Travels with Tia: Free Cheese!

I got free cheese! It made my morning. Local markets are fast becoming my favorite South American pastime. There you can find the best fruits, veggies, meals and most importantly, the guy (or lady) that sells the cheese. It’s white, squishy and comes in giant blocks of different varieties. And the best part? They let you taste them all. Up in the mountains of Ecuador the cheese is particularly good. This lovely shop guy even gave it to me for free. I followed it up a strong cup of market place coffee. Could a morning get any better?

Sadly my visit to Ecuador was only brief. My visa was seriously expired so a quick border hop was in order. My friend Jose had come to Lobitos Lodge to visit me and have some chill out time surfing. Poor guy only got one day there before I dragged him off on a border run. We had a whirlwind 3 days of busses, borders, mountains, surfing, dingy city hotels, ukules, beer and everything else in between. I don’t think I’ve laughed that much in a long time.

The border crossing was chill. Cost me $64 in fees - $1 a day. We spent the first night in a big city a few hours north. One night in the smoke was more than enough, so the next day we hopped on a bus inland to visit the little mountain town of Zaruma. It was beautiful. Peaceful. So quiet and friendly.

Crossing the border back into Peru was trickier. I almost got squished just trying to get off the damn bus! I was the last one off and there was a big mass of people waiting to get on. I got half way out the door when suddenly everyone started surging forward. It was craziness. I was stuck half on the bus getting totally trampled. Maybe it was pay back for the hours of ukulele playing Jose and I inflicted on the other passengers…

The border is a funny place. You have to get a taxi across when exiting Ecuador. Then you sign into Peru. After that you have to go BACK into Ecuador to get a bus or a taxi to Peru! We were like “wha? Wait, didn’t I just leave Ecuador? Why am I going back?!” Confusing, right? Trying to find a taxi in a sketchy border town after dark made me uneasy, but it all turned out ok.

After that it was a quick overnight stop near Mancora and now I’m back at work. Nothing changes in Lobtios. The wind is howling, the dust is blowing and the waves are peeling.

Pictures courtesy of Jose :)