From Maya to Inca: Hasta la próxima Ecuador...

Thursday, 27 June 2013

Hasta la próxima Ecuador...

I left Ecuador in the middle of the night with new friends, some interesting experiences and memories that I will have for life. We arrived back in Loja just in time to get the last three seats on the bus. The bus left at 11 pm and we got to the border at Macará around 3 am. It dropped us off on the Ecuadorian side where we were stamped out. We crossed the bridge on foot, were stamped into Peru on the other side and got back on the bus again. And that was it. Ours was the only bus there. Three hours later we arrived in the town of Piura in Peru and my first impressions were not what I expected. Although I'm not sure now what I expected. Or even whether I had thought about it. But two things struck me instantly: the dust, the Peruvian equivalent of tuk-tuks and the crazy hustle and bustle and beeping from all sides made Peru seem far less developed than Ecuador, and yet the Peruvian bus system seemed to be streets ahead of the Ecuadorian one in terms of organisation and security. We stayed in Piura as long as it took to cross the road and get tickets for the next bus that left in 40 minutes.

Loja bus station

If you have a sweet tooth you're in luck. You can buy all sorts of sweet things for the bus ride in Ecuadorian bus stations.

the last seats on the bus

bridge across the border

Piura

The following photos were all taken from the bus from Piura to the next town of note down the coast, Chiclayo.

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Interesting facts

Another slightly subjective fact. Peruvian mountain roads are among the most dangerous in the world.
Kuelap is a Chachapoya fortress in Northern Peru built before Machu Picchu.
Peruvian men are the most persistent men on the planet.
Blue zones are called blue zones simply because Dan Buettner and his research team (who first identified the blue zones) used blue ink to circle the areas on a map with the highest life expectancy. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Inca civilisation arose from the highlands of Peru sometime during the early 13th century.
Contrary to popular belief, Panama hats are not made in Panama but in Ecuador.
Ten of the volcanoes along the Avenue of Volcanoes are higher than 5000 metres.
Rafael Correa has introduced the "pico y placa" system in Quito, following the Colombian example, "pico" meaning "peak" and "placa" meaning "plate". Cars are restricted from circulating in Quito on certain days during morning and evening rush hours according to the last number of their registration plate, in order to ease traffic congestion.
Quito is 72 kms long and 10 kms wide.
Quito is the oldest capital in South America and lies 2800 metres above sea level.
The sex of the tortoises bred in the breeding centre in Puerto Ayora on the Galapagos islands depends on the temperature of the incubators. The eggs kept in incubators at 29.5 degrees celsius become females and those kept in incubators at 28 degrees celsius become males.
The giant cacti of the Galapagos islands are the only species of opuntia cactus in the world that grows like a tree.
Legend has it that the Incas discovered the Galapagos islands in the fifteenth century but no solid evidence has been found to prove this.
Slightly subjective. Playa del Carmen sells the most expensive ice cream in the world. But it tastes pretty good.
The piece of lime in the top of a bottle of beer was originally not for the taste. It was used to wipe the rust off the rim.
Mayan mothers used to wrap planks of wood around their children's foreheads to flatten them.
The dazzling blue ocean along the Mayan riviera is due to the fact that there are no rivers feeding into it. And because of the lack of nutrients flowing into the sea, there is also less animal life along this part of the ocean.