Sunset in the Amazon

Coast in Ecuador

Border Problems

I hate border crossings. They make me nervous and are generally just a pain in the ass -- especially between countries that don´t get along like Chile and Argentina (crossed that border like 3 times) or in the most current case, Peru and Ecuador. I took an overnight bus from Trujillo to Tumbes near the Ecuadorian border. From there I had a few options, I could take a combi (basically, a really ghetto bus) for about 30 cents to the actual border and walk across or I could get an international bus with Cifa straight to Guayaquil. The latter, though more expensive, was definitely my preferred option. I´ve done the whole walk across the border thing and it is usually a time consuming pain in the ass while most international buses I´ve taken tend to fly you through customs cause they have a schedule to keep.

So I had just gotten off the overnight bus in Tumbes, a bit tired of course, and was being hassled by this guy -- ¨frontera, frontera¨ he kept saying. One of the first things you learn traveling South America is to always ignore people at bus stations. Even if I need a cab into town I generally avoid the first few people offering me a ride, walk out a bit, and get a cheaper cab near the street. Anyway, I was ignoring this dude -- I didn´t want to go the frontera directly, I wanted an international bus to Guayaquil. But he persisted and persisted and finally got out of me that I wanted to go to the Cifa office and get a ticket to Guayaquil -- hopefully today. He then tells me that he works for Cifa, shows me a brochure and offers me a ride. This seemed a bit fishy and out of the ordinary so I continued ignoring him. He then goes and gets a bus worker from the bus I had just got off, the bus worker vouches for him and I foolishly give in. I go out to the parking lot with the supposed Cifa worker and to my relief the dude with him has a Cifa uniform on. I´m now pretty much at ease thinking Cifa is on top of their game. The guys then pleasantly inform me that we have to go Peruvian immigration to get our exit stamp before we go the bus station. This is, actually, quite normal. Immigration stations between countries can sometimes be miles apart and it is occaisonally best to get an exit stamp before boarding the bus. We arrive to Peruvian immigration, they whip me through and I´m pleased; I´ve spent hours waiting to get an exit stamp. Then we´re off towards Ecuador and this strikes me as a bit strange -- I had heard that the Cifa office was in Tumbes and that you could take a bus straight through the border. But these guys are good, they put me at ease -- we´ll be to station soon they kept saying, and I believed them. We then drove into a town which I assumed was Tumbes (sometimes bus stations are a bit out of town and the one I arrived in seemed to be in the middle of nowhere). We drove around a bit and the guys were explaining how dangerous the town was. I didn´t doubt them, border towns usually are; but the way kept going at it was a bit overkill. We then parked and were approached by what appeared to be a police officer. The officer informed me, that for my safety crossing the border, I would have to pay 40 American dollars. I was fucking furious. It became clear then that this was a ruse, he was no police officer and these guys didn´t work for Cifa. An argument broke out but with my poor Spanish, it was no use, I had to pay. They kept telling me I´d be robbed if I went out on my own and to me this seemed to be more of a threat than a warning. Plus I had no idea where the bus station was so I paid up. I was then brought to a bus station (not Cifa!) and borded a bus to Guyaquil.

It bothered me all day. Not the money but the principal, I´m so sick of everyone trying to squeeze every bit of change from me. But anyway, I made it to Ecuador safe and sound, with only one more border to cross. Will getting into Colombia be more of a pain in the ass then getting to Ecuador? Probably....

So I´ve spent the last few days in Montinita, Ecuador. It´s the most cliche beach/party town I´ve ever been to. Juice stands, Surfers, Bob Marley, Sublime and Marijuana. It´s a bit much, but I´m definitely enjoying myself.

Ecuador uses American dollars as it´s currency. It´s really quite strange. There is a huge shortage of small bills and change in South America and Ecuador is no different. In Bolivia you´ll definitely get groans when trying to buy something with a 100 Boliviano note and here you get groans when trying to use a $20. It just seems so silly...And today I found out I have a fake 20 dollar bill! I actually brought this bill from the States -- it was moving money. I´ve tried, a few times, to pass it around town but no one will take it. It´s actually a very, very good fake, it has the water mark and everything. The only way to tell is the paper. When comparing two 20´s it becomes obvious. I am, though, gonna keep the bill -- no one will question it in the states, I´ll probably just use it in an MTA machine. So watch out NYC, people are passing fake cash! My only hope is that I had more than one and gave it to the so called police man....

From Lima to the Northern Beaches of Peru

After Cusco and a month spent in the Altiplano I was absolutely fed up with mountains, rain, mud and not being able to breathe. I booked a flight straight to Lima ready for beach, surfing and finally, some summer weather again. What I found was a polluted, westernized, touristy, mall-culture, shit city. Really, Lima isn´t that bad but it´s kinda how I´ve always imagined LA and I´ve never really imagined LA to be such a great place. I stayed in Miraflores, an upscale suburb that really could have been anywhere in America. At first it was refreshing; real supermarkets, western products and good restaurants. But soon I was sick of arguing with cab drivers about fare and talking with Americans about their exotic and life changing trip that Lima could never provide. After a few days I was out and off to Huanchaco, a small surfing town in Northern Peru. It´s definitely a tiny place but the day I arrived I was walking around with a few guys from the hostel and we basically walked into a street party. This was unlike your normal street party; there were dudes in suits bringing out free beers and good food. Obviously we jumped in, but stuck out like the gringos that we were. The Peruvians didn´t seem to mind, however, and we were welcomed with open arms and even got our pictures taken with Ms. Trujillo (the party was apparently for her?) who, we were informed, is running for Miss Universe. It was all a bit confusing but fun at the same time. Later that night was a massive party on the beach that happens in Huanchaco only once a year. Good timing, I guess, as people from all over Peru come to this party. It was amazing.

Not much else to report, just beach chillin everyday and enjoying every moment. I´m off to Ecuador tonight. Gonna spend some more time on the coast then it´s off to Quito and hopefully the Jungle for a quick tour then Colombia.

Terrified!

I think that about sums up this pic. I love it. It illustrates my experience in the Potosi mines perfectly. Thats about all the room we had to move and I was definetly losing it at this point. Good fun.

I just returned from Machu Picchu. I´ll refrain from saying "coolest place I´ve been" again but really, it was amazing. Too bad I don´t have a camera but any web search will certainly turn up millions of photos. Machu Picchu is probably the biggest attraction in South America and certainly one of the bigger attractions in the world. Usually big tourist sites like this suck -- the Eifel Tower, Empire State, Big Ben, the Coliseum -- but Machu Picchu is truely worthy of being one of the 7 wonders of the world or whatever. I´d even risk seeing more fat, old, annoying Americans again tomorrow if it didn´t cost so much to get in.

Machu Picchu is often described as ruins but I´d have to somewhat disagree. Almost all of the city structure is still in place. Most houses aren´t even missing a brick and the irregation system that tapped into natural springs for farming is still opertational. It was one of the few cities that the Spanish didn´t find and subsequently weren´t able to destroy. Walking around the city I found it very easy to imagine the city the inhabited and alive. Also, I found the site much bigger than I had anticipated -- I even got lost a few times. Pictures just don´t do it justice. It´s touristity as hell and getting there, and in, is terribly expensive but it really is a must see.