Paz and I took the night bus from Cuenca to Mancora. It was a 12 hour trip down from the green mountains of Ecuador to the desert coast of Peru. I either slept or sleepwalked through most of it: the winding journey along mountain roads from Cuenca, the dark rain forests of southern Ecuador, the 1 a.m. bus switch at the frontier, the two-hour-long wait at the border crossing to leave Ecuador, the 3.30 a.m. presentation of documents to enter Peru...we arrived at 6 a.m. and the first thing I can remember is shoving myself into something I had never seen before in my life...a mototaxi.
This form of transportation - a motorbike with a small carriage of plastic tarp attached to its rear - is apparently very common in the coastal cities of Peru and Ecuador. Despite their shanty appearance, the mototaxistas are legit and creative. Their shirts and carriages bear emblems of the local asociación de mototaxistas and their plastic coverings are decorated with all sorts of personalized images, stickers and window pastings. We saw everything from Ché and Jesus to Mickey Mouse and Guns and Roses.
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