Tuesday 3/7 night and Wednesday 4/7 - Bus day.
Vilcabamba (Ecuador) to Trujillo (Peru).
Time is rarely respected in this part of the world, but the bus departures. Busses generally leave on time. Arrival time is another storry.
The bus system is well developed, in most cities the different operators share a huge common terminal.
Sometimes each has its own terminal, fortunately all located in the same part of town. The difficulty is then to find out which company operates what line; and at what time. Lonely Planet and Routard information can be outdated. Then I have to get the information from people in the street, not easy ("Io no hablo buen espanol ahora").
Vilcabamba is a little village, all busses leave from the same place, and the hotel owner told me where to go, overmùore in french...
7:45PM sharp the jungle bus left Vilcabamba for Loja, a one hour ride on a paved road.
Loja has a big terminal, so I quickly found out what bus to take for Piura, leaving 11PM. That gave me time for a quick dinner and some reading.
The bus arrived at 8AM with two hours of delay in Piura, due to slow and chaotic processing at the Ecudor-Peru border. Individual terminals there, but fortunately the Lonely Planet and the taxi driver information were right, so I quickly found the right company and could catch the bus for Chiclayo at 9:00AM.
Chiclayo is organised with individual terminals, but all went right. Less than an hour later my bus left for Trujillo. Overall an efficient travel, except for the border...
Before arriving at the border, there was a military checkpoint. Soldiers armed with machine guns stopped the bus and all foreigners (around 10 people) must leave the bus.
One of the soldiers took me apart and asked for money. I played the idiot and showed him my biscuits instead of my wallet. He insisted, and then I called the other foreigners for help, to translate me what he wanted (even if it was cristal clear to me). With all the public around him, the soldier gave up and we could continue.
Sometimes useful to say "no hablo buen espanol", isn't it?
Later we arrived at the border, this time symbolized by a bridge sponsored by Japan. All must leave the bus and check-out at the Ecuadorian Immigration: one agent in an office lighten by a 20W bulb, taking 2 minutes per person, mainly because he couldn't read the passports and his keyboard because of the darkness.
Then we had to cross the bridge, one by one, and check-in at the Peruvian immigration. The Peruvian agent could not read the exit-stamp stuck by his Ecuadorian collegue and sent me (politely) back to the Ecuadorian side. The Ecuadorian agent explained he could not put a second stamp, so he sent me back to Peru. Finally the Peruvian agent gave up, put the entry stamp in my passport, kindly admitting me to the republic. Next, there was a just symbolic police control: a policeman wrote our names in a school notebook.
Processing of the whole bus took slightly over two hours, with a 100% success rate, nobody missing or killed.
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Vilcabamba (Ecuador) to Trujillo (Peru).
Time is rarely respected in this part of the world, but the bus departures. Busses generally leave on time. Arrival time is another storry.
The bus system is well developed, in most cities the different operators share a huge common terminal.
Sometimes each has its own terminal, fortunately all located in the same part of town. The difficulty is then to find out which company operates what line; and at what time. Lonely Planet and Routard information can be outdated. Then I have to get the information from people in the street, not easy ("Io no hablo buen espanol ahora").
Vilcabamba is a little village, all busses leave from the same place, and the hotel owner told me where to go, overmùore in french...
7:45PM sharp the jungle bus left Vilcabamba for Loja, a one hour ride on a paved road.
Loja has a big terminal, so I quickly found out what bus to take for Piura, leaving 11PM. That gave me time for a quick dinner and some reading.
The bus arrived at 8AM with two hours of delay in Piura, due to slow and chaotic processing at the Ecudor-Peru border. Individual terminals there, but fortunately the Lonely Planet and the taxi driver information were right, so I quickly found the right company and could catch the bus for Chiclayo at 9:00AM.
Chiclayo is organised with individual terminals, but all went right. Less than an hour later my bus left for Trujillo. Overall an efficient travel, except for the border...
Before arriving at the border, there was a military checkpoint. Soldiers armed with machine guns stopped the bus and all foreigners (around 10 people) must leave the bus.
One of the soldiers took me apart and asked for money. I played the idiot and showed him my biscuits instead of my wallet. He insisted, and then I called the other foreigners for help, to translate me what he wanted (even if it was cristal clear to me). With all the public around him, the soldier gave up and we could continue.
Sometimes useful to say "no hablo buen espanol", isn't it?
Later we arrived at the border, this time symbolized by a bridge sponsored by Japan. All must leave the bus and check-out at the Ecuadorian Immigration: one agent in an office lighten by a 20W bulb, taking 2 minutes per person, mainly because he couldn't read the passports and his keyboard because of the darkness.
Then we had to cross the bridge, one by one, and check-in at the Peruvian immigration. The Peruvian agent could not read the exit-stamp stuck by his Ecuadorian collegue and sent me (politely) back to the Ecuadorian side. The Ecuadorian agent explained he could not put a second stamp, so he sent me back to Peru. Finally the Peruvian agent gave up, put the entry stamp in my passport, kindly admitting me to the republic. Next, there was a just symbolic police control: a policeman wrote our names in a school notebook.
Processing of the whole bus took slightly over two hours, with a 100% success rate, nobody missing or killed.
The Ecuador-Peru border in Macara as seen from the Peruvian side.
The bridge on the left hand side, gift from Japan, is not open yet.
Hundreds of kilometers through the desert (Desierto de Sechura).
Crossing a bus from the same company (Linea).
My panoramic seat was on the front side, on the upper floor.
Favelas of Chiclayo.
Notice the Christ Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro) statue on top of the hill.
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ouf!!!passage périlleux de la frontière, désolée Michel j'ai quelques jours de retard car du boulot, mais je suis sur ton blog dès que possible....bonne route!!!!
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