Bus Rides and Beaches

Merry Christmas!
We are currently in Mancora, Peru, a beach/surfing town near the north of the country. We took a night bus from Loja, Ecuador to Piura, Peru, and then a terrifying taxi here. The only words I could use to describe the night bus are long and awful. We left the bus station at 11:30 PM, with the music blasting. I tried earplugs, then headphones, but the music was just too loud to drown out. Eventually, at about 1 in the morning, the driver turned down (yes down, not off) the music. In addition to the noise of the music, the bus was stifling hot, and we seemed to be the only ones to notice. We were the only ones on the entire bus with our window open, making us self-conscious about the fact that the window was noisy and that maybe Ecuadorians LIKE hot buses. And, despite what we may have thought, sleeping in a bus seat is not actually comfortable.

We both spent the night sleeping for an hour, waking up for a while, sleeping again, waking again, and on and on. But the very worst part of all, is that despite the bus station poster advertizing the bathroom, and despite the fact that there in fact WAS a bathroom on the bus, for some reason it was locked and we couldn´t use it (i just cannot comprehend this phenomenon, which seems quite common here). About three hours into the trip I had to go, and I started walking to the back of the bus. THis was not as easy a proposition as I had expected, as there were about 8 men, women and children lying on the floor of the bus. I finally got back there and found out that the bathroom was locked. I stepped back over the 8 people, and then over about 4 more people to get to the front of the bus and I knocked and knocked and knocked on the driver´s cabin to see if the conductor guy could get me a key. THe conductor was fast asleep, but the driver opened the cabin and told me that we would be somewhere in 5 minutes. I went back to my seat. 5 minutes came and went, and then 10, and then 15. I walked back up to the front (stepping over a few more people) and knocked again, waking a few people up. The driver, as if we hadn´t had this conversation previously, asked if i wanted to go to the bathroom. I responded that I NEEDED to go the bathroom. He pointed to the side of the street with a questioning glance. I agreed, and he stopped the bus. I walked to the side of the bus to get away from the headlghts and started peeing. I glanced to my side and there were about 6 men, a respectful few feet away, fertilizing the road with me.

Then, at 4 in the morning, we arrived at the border. We had to get off the bus, go through Ecuadorian border control, walk over a small bridge, go to Peruvian border control, and then go to the Peruvian police station. The process was much less painful than I had imagined, and we had no problem with any of the officials, but border patrols are inherently kind of scary, and going through them in the middle of the night makes it that much worse. Finally we were through and back on the bus. Unfortunately, all the adrenaline of going through the border patrol made it hard to sleep--luckily the stars were beautiful.

Finally, at 7 in the morning we arrived in Piura, Peru. We were planning on catching a bus from there, but our taxi driver who took us from one terminal to the other said it was much better to take a collectivo, or a collective taxi. We had done this in Ecuador once, and it had been fine, so we agreed. Well, that was a huge mistake. That taxi ride was perhaps the most terrifying of my life. The guy sped madly and tailgated everything from semi trucks to little motorcycle taxis. It was just awful, and we didn´t know where we were, so we couldn´t just get out. It is a testiment to how exhausted we were that we both fell asleep for the majority of the three hour ride. Thank god we made it to Mancora alive, and we found a room at a great hostel with no problem (we were worried that since it was christmas weekend everything would be full).

Now that we are finally here, we are having a great time! The weather is hot, dry, and perfect for swimming. We spent the last two days alternating between our shady hammocks and the cool ocean waters. Sadly, Benjie isn´t feeling great this morning, so we´re having a low-key day. Send him healthy vibes!!!

Shockingly (to us), this town did not shut down at all for Christmas. There are fewer restaurants open, but other than that everything seems to be going strong. It´s interesting, because although this country is almost entirely Catholic, and although the people appear to be pretty religious Christians, Christmas doesn´t seem to be as big a deal as it is at home.

Before finishing up this entry, I wanted to go back and write about something that happened our last day in Ecuador.

It about 11 in the morning, and we were on this little tiny bus going ot Loja. We stopped and a bunch of people got on. They were all dressed up and had a bottle of scotch, and kept toasting ¨to the bride!¨ and ¨to the groom!¨. Well, then i heard one of them speaking Hebrew!! And then another, and then another. One looked like she could be israeli, and the other two looked completely and totally hispanic. All three were alternating between spanish and hebrew, but not all seemed to be equally fluent in both. It was so bizarre. So I had to ask. I asked the girl next to me (in hebrew) what was going on. It turns out that she is israeli and lives in israel, with her ecuadorian boyfriend, who has been living in israel for 9 years. His sister also speaks hebrew b-c apparently she has spent some time there. When the rest of the bus heard us speaking Hebrew, they starting clapping and cheering, and they offered us shots of scotch. They even invited us to the wedding party. I kind of wish we had gone, but they were all dressed up, and it was just his family, and they were all already plastered, and we worried that it would be really strange. But we got the girl´s contact info, and next time we´re in Israel we will definitely contact them.

Before I go check on Benjie, I want to put up another contest. I have two ideas though, so I´ll just write them both, and you can respond to either or both (and don´t be afraid to tell a whole story!):

1. Who is the person that you met most randomly?

2. What is the worst travel experience you have ever had?

-Rachel
P.S. Just to keep everyone in the loop, we will probably be spending one or two more days in Mancora, and then moving on to Huarez and the Cordillera Blanca, south america´s highest mountain range.