The Road to Tumbes

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So I set my alarm for 4:01am in order to get up today and be at the bus stop by 4:30. I woke at some point in the night very, very, VERY confused...I didn´t know where I was, or even who I was...all I did know is that I was in my birthday suit, on a bed, under some sheets. I started panicking and felt around on the bed to give me a clue as to who/where I was when I felt a plastic object...immediately it hit me...I was me, and I was in Montañita. The plastic object was my travel alarm clock - which had not gone off yet. I checked the time and it was 4:21!!! CRAP...it didn´t go off even though I checked it 3 times before I went to bed. Lucky for me I packed everything before I went to bed, so I just got dressed, grabbed my bags and was out the door.

Braden and Raya were not at the bus stop yet...so I shot some video and hung out. They eventually showed up along with a few other locals who I guess were commuting to work (and I thought it was only bad in DC!). We hopped on the bus, the direct bus from Montañita to Guayaquil. There were only 6 people on the bus, so we each took 2 seats to ourselves and tried to get some sleep. Apparently direct doesn´t mean no-stops...It stopped quite a few times within the first 45 minutes and sure enough it got packed and all seats were taken. Raya moved to sit next to Braden so I was stuck sitting with a smelly local...oh well.

We made it to the Guayaquil bus stop at 7:50 and according to Braden there was a 8am CIFA bus to Tumbes. I ran in to get tickets but unfortunately there was no 8am bus and we had to wait until 10:20 for the next one. Braden came into the bus terminal lugging my bag and asked if I packed my mom in there too because it was so heavy...I told him I didn´t expect to be lugging the bag around too much since the original plan was to stay in Montañita...AND I have everything in there that I might need. BUT next time I travel, I´m definitely going to pack more judiciously because I haven´t worn half the stuff I brought so it´s just wasted space.

While we waited 2 hours until the bus departed, we hung out in the food court of the bus terminal...lots of restaurants including McDonalds and Pizza Hut!...yet not much else was open yet since it was still pretty early. I decided to try and find a bakery somewhere in this gigantic place for a croissant with chocolate. I eventually found a bakery and asked for the croissant that looked like it had chocolate in it...the woman asked me "con pollo o...(something else in spanish I didn´t recognize" and I said "con chocolate." She said si, and pulled it out of the display, popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds and handed it to me. I took a bite of it and it definitely wasn´t chocolate and in fact it was chicken...so I tossed that pretty quickly. The last thing I want to do is eat some local ecuadorian food and get sick while I´m stuck on a number 2-free bus ride for however many hours it takes to get to Mancora tonight.

I ended up getting a banana, pinapple, and orange juice drink from the smoothie place...very tasty. Around 10am, Pizza Hut opened up so I decided to get some last minute food to help tide me over for the first part of the bus ride to Tumbes. WOW...it was GOOD. Pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut tastes the same in Ecuador as it does in the States.

At 10:20 we hopped on the bus to Tumbes to face what we hear is one of the most dangerous overland border crossings in South America. Not 10 minutes into the bus ride, the water I had been drinking all morning caught up with me and I had to use the dirty bathroom bus. The door was locked so I had to get the key from the driver. I popped in to do my business when the bus slammed on its brakes (we were still in the city), but lucky for me I have cat-like skills and was able to take Newton´s law of motion into account when it came to aiming my bodily fluids...Mind you, I remained DRY the whole time!

The bus was pretty crowded when we got on and within 2 stops (within 20 minutes) it was standing room only. Some people were standing for hours while trying to get to their destinations. I slept most of the way with my window open and the wind on my face...I LOVE IT! I didn´t drink much water because A) I didn´t want to use the bathroom again and B) since it was standing room only, I didn´t want to lose my seat.

After passing people doing laundry in the stream along the road and stopping at what seemed, every person waving their hand at the bus, we eventually made it to the outskirts of Huayaquillas - the dangerous frontier town that you have to navigate on foot if you´re not smart enough to take the direct bus through the borders. The driver told us to get out to get our stamp out of Ecuador. We got out and the bus took off down the road (I´m assuming to drop the rest of the busload of people off at the bus stop in town.). The three of us chuckled a little because it was VERY strange to watch a bus with all your belongings just take off.

We waited in line at emmigration and got our stamps. About 10 minutes later the bus returned sans everyone else that was on it before. The 8 or so people that were going on to Tumbes hopped back on the bus. It hopped back on the PanAmerican highway for a bit then took the exit for Peruvian immigration (about 2 miles). We all filled out our customs forms and waited in line. There was 1 guy for everyone. I was last and he asked me how much my camera was (in spanish since I doubt he speaks english). I told him "treis mille."...that didn´t seem right. Ah, I accidentally told him 3 thousand when it was suppose to be 300, so I corrected myself. He looked me up in the computer and stamped my customs forms but not my passport yet (I was watching with a close eye). I walked out of the office and was pointed into the next office where another guy takes the forms and stamps the passport...if you forgot to see this guy, you would be SCREWED on getting out of the country. After the bus was searched for stowaways, it was allowed to move along down the driveway to pick us up at the other end. We were now in Peru!

After another hour or two, we finally made it to Tumbes around 4:30.

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