Crossing into Ecuador

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Time for another, to go forwards or backwards. I´ll go backwards through time bc the events of yesterday are notable. Yesterday was our last morning in Mancora and what laid ahead was a 2 hour ride to the border of Ecuador. I spent the morning getting packed and reading on the balcony over looking the beach with the soft breeze dancing off the pages of 3 men and a raft. I needed the relaxation before we hit the border. The tour guide was not sure what time our bus left from the border of Ecuador to get to Cuenca, but he thought it was at 2. Issue number one was that the hoopdie of a van didn´t arrive until 12.30. And on the way to the border we made a few stops so the passenger could make drops. My curiosity still wonders what was in the boxes and black plastic bags. He seemed to know everyone in the little towns we rumbled through. I am sure his business was on the up and up. He always came out of the store fronts with a smile on his face and soles in hand.
We finally arrived at the Peru Immigration control point. It reminded me of an old rec center ,and the people there were trying to get you to exchange your soles into dollars, but I merely wanted to get my passport stamped and back on the road to our drop off point. Thoughts are always easier than action. The tour guide stayed in the van and left all us gringos to fend for ourselves inside the control point. The group all lined up single file against this wall and this ´policia´guy checked our passport and then one at a time we proceeded into a little office to have our yellow fever card checked and passport checked again. I was third in line, and the first two got through without a hitch. Then whitey enters and hands the man in the white collar top with a grey mustache my yellow fever card. He looked at the card and said something in spanish and pointed to his arm. I responded in spanish, I have my yellow fever shot. He put up both hands and fingers spread infront of his face and said diez dollares. I wasn´t in a good mood and I think it worked out to my advantage bc I looked at the guy and raised my voice with a triumphant ´hey´. He looked bewildered for a moment and then waved his hands back and forth and shook his head and then pointed to my passport which I handed him. Needless to say I didn´t have to pay the cheeky bastard (as my aussie travel buddy called him). I didn´t even get the worse of it though. One of the other guys in the group, was taken aside and was told something to the effect that he has been caught with drugs before and he would need to pay them. He refused and they started to lead him back to a room with a cell in it. Luckily our tour guide made his way in there by then and handed him the phone and told him to call his lawyer. The tour guide told this to the ´policia´as it was going down. A double bluff. A good game of poker. Possibly a sever game of poker depending on how the cards would play out. The policia backed off and said there was another person with the same name. Enough for one day right? Ha, simply no. A bunch of whities traveling together in this portion of the country are gonna catch flack.
Back in the van, it dropped us off at the border and instantly we were covered with locals trying to carry our bags and sell us candy and cds. A loud speaker with no gracias would be ideal. We made it over and by this time it was 3.30. A night in a border town? Sounds like a happening good time to me, in my most sarcastic tone. Luck was on our side and after a 15 minute walk we made it to the bus station that would take us to Cuenca and it didn´t leave until 4.15. The walk was colorful. All the fruit stands, trinkets, and hanging raw cow legs and the occasional old man riding around on his tricycle with a few chickens upfront. The look from the chickens told there fate, a fresh dinner tonight!
Now all we needed to do was go to the Ecuador immigration check point which was ten minutes driving. That went off without a problem and we loaded up on snacks and drinks for the 5 hr bus ride to Cuenca. The bus picked us up and not even 10 minutes in, we were at a checkpoint and the military was pulling off our bags and a few of the lads had to get out and open their backpacks. We must be getting closer to trafficking country. A very futile search by the personal if I have ever seen one. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at another checkpoint and everyone in the group had to get off except for the locals. Go figure right! Everyone made it by with flying colors except for Mr. Nathan who still had a bag of coca leaves in his bag. Once they discovered that, they checked him real good and another in the group that was next to him. It was more humorous to watch the scene play out while hanging out the window of the bus then being the guy in the situation. But I got my chuckles out of it and had my jabs at him once he got back on the bus.
From there it was clear sailing and all about people watching from the back of the bus. Happiness is best shared in the company of others. Watching a father and child hit each other in a playful manner made me think of ponder happiness. I think first we must be content and at peace with ourselves before we can share our happiness with others. When that occurs, there is nothing but joy in the air. The part of the country we were in didn´t have many tourists so the locals that got on and off were checking us out like we were the first non-Ecuadorians they had ever seen. Didn´t bother me bc I gave them a show when I got up on the seat and started dancing around like a monkey eager for a banana. Jking, but I was hunger for the bus ride and woulda dam

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