a 10$ one) ….. hehehe! Anyway!
To be continued (of course)…
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A Marshrutka in Sochi
Bus stop
Bus
Marshrutka stopping at a bus stop
Bhutan
Canada
India
Israel
Peru
Russia