I
finally woke up with the first few rays of sun appearing from the horizon and I
enjoyed my last Peruvian sunrise from the bus window as we were entering Piura.
After a while we stopped at the bus station where we jumped off and grabbed my
bags. I made my way out to grab a taxi to go to the next bus station to get my
ticket to Loja for the second leg of the trip.

I
found a motor taxi waiting for me so I jumped in. It was a very tame experience
(which I am grateful for) but I am still not sure how traffic circles work here
as everyone just goes and the people on the circle have to stop. After a few
minutes I arrived at the terminal only to find out that it is the wrong one but
fortunately the one I wanted was a block away. I had a quick walk there where I
got my ticket and then sat and waited as I now have 2 hours to kill.

To
kill some time I took a walk up and down the road I was on and found a bakery
so got some chicken empanadas for breakfast. There wasn't much to look at in this
place so I turned around and went back to wait for my bus. Eventually it was
time to depart so I grabbed my bags and got onto the bus.

The
bus was relatively empty so I had two seats to myself and within no time I was
asleep. I woke up a few times with the sun on me but the first time I really
woke up was 2 hours into the journey where the bus was stopped by the police.
They boarded the bus and checked our passports and then left and we were on our
way again.

After
some more sleep and another few hours passing I had a look out the window to
notice the landscape and vegetation were completely different. I was back in
the mountains which were reaching the clouds and everything was green.
Everywhere I looked all I could see was green trees, grass and bushes. I have
missed green.A
little while later we hit the border where we jumped out and got me exit stamp
from Peru and then took a walk over a bridge to get to Ecuador. There didn't
seem like there was much of a system at the control point here and all we did
was hand our documents through a window and wait. After a while my name was
called and I got my stamped passport back and I was on my way to the bus. 

We
drove for a few minutes before stopping in MacarĂ¡ for a lunch stop and to
collect more passengers. Here I jumped off the bus and took a walk to find a
nice shady spot to enjoy some leftover pizza. I may have gone into the
mountains but I think it's actually hotter here than it was in Huanchaco! After
some pizza and something to drink (nonalcoholic) I took a walk back to the bus
station to continue the journey.

After
leaving MacarĂ¡ we started winding our way up the mountain. I managed to get
some sleep but every time I woke up I felt like we were climbing. By the time
we were just outside Loja there was a chill in the air but fortunately when I
got out at the bus terminal in Loja it wasn't so bad.

I
walked into the terminal to find a bus to Vilcabamba. There is a frequent bus
along this route but was told by the lady at the desk to go get on the bus as
it was leaving soon. As I tried to get outside there were turnstiles that I
needed to give 10c to get through but I had no cents! I had to go find an
information office so I could get cents and then go back which meant I missed
the bus. Fortunately they run every half an hour so I just had to wait. What is
strange is that they use USD but some of the coins are from Ecuador. 

I
sat on the bus waiting for it to get going (even though I don't have a ticket
yet and hoping I understood the lady correctly that I can pay on the bus). The
bus pulled up and I put my bag inside and found a seat. We left the terminal
and stopped in a few places and in no time the bus was full. We kept going and
I managed to pay on the bus and struggled to stay awake so I didn't miss the
stop. Fortunately the bus terminated in Vilcabamba so I jumped off with some
fellow gringos and we caught a cab to the hostel. Well, a cab is a generous
term. It was a bakkie that we put our bags in the back and jumped inside and
off we went.

At
the hostel we checked in and I headed to the bar for a much needed beer after a
long day of traveling. After all the leftover pizza I wasn't very hungry so a
beer diet for tonight was the way to go.

At
the bar I chatted to the American couple I met on the bus but they left to go
have dinner. I stayed and ended up chatting to Manuella (Austrian girl) and
having a few beers and before we knew it it was 3am so we called it a night.