closer to the sun

hours spent on buses and planes

This was somewhat painful to tally…

Bussing

Quito—Banos = 3.5

Banos—Guaranda = 2.75

Guaranda—Salinas RT = 3

Guaranda—Riobamba = 2

Riobamba—Cuenca = 6

Cuenca—Ingapirca RT = 4

Cuenca—Galaceo—Chordeleg RT = 5.5

Cuenca—Loja = 4

Loja—Piura = 8

Piura—Lima = 16

Lima—Cusco = 20

Cusco—Aguascalientes (Machu Picchu) RT = 18 (4-hour bus ride turned into 14-hour bus ride due to a bridge being washed out and us having to walk through slush and mud to find a new bus)

Cusco—Puno = 9

Puno—Tacna = 10

Tacna—Arica (colectivo taxi) = 4

Arica—Santiago = 30

Punta Arenas—Puerto Natales = 3

Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine RT = 4

Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas = 3

Santiago—Valparaiso RT = 4

Santiago—Mendoza = 7

Mendoza—Buenos Aires = 13

Buenos Aires—Cordoba = 11

Cordoba—Salta = 12

Salta—Cafayate (day trip, not technically a bus, but close enough) RT = 9

Salta—Mendoza = 18

Mendoza—Santiago = 7

236.75 hours spent on a bus (approximately 9.8 days)

Flights

Minneapolis—Houston—Panama City—Quito = 8.5 hours, not including 3.5 hours in layovers

Santiago—Punta Arenas (direct) RT = 3.5 hours each way, 7 hours total

Santiago—Quito = 5.5 hours, not including a 5 hour layover in Lima

Quito—Panama City—Houston—Minneapolis = 8.5 hours, not including 3.5 hours in layovers

Time spent in a plane: 29.5 hours

Time spent milling about in airports waiting for another plane: 17 (12 hours above, plus a five-hour layover after my flight from Lima landed in Quito)