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....