On Christmas Day I could barely walk. It wasn’t clear if the near agony in my leg muscles was due to the ascent of Tungurahua, the decent of Tungurahua, or to chasing Swedes around the football pitch the day before, to keep the score at 3 goals to 3…
A late brunch with Denmark (Russ), during which we reminisced about the barbecue at Atacames, led to the thought that a Christmas Day barbecue would be a good idea. Hostal Patty had a flat roof with a grill, and it was easy to get permission to use it. Denmark had met another 6 Danes – they, and another half a dozen backpackers of other nationalities, joined in the barbecue plan. After a bit of food shopping, we all duly assembled on the roof, with our contributions, and plenty was consumed. Part way through, I turned on my little radio, to impose the very British tradition of the “Queen’s Christmas Message” on those present. The Queen sounded remarkably normal during her broadcast – she didn’t seem aware that she was being heard on a rooftop in Ecuador. The subject of the invasion of Kuwait was mentioned several times in her speech, and the possibility of conflict with Iraq. Not everyone on the roof was a fan of British royalty, and I heard a couple of republican (and highly treasonous) comments.
The barbecue came to an early end due to rain. Back downstairs I got talking to a Swedish girl who wasn’t the sharpest knife the drawer. Furthermore she seemed unaware and uninterested that her country’s honour had been defended on the Baños football pitch the previous day.
The following day, 26th December, it was time to head south once more. I sadly checked out of Hostal Patty, and got a bus straight away to the town of Riobamba, where I had to get a taxi to the terminal. From there I was able to get a bus in the general direction of the major southern city of Guayaquil. The route taken by the bus merged with the Pan American Highway, as the mountainous terrain became ever more “Andean”. After an hour or two the bus went up and over what is apparently the highest point of the whole Pan American Highway. Along the way the bus had to go around rocks placed in the highway, with token lengths of string across the road – apparently this is a form of protest by the rural people against something.
The bus was heading to Guayaquil, but since I didn’t need to go there, I jumped off at a road junction in order to catch a bus heading down to the town of Machala. The bus to Machala eventually showed up, but after a while it stopped suddenly, and the driver had to fix a flat tyre.
Eventually I reached Machala, a port town, where the hotels were universally grim. I got a room in the least bad one I could find, and then had a large Chinese meal nearby.
The following day (27th December) I got up early and by 8 am was on a bus to the Peruvian border. The vegetation rapidly became drier and I was soon in semi desert. This was a surprise because for some reason I thought that Peru was forested all over. The border crossing was somewhat disorganised, but eventually I managed to change some money and got myself on a bus for the northern Peruvian city of Tumbes.
My original AeroPeru ticket from Piura to Lima was for 28th December, but since I was likely to get to Piura later on 27th, I wanted to see if I could fly that same afternoon. In Tumbes I had no luck finding an Aeroperu office to ask about changing the ticket. Worse, at the bus terminal it appeared all Piura buses were full. But then someone came up and offered me a ticket to Piura that he had bought, but wasn’t going to use. It appear valid, and it was. So by midday I was on a bus bound for Piura after all. The 6 hour trip dragged on – the sun blazed down out of the desert sky, but there were glimpses of the Pacific Ocean for much of the way. Eventually, with the help of a friendly Chilean guy, I reached Piura airport and was pleased to be told at the AeroPeru desk that I could indeed change my ticket to the evening flight to Lima.
On the plane I got talking to a German couple who had a recommendation for a place to stay with in Lima – the Rodriguez family – who had dormitory accommodation for backpackers. On arrival in Lima the Germans helped establish that there was space at the Rodriquez place, and then their Ecuadorian brother-in-law (a diplomat in Lima who met them at the airport) later gave me a ride there. It was late evening by this time, so it all worked out rather well. The accomodation was a bit gloomy, but friendly enough, and I decided to made it my base for the next couple of days in the Peruvian capital.
Too bad you missed Guayaquil. I flew out of there to come back to the US. Definitely not a must see city. There was one nice area with some colorful buildings but that’s it.
And since you’re leaving Ecuador this is the comment where I can say the only country I ever had anything stolen from me was on a long haul bus in Ecuador ?