Cheated

From Máncora, we made our way to Tumbes, the last city before the Perú-Ecuador border. I didn't know it at the time, but apparently this border crossing has a reputation for being dangerous. According to some sources, many people get robbed or attacked on this crossing. Whoops. Moreover, you are highly recommended not to cross the border in a colectivo, or van, which just so happens to be exactly what we did. Don't tell my mother.

Although we did make it across safely, one of the few sour notes of the trip is that our colectivo driver cheated us. We didn't know that in order to cross many South American borders, there are two stops: at the first your old visa is collected and you receive an exit stamp, and at the second you are issued a new visa and receive an entrance stamp. Our colectivo driver (over)charged us to bring us "across the border." He did, I suppose, bring us across the border, but only through one border stop, not two. We were about to hop on a bus to Machala, the first big city in Ecuador, when the bus attendant stopped us and informed us about the surprise second border stop. Our colectivo driver, who I'm sure knew full well that we had to go through two immigration stops, had already driven away with our money. We had to get on another bus to reach the second border crossing, about 20 minutes down a dusty, unpopulated route.

I understand that even as a student without a job, I have more money than our driver. Every sol that I drop costs me only $0.37. In my room in Lima I have an expensive backpacker's backpack and hiking boots, a Mac laptop, and a digital camera, which together is almost certainly worth more than some people in the border region make in a year. For that, I feel very privileged. But the privilege does not excuse the feelings of stupidity, ignorance, and disrespect that come with being cheated. Such a transaction brings frustration that I didn't have right information. It bring a feeling of unintelligence, because I couldn't tell that the driver was cheating us. Most importantly, it brings a sense of sadness that I can't trust people to be honest - I always have to be on my game, always aware that people are going to overcharge or disinform me for my money. It's an uncomfortable and unwelcome feeling. Unfortunately, it's a common one that I have felt here in Perú.