Ecuador y Policia Falsos..

I've meandered my way through Ecuador since the last post. Sorry for not updating a bit more (for those that actually check often!), but I've been on night buses and a little sick the last few days.

From Chicama (prime surf spot), I went North to hit a couple other surf places, notably Pacasmayo, Lobitos, and Cabo Blanco. Unfortunately the swell had worn off, and none of those places had decent enough waves to warrant my staying there, so I continued North through Mancora and to a little town called Tumbes, the gateway to the Ecuadorian border.

The border is really weird. From Peru, there's an exit sign marking the supposed line, saying, "Thank you for visiting Peru." You get your exit stamps before that. Then there's this giant, dangerous marketplace, with shops and tons of people and mayhem going on, and THEN there's a sign saying, "Welcome to Ecuador," that is supposed to mark the line of Ecuador's border. No one really knows what country this in-between market is in. It's like no-man's land.

I decided to take a cab to the border, which I figured would be faster and they'd direct me to the right places, etc. Bad idea. The story is really long, so if you're extremely interested I'll tell it to you in person sometime. Basically there were 3 guys in the cab, and they were all fake cab drivers. I got my exit stamp, and they took me to some offhand location in this crazy market place, and a fake cop came out (he was in uniform but definitely was not real) and made me pay him 150 Soles (about $50 USD) entrance fee to Ecuador. There is NO entrance fee, for ANYONE to Ecuador. I argued, but really couldn't do much. I paid off this fake cop, and THEN was made to pay another 70 Soles ($25 USD) to the taxi drivers, even though they told me it would only be 12 Soles to the border. I couldn't do anything about it. So basically, I was scammed out of 75 bucks, and then had to get lost in this market and have a hell of a time trying to get into Ecuador (I was frisked by 2 different cops elsewhere for no reason).

I finally got some cash, got on a bus, and went all the way to Quito, the capital city. I spent a little time there trying to forget my border dilemmas and have a bit higher spirits. Today I took a bus out of Quito, North to a small town called Tulcan, where I am right now. Tulcan is the gateway to Columbia, and tomorrow I'll be cruising North in Columbia, but can only take day buses. I've been warned that night buses are often stopped and all passengers robbed by militants/guerrilla troops, and I'm really not into that kind of thrill quite yet. Other than that, most of the cities in Columbia, especially larger ones, are generally safe during the day... You just watch out and don't be a tanto gringo and walk around with your camera out, 200 bucks in your pocket, and your nice new gold watch.

Other than that, not too much to update. I'm planning to probably head through Cali, Bogota, and then up towards Santa Maria on the Caribbean coast.

Here's a couple old pictures:

My 6'4 beauty, she rides like a queen.

Chicama: Swell pefection at the longest left in the world. Looks small, but it's not.Big fan-wind-generator-thing at Chicama.

Lennon is alive and well in Quito, Ecuador..So are Chinese Restaurants.. Which taste kind of like if someone in Georgia who had never eaten Chinese food tried to cook it from a description. But they're really cheap and you get a PILE of grub.

For now, hasta luego. I'll talk to you in Cali, where everything's supposed to be beautiful.

-Brian