As I crested the last ridge and dropped into the river valley dividing Ecuador and Peru, I was thrilled to see a bridge with small sheds on either side, and with two draw-arms blocking access from each side. Someone actually works here! Six hours earlier, I had left Vilcabamba not knowing what I would find at the crossing. My map showed a road, but neither of my maps showed the symbol for a "border post," as there was at the two other crossings west of here. Often times, the remote crossings don't have immigration offices to stamp passports or aduana offices to do paperwork for the bike. I'm not sure how this means for the residents of the two border countries, but as a foreigner, I need my passport stamped. So when I left Vilcabamba I accepted the fact that I might be making a return trip, but a couple hours into the ride, I was really hoping I wouldn't be taking the same route back. The road was beautiful, and it was nice to see forests after a couple hundred miles of widespread deforestation, but no route is fun to ride twice, especially when it's six hours each way.
There were two people working on the Ecuadorian side, and they had me on my way in less than five minutes. One of them lifted the draw-arm and I crossed to the Peruvian draw-arm. I parked my bike on the bridge and walked over to the cluster of sheds that was the Peruvian border post. The immigration official welcomed me with a complementary soda and some fresh pineapple. I need to go to remote border crossing more often! I hung around and chatted with the guy for a while, and then walked to the aduana who's office door was three feet from the immigration office. The office was closed. I knew this was too good to be true. It's not the end of the world to have to wait a bit, but when it's 3pm, and the first town with a place to sleep is an unknown distance from the border, on a road of unknown condition, I start to get a little concerned; especially when I've waited for several hours, on several occasions, for a person to come back to the office.
I poked my head back into the immigration office and asked if he knew where the aduana guy was. "Oh, he's probably sleeping. There's so few people coming through here that we usually sleep until a bus is scheduled to come through. See the two story building in town with the red roof, go knock on the door and he'll come back to the office." I need a job like that! One where you can just go to sleep when there's nothing to do. Wait, I did have a job like that: Marine Corps Infantry. Actually, now that I think about it, I'll pass. I wasn't sure if waking this guy from his beauty sleep was the best way to make friends and ensure a speedy crossing, or if I'd be better off just waiting for him to wake up on his own, but I walked the 200 yards into the cluster of houses and stores that was the town, and knocked on the door. When he poked his head out the second story window, with a face that said, "I'm less than happy right now," I wasn't sure if I had just made a really long day for myself or not. He said he'd be at the office in five minutes, and as I walked back to the offices, I glanced at the bridge wondering if it would be my roof for the night. Ten minutes later, he arrived at the office and he was actually smiling! Another ten minutes and I was on my way.
I've been in Peru for a couple days now, and although I don't have any specific stories to tell at this time, Peru has had some of the best riding of the trip. Ecuador had very few North to South routes aside from the Panamerica. I made several loops off of the Panamerica in Ecuador, but all southerly progress was made on the highway. In Peru, the route options are limitless, so it's great to be off the beaten path, but still making progress south. Like Colombia and Ecuador, the people of Peru are friendly and inquisitive, and its a pleasure to stop in the small towns and meet people. I have a ton of pictures to share from the last couple of days. I apologize if it's picture after picture of winding roads hugging the sides of mountains, but that's what the last 14 hours of riding has consisted of...and I'm not complaining!
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