Sketchy border crossing...
Trip Start
Jul 16, 2008
1
24
84
Trip End
Ongoing
Guayaquil,
Ecuador
Friday, October 17, 2008
It was an interesting ride for many reasons. The first was that I was sitting in the front seat of the upper level of this bus. Needless to say, I had a very interesting view for the entire ride! A bit difficult to sleep up there because the lights of oncoming cars was continually in my eyes and then when I would open my eyes I would see things like the bus swerving to avoid a group of horses that was for some reason running across the street! The other reasons for the interesting ride had to do with sketchy guys and suitcases, and closed borders!
We arrived at the Peruvian side of the border around 1:30. I was a little worried about the fact that I was 3 days over my visa. There were two officials that you had to see to get through the border. The first guy made sure you had all your papers in order. He told me that I was over my visa and would have to pay $1 a day to the next guy who was stamping the passports. However, when I got to the next guy, he asked me if I had paid the first guy. I told him no and he said that it was ok then and not to worry about it but not to overstay my visa again. So, I was very relieved that nothing happened.
When I got back on the bus I noticed that there were a few men who had not gotten off and had not gotten their passports stamped. This seemed a bit strange and it got even stranger when we left the border control office, drove a bit of the way into Ecuador, pulled onto a side street, and these men began dumping suitcases off the bus. They had suitcases hidden under many of the seats including mine. I have NO idea what was in these suitcases...not sure I want to know.
When we left this side street drop off point we pulled up to the Ecuadorian control office to find a sign saying that the office would be closed until 3:30 am. It was 2 am! So we were stuck at the border for a while. I made some good friends while waiting, Charlie and Alexi, who are from South Africa. We spent the time standing outside in the rain (could have waited on the bus I guess but it had a funny smell...rain was better then an extra hour and a half inside of it!) and became good friends. Eventually they opened up and made it through. Of course, the same men did not get their passports stamped on this side either!
We were stopped several more times by police officers who came on the bus and shined flashlights around. It was interesting though because they never looked in our passports or in any luggage. So, even though we were stopped several times, which seems sort of official and like they take the border crossing seriously, they never checked anything! It was a difficult ride to sleep on, with all the stopping and starting, lights in my faces, and random passengers that we continued to pick up the whole rest of the way to Guayaquil.
Arriving at the bus terminal in Guayaquil I was pretty surprised. It was a very nice terminal! Not like anything I had seen in Peru. It looked like an airport (a nice airport) in the US-very orderly, clean, well lit. The bathrooms even had toilet paper, soap, and paper towels! In Guayaquil we had to get another bus to Montaņita. While waiting in line we met an American guy, Billy, who was headed our way as well. So we all got our tickets and went to a restaurant for breakfast.
