What a place to be when you are off bananas (that’s off
bananas, not off my bananas!)
I entered Ecuador in a blaze of glory...not!
I arrived in Tumbes, which is 20km off the border crossing
just as it turned dark and after a bite to eat in the Costa del Sol, part of a
luxury range of hotels out here, Iwas
convinced that it was probably good value for money to stay in this hotel. The
manager explained that most if the hostels were mosquito-ridden hellholes and
that he could do me a simple room for about 20dollars, about £14. It was worth
it. A bath, luxury shampoos and soaps and fridge full of beer. Pleased to say I
only indulged in a bottle as I needed to be up early in the morning to get
passed the Ecuadorian border and reach Machala.
I reached this new road, which you will see when I have
managed to sort out my problem with uploading the pics to flickr, which
provided the best cycle section at the side of the road I have seen in the
whole of America.The sign showed me
quite clearly that to reach the frontera I had to follow the new road. However
when reached the exit point after 12 miles, I was advised by the guard that I
shouldn’t have been cycling the road. “Its only for cars, buses and lorries”,
he said. I said “ pero es la ruta para ciclistas!”. Si, he said, “pero, no es
possible”. He eventually agreed to let me pass through. Now, here’s the rub!
This new road is being part funded by the European Union. Now I have nothing
against the wealthy European Union supporting infrastructure projects in poorer
South America, however, I object to our money being spent on roads with cycling
routes that cyclist’s aren’t allowed to travel on! There we are first gripe in
Ecuador over....but there’s more to come!
It was only after I was sailing on the road towards Arenalis,
that I thought; where is the Ecuadorian immigration and customs control? Turns
out that it hasn’t yet been constructed on this new road! I assumed therefore
that that was the reason for me not being allowed to cycle it. I had to go back
about 10 kilometres to a border control point somewhere totally unrelated to
the point I had crossed into Ecuador at!
Anyway after a slight detour in Arenalis for some
food.....well something that resembled food, I travelled through over 40
kilometres of banana plantations to reach Machala. Now unbeknown to me, this is
the banana capital of the world. I could have gorged myself to death on bananas
if I had been capable of stomaching them!
Now the vibes on entering Ecuador weren’t good. First of all
I was treated as a second ( or much lower) class citizen as people disembarked
from this bus and pushed in front of me at customs and immigration ( that I’d
had to return to), only one of whomhad
the politeness to say “desculpe”. The guard was no better as he allowed this to
happen. From then on I was greeted by scowls from people hanging off the side
off trucks, jeeps and from people at the side of the road. But at least so far
I haven’t been attacked by a dog, which I was assured would definitely happen.
So I suppose that I should be thankful for small mercies.
Despite my best efforts to be cheerful by always saying Ola
and Buenos dias or beunos tardes to people I cycled past, it was met with a
blank and at times menacing stare. Occasionally you would get a thumbs up and
toot of support, but unlike Argentina and Peru, these were few and far between.
Ecuador was displaying many of the characteristics of Bolivia if not worse!
When I reached Machala, I tried to find somewhere with
wi-fi. This was indeed turning out to be like Bolivia. I couldn’t find any
accommodation with wi-fi. My only access to internet was at an internet cafe. I
had just logged onto emails when I was suddenly in darkness. The whole area had
had a powercut, a regular event it turns out! However, I wasn’t ready for the
next bit which was the minimum hour charge. I explained that I hadn’t even
logged onto my emails, before the power went off. He held his candle up to a
sign which said minimum hour charge. It was only a dollar, but it was the
principle which made me want to spill the candle-wax on his eyes! I then left
and a few streets down decided to buy a beer. Having spent my last dollar coin,
I gave the guy ten dollars, “No cambio” he said and practically threw the money
back at me! Hopefully things will improve, but I am not liking the manner and
general disposition of most of the Equadorians I have met so far.
