I am trying to rush through Ecuador but it won’t let me.
I get up at 7 AM to meet up with the guy from last night who promised to be downstairs at my place. Of course he’s not there. So I go at around 7:45 to where he works, and I wait for 30 minutes and he hasn’t shown up for work either. So I leave, thinking I’ll take my chances at Quito, Ecuador myself.
There’s a bit of a complicated way to get to the border and I get lost a bit and get to the border around 9 AM. Colombian side of the border to exit worked out fine. It took me about 15 minutes to wait in line, get my passport ‘stamped’ via some electronic printer and then turned in my DIAN customs papers for my car. I get to the Ecuador side and things start to go wrong immediately. I get pulled over for inspection, but thankfully, one of the inspectors tells the other that I’m a tourist, I’m good to go. I park behind the immigration building.
Just my luck. Electricity is out, so the line to enter Ecuador is built up and no one’s going anywhere. So I ask the person in front if he can save my place in line and I go to eat. Even with the electricity back on, I wait for at least an hour before I’m through. Then it’s car permit. I get the permit, alright, but they ask a lot of the same questions that the Central American countries asked and takes a bit. By the time I’m actually through, it is already 11AM. After having gotten up for 6:30 AM to wait for a guy that never came and going through the border in 2 hours is not a great way to start my day.
The day gets even better. The attendant at the first toll road I come to in Ecuador tells me that the road to Quito is closed. I need to take a detour. This detour takes me through some crappy roads. But thankfully it only adds perhaps 30-45 minutes to my journey…
I get to Mira through this detour, and I am somewhat lost. There’s a couple major roads going in two different directions and no signs. So I turn around to ask for directions and to use the restroom. The older lady takes me to her own personal bathroom, which I really appreciate because she says there’s a public bathroom down in the city. Later, some girl comes by while I’m asking the lady for directions, and the lady tells the girl to help me. So she tells me to go left on the major road to Quito. I say thanks and start my car to leave when she knocks on my window to tell me to go right instead. I say thanks, but take this opportunity to ask and take a picture of her. She says “Que Irregular”, but smiles for the camera nevertheless.
Quito is a pretty big city. There are mechanics everywhere, and I saw a couple older Mercedes cars as well. But I stop by a Volvo mechanic to talk to about my brakes. He tells me that he believes it’s the bomba, or the brake master cylinder, and goes out for 45 minutes and finds the piece I’m looking for. I’m relieved, and he says he can fix it tonight. His name’s Diego.
So halfway through the 2.5 hour process, I get out my lantern and flashlight to help out. Then the mother of the mechanic asks me if I want some coffee. How could I refuse? She invites us just in time as the mechanic was getting done. And I gotta say that was the best black coffee I’ve ever had. Better than the ones in Colombia, although I suppose I didn’t go to some real fancy coffee place there. It was great without any cream or milk, just black coffee. That was the first time I ever actually enjoyed pure black coffee.
But I’m not real happy about the fact that this mechanic cost me $300 and things seem to be worse than before. The brakes are still bad, which could indicate some cracking on the tubes from the booster. And, to make matters worse, the gas pedal is sticking again, which I suppose isn’t too concerning but it does get quite annoying. I need to stop by another mechanic tomorrow.
So right now I’m in a hotel near Mitad del Mundo, or the Middle of the World. I’m actually back up on the northern hemisphere right now, and I think I saw the monument while coming up here. It’s not too far from the city center at all, took me about 30-45 minutes.