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Published: January 15th 2006
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The "border" at Aguas Verdes
You can just see the chaos at the bottom of the pic And so it was, after an unusual Christmas (in that we were away from our respective families and on the other side of the globe), that we were on the road again. The crossing to Peru was the first frontier of the journey after reaching South America, and WHAT a frontier it turned out to be!
You can call me old-fashioned, but when I think "border" I think of a couple of buildings with lots of official looking types, some sort of no-man's land in between and some semblance of order. Was I ever in for a surprise! The border crossing at Agues Verdes is quite litterally a bridge, packed with people, goats, market stalls, you name it - and not one official border control at either end. What happens is that the bus stops in Ecuador about 2km BEFORE you get there and they stamp you out of Ecuador (what country you're in at that point, I'm not sure). I think what's then supposed to happen is that you calmly walk across the bridge and by some effort of extra-sensory perception guess that the Peruvian border control is infact 4km further down a dirt road where they will reluctantly
give you an entry stamp to Peru.
Lucky for us, some kids offered to help with the bags. Reticent at first, I was persuaded by the fact that the bus driver didn't seem to think it was a bad idea. Hmmm. So off trots our makeshift guide with Emma's bag, through some dodgy looking alleys - "Do I want to change some dollars to soles? They don't use dollars in Peru any more you know...." Hmmmmmm once more... OK why not, it'll make life easier at the other side surely? How the ensuing pandemonium ended with us having changed the money for genuine Peruvian currency at a sensible rate I will never, ever know. Luck must have been smiling on us because apparently the notes you usually get from those cowboys literally aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
Across the bridge we trudged armed with some currency and making small talk with our little helper. Apparently he liked David Beckham (quelle surprise!) with which comment he diappeared into huddle of market stalls still carrying Emma's bag, me following with an increasing sense of alarm. It turns out he's heading to a conveniently located taxi which wants only
the equivalent of $12 to take us 4km down the road. $12??! Might not sound like much to you lot, but believe me, it's a fortune for a taxi ride here. Twice that and you could probably have the car for the day! Fortunately, despite the fact that we were now well off the beaten track and surrounded by increasingly numerous and agitated conspirators, we managed to retrieve the bag from the corrupt taxi driver and head back to the bridge, whereupon we found a policeman who despite wanting a bribe pointed us in the right direction. Welcome to Peru indeed!!
Comparisons between the two countries seem appropriate at this point. In Ecuador I didn't feel like I was going to be subject to petty rip-offs quite as often as I have been here, but that might have just been luck. Despite what our phoney border guide led us to believe, dollars are accepted in both coutries, the only difference being that in Ecuador it's the official currency and in Peru they have both the Sol and the US$. The people of both countries have been for the vast majority of the time hospitable, patient and interested. Buses in
View from a moto-taxi
Including a bold overtaking manouver on the left Peru are definitely better and more organised than in Ecuador although I can't say that about the roads... The food of both countries I've found to be very tasty although I think that Peruvian grub is the winner thusfar. Peru doesn't feel as wealthy as Ecuador, although clearly neither could be described as rich countries, but there are far less SUVs on the road here and people living in big houses surrounded by spikey fences. Maybe I just haven't been to the right/wrong areas yet.
Back to the journey though. After finally getting our papers in order we were dropped off by our motorbike taxi (most amusing, much like Thai tuk-tuks) at a minibus which then took us to a town called Tumbes and another minibus, and after some hours to our destination of Mancora. After all of that, a quiet little surfer resort on the Peruvian coast was exactly what we needed...... Lucky for us, Mancora was a good bet. Thanks to Duncs for the suggestion! We stayed in a small room, apart from the first night when we stayed in a very cool beachfront hotel, and later ended up also lodging with Mick who had taken our advice and stopped there for New Year's.
It was cool to be in such a buzzing little town during the run-up to New Year's Eve. Mancora is very popular with Peruvians from Lima and Cusco, aswell as people from other countries in South America, and the place steadily got busier and busier until on New Year's Eve it went crazy. When I say crazy, think fire jugglers in the street (and remember that the "street" is the Pan American highway with it's constant stream of 18-wheeler trucks and other traffic!) and over excited revellers aiming small fireworks at passing moto-taxis!! All very amusing, unless you're a truck/moto taxi driver.... The other great thing about being somewhere with so few gringos (they really do call us paleskins gringos over here!) was that it gave me an opportuntity to practise my Spanish. Poor Em had to sit through hours of broken Spanglish with anyone that I found that wanted to chat - and these chaps like to talk (¡Oscar, gracias por su ayuda y conversación!).
After a week of sun and failed surfing we were ready to head to our next destination. Slightly sunburnt and plenty hungover, on New Year's Day we were on a bus to Chiclayo, home of all sorts of ancient ruins and mystery......
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