Continuing our way north…

Our 12 hour over-night bus trip to Armenia was uneventful (and given that this was the first bus that we had ridden on during our entire trip that had a bathroom, you could almost say the trip was enjoyable) until we suddenly stopped about 45 minutes from our destination.

Apparently, a truck carrying oil had had some type of problem and the oil had leaked all over the highway for about 2 km. The challenge was that this had occurred on a VERY steep and curvy section of the road.

As a result, there were transport trucks stuck on the hill for miles. We had to wait while people dug up sand and dirt from the roadsides and spread it on the oil and under the tires of the stuck trucks. Once the traffic started moving, people would throw donations out the car windows to the “volunteer” workers. If it wasn’t for the heat, we could have almost imagined that we were on the Coquihalla Hwy in January, with all of the stuck trucks!

By the time everyone got moving again, our bus driver obviously felt the need to make up the lost time, and with tires coated in fresh oil, set off down the mountain at break neck speeds passing transport trucks on blind corners. I have never been so happy to get off a bus in my entire life! By the time we reached the tiny town of Salento, I was physically and emotionally exhausted and happy to be staying put for a few days.