North to Ecuador
I decided to head back to Ecuador after my trip to Machu Picchu so I boarded a flight to Lima. I fell asleep as soon I fastened my seat belt and did not wake up until the wheels touched ground. It was a 12 hr. layover before my bus left for Piura. Again , as soon as I sat down I went out and did not wake up until I got to town 12 hrs. later. After one night in town I left for my border crossing into Ecuador. That is when things got interesting. We made it past the Peruvean side ok. but the computer on the Ecuadorean side was down so we had a 2 hr. wait. We finally left at 2 in the morning, but since the driver was way behind schedule he wanted to make better time. Unlucky for us. First , we were already up in the mountains and second it was very dark. I never imagined that a hugh bus like that could lean so far without tipping over. This guy must have been doing 60mph. in some areas. Add to this, the fact that several turns had no protection from a veer to the side as well as areas of road where the pavement would cease to exist. I really thought that this was the last ride of my life. When I planned this trip I decided not to do any extreme sports ( bungie jumping, rock climbing etc. ) but this seemed more dangerous than any I could think of. It was not the thought of the bus leaving the road or that once it did it was headed for a long ride about 2000 ft. down the mountain ,but the thought of the sudden stop when it finally reached the bottom. Luckily, after about 30 min. he stopped and there was a change of drivers. I can only imagine that he decided that he had had enough and had to go get some fresh clothes. I am in Cuenca now and plan to stay a couple of days and also re-connect with some people I met the first time I was here. This is actually a very comfortable city. Lots of interesting things to see and do. Anyway, Time to relax.
Tags: Travel
Timmie
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