A shady start in Peru, then a few days in the sun
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2007
1
14
23
Trip End
Sep 14, 2007
Mancora, Peru
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
I hadn't been sitting long before I started getting more than a few concerned looks. A guy sitting near me asked if I was going all the was down to Huaquillas... and was I going to cross the border... which of course I was planning on doing both. He then offered for us to try to cross over together, because it was very dangerous, didn't I know?! Suddenly I wasn't feeling so confident in my solo-travel abilities; apparently most people (even locals) get taken for at least $100 by crooked taxi drivers that take you through the no-man's-land of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border, and get to keep their passport only if they're lucky. Why hadn't I caught that line in Lonely Planet that gave it the dubious distinction as 'South America's Most Dangerous Border Crossing'?
Luckily my friend Alberto, taking from his own bad experience, was able to navigate us through both passport control offices, locate our bus that had advanced to the edge of the border without us (with all of our belongings still on board), and get us into a cab that only overcharged by about $9 (he charged us 30 soles for the trip; it should have only cost us 3).
It's hard to describe the bridge that separates the two countries: shady characters appear to idle the entire length on both sides, and even the few police officers on hand leer into your cab as you drive slowly by. Children sit at dozens of tables along the way, appearing to sell water bottles of cooking oil... but as one rushed up to our taxi with a bottle, hose and funnel, and promptly started to fuel up the car while it was still running, we quickly realized that it was an entirely different type of oil, most likely stolen from somewhere. In all honesty, I felt so uncomfortable in this situation, I made a mental note to make a visit to the Peruvian ambassador to Canada's residence in Ottawa, which happens to be in my parent's neighbourhood, to tell him to get their act together down here!
A few other funny things happened on my first day in Peru. Having transferred to a coach bus heading South down the coast, our bus was inspected a few times by highway police looking under each seat as they walked down the aisle... looking for anyone in particular?! Later on during this particular trip, having sat in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere for quite some time, I looked out the window... and realized that a man had been siphoning gas out of our bus for the past fifteen minutes, running plastic buckets into a little hut. More than a little odd!
But all of these things aside, the differences between Peru and Ecuador were difficult to miss: never ending mountain ranges were replaced by dry, flat earth, with the only geography interrupting your view across this veritable desert being huge sand dunes, much like what I had seen in Morocco's Sahara.
Deciding that I deserved a break from anything cultural or transportation-related, I took the time to enjoy a few days on Peru's most idyllic beach, which thankfully Alberto had suggested as my first stop in order to recoup from our night bus trip and shaky start in the country. Máncora - with its perfectly sunny days, fresh fish cooked any way imaginable, and giving you nothing to concern yourself with except your book and your tan - was pure medicine.
Comments
Your Father's Daughter!
Glad I've spoken to you before I read your latest blog entry and know you're safe & sound!
On a lighter note - taking pictures of menu's - just like your Dad!