Combis
The ubiquitous combi is the most common form of public transportation in Peru and falls in between a taxi and a bus in the vehicular hierarchy of the streets. Combis are minivans with several rows of painfully small seats that run predetermined routes indicated by the signs and stickers all along the vehicle , as well as by the toneless and usually nasal shouts of the fare-collector who rides either by the door or more frequently hanging out of it.
You can’t experience Peru without riding in the back of one of these sardine cans on wheels. The worse thing is even if you can successfully board the rickety beast, at some point someone either getting on or getting off is going to shove ass, leg, arm or elbow into your face and leave it there until the combi comes to a complete stop or someone makes room for them. Both of these occurrences are infrequent at best.
After dropping off his grandfather’s car Marco and I decided to hop on a combi and ride it downtown to take a few pictures for old time’s sake. We almost decided to take one with standing room only but we quickly decided nostalgia only goes so far. Pardon the quality of the pictures as it was extremely difficult to get a good shot rocketing down the streets of Arequipa in a vehicle with a complete lack of suspension, held together by a prayer and a few strategically placed wads of gum.
This particular combi was nowhere near capacity, since we were taking it during off-peak hours, but even so it quickly became uncomfortable for the both of us.
When loading passengers the fare-collector hollers “Sube, sube, sube!”, which means get in. When dropping them off he yells, “Baja, baja, baja!”, which means get down, or get off. Halfway in between routes he will either shake the coins in his loosely held fist in your general direction, or ask for “Pasajes”, which in this case indicates your fare. When you need to get off the combi, you simply say “Baja” to get off as soon as possible, or “Baja en la esquina” to be deposited on the nearest corner.
