One sad fact about South America is that each country is an island completely unto itself. There is minimal trade and communication across national borders. What a contrast, e.g., between here and the border between Mexico and California which has hundreds, if not thousands, of trucks and buses crossing in both directions each day.

I wanted to go from the city of Chiclayo in Peru to either Loja or Cuenca in Ecuador. They´re probably no more than a 100 air miles apart. However, because there´s a border involved, there is no overnight bus. There is no airplane. In fact, there is no direct bus at all. It would be like trying to go from L.A. to Ensenada and being told: You must take one bus from L.A. to San Diego; another bus from San Diego to San Ysidro; then take a transit bus, or taxi, or walk across the border, and start taking a series of buses on the other side.

I had to learn all this from a very discouraged travel agent. She kept apologizing and saying "No hay." (There isn´t any.) This was her answer to my questions: is there an overnight bus, is there a central bus station, is there a direct bus, etc.

I ended up taking a bus from the little town of Chiclayo to the little town of Piura. The Peruvian travel agent let me know she was not at all enthused about me taking an Ecuadorian bus, for reasons she left unspoken.

In Piura, I walked all over the place trying to find a bus that would take me toward Ecuador. I think people genuinely don´t know. They just don´t go there. One Peruvian let me know he thought I was crazy to take an Ecuadorian bus. When I finally found the (spacious!) bus station, it was practically empty. They actually offered a direct bus! I was the only passenger going all the way to Loja. The bus left on time with about 5 passengers on board, all of them headed for little towns enroute to the border. I talked to a young lady across the aisle from me and asked if she was going to Ecuador. She laughed and said something like, "Heck, no! I´m only going a little way down the road." So it was until the bus neared the Ecuador border, when it began to take on Ecuadorian passengers headed for Loja.

I came away with the distinct impression that Peruvians consider themselves superior to Ecuadorians. As a footnote, the bus was fine, certainly just as comfortable, or uncomfortable depending on your point of view, as Peruvian buses. There was the usual overhead video monitor this time showing a martial arts action movie. I was much more excited by the views out the window.

The Andes never cease to amaze me. We left the hot humid coast behind and began climbing up the mountains. We left behind the sandy desert-type landscape and it got greener and greener as we got higher. I know I´ve over-used the word "spectacular" in talking about the Andes, but that´s just what they are. The road was barely 2 lanes wide, but paved (!) and wound its way up steep canyons with huge mountains on all sides. The breathtaking views were not broken up by interfering guardrails. The landscape was dense lush verdant dark green vegetation that would require a machete to walk through. Each time we crested a mountain pass there were photo-opportunity views in all directions. There were small farms all along the way and frequently we shared the road with pigs, goats, cows, and burros.

The border crossing was a bridge at the bottom of a canyon spanning the River Macara. The 3 or 4 of us (some Ecuadorians had gotten on) had to wake up the Immigration official from his siesta to process our papers. Just another example of the absolute MINIMAL commerce and contact between the two island countries.

Most people travel to Ecuador by going up the hot humid coast. By all means, if you´re ever here, I wholeheartedly recommend you take the mountain route to Loja instead. Next blog: all about Loja!