I have heard that crossing the border from Ecuador to Peru can be a bit of a hassle as people are often scammed out of hundreds of dollars. As I plan to go along this route I am obviously concerned.
Has anybody crossed over this border recently?
If so I would be very interested to hear what it was like.
Thanks
p.s too in the heading is a typo
Reply to this There are three crossings to Peru. The Machala one is by far the busiest and apparently can be absolute hell. My friends went by that one and between them lost $400 in fake money. I used the Macara crossing which is a lot more relaxed. I took a bus direct from Loja, Ecuador to Piura, Peru and the bus will wait for you to cross the border - it's literally a stamp, walk across a bridge, fill in one form and you're on your way. The best thing for money is to wait until you're in a town and use the banks. If you arrive at night (like I did) only change enough money for that night and then go to the bank the next day - there are a lot of scams and people get hassled into it at the Machala one because everyone will try and convince you you have to change all your dollars before you are allowed to cross or something and, of course, they are all working together and in on the scam. If you go via Macara, there are three buses a day from Loja direct to Piura and they will wait for you, when I went a few months ago they were at 7, 11 and 7 in the evening. Basically just don't believe what you are told at the border about money and try to keep hold of it until you can get to a bank. The third one is at Zumba which is the quietest and you get there from Vilcabamba.
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