Flight delayed, flight cancelled, this flight is next in line for takeoff, I'm sorry this flight is closed, sound familiar? Most of us have experienced one or possibly all of these outcomes when flying and as annoying and stressful as they can be, there really is nothing worse than travelling a foreign country by bus. I can't even begin to list the issues a traveller would be exposed to, but if you're going to properly see a country inside and out, at some point your going to need to take a bus. I like taking the bus for the cultural experiences, the people and scenic views you'll see on a bus trip would not be possible on a plane. Some of my funniest memories and stories come from riding busses in my travels so when I get that knot in my stomach before I arrive at the bus depot wondering what's in store for me I try and think what possible great experience I could be about to have.

To reach the western coast and my first beach destination Salinas I needed to take a bus. I actually know a Canadian who lived a short while in the city Guayaquil (population 3 million to put it into prospective for you) which is where I needed to catch the bus to Salinas. He warned me of two things, 1) The bus station is massive, good luck. 2) Nobody will help you and you're likely to end up on a bus going the complete opposite direction, double good luck. He was right about only one thing, the station is huge! It looked like West Edmonton Mall. However once again the kind natured Ecuadorians stepped up immediately and helped me find the window where I needed to buy a ticket and then one of the employees walked me to the exact bus and made sure I was on. The bus left shortly thereafter (which is a rarity) and are you ready for this part....arrived on time!!! Now this was a first for my travels. The trip was a breeze and dream. I was skeptical of course if this good luck would last, however being eight bus rides in at this point, and the most difficult and tricky being today I'm confident to say it really did last, absolutely incredible. As I mentioned before when you're travelling solo you have to put trust and confidence in strangers and in this case I was putting my trust in the bus "door man". The bus driver, drives, but the door man is the man in charge. He collects the fees, deals with luggage and keeps track of who is going where by memory! All the busses are hop on hop off meaning along the highway people just randomly get on and the bus has many destinations so you can't just rely on getting on and when it stops it's time to get off. I always had a slight anxious nerve that the door man would forget about me and forget to tell me when to get off to transfer busses or that it was my end destination. But never once did they forget about me :-). It was so impressive how they kept track and I always felt like I had a crowd of people making sure I was getting to where I was going, I never felt as my Canadian contact suggested the locals wouldn't help me get to through Ecuador. It always makes me smile when I would need to transfer busses and the door man would walk me to a certain point and yell out to another door man cross a street or bus terminal my requested destination, then that door man would lock eyes with me and I was safely in my next set of guided hands. The sweetest part is all the locals in between as I pass they smile and call out my destination and point me towards the next door man...as if I'm lost and still need direction. It's there way to help and I always appreciate it and thank each person as I pass. In small towns, which are dirt roads and you can walk the whole town in half and hour or less the bus stop is anywhere along the highway. You just find the highway that passes through the town and just stand there....anywhere, and when you see a bus coming you just wave and the door man jumps off a still moving vehicle and loads your bag, you tell him your destination and he figures out the rest, a way you go! I had emailed my mom about how easy and considerably enjoyable my bus travels have been here in Ecuador, no chickens in lap or smelly armpits in my face and she said that was too bad because those things make memorable bus rides and as much as I agree with this these bus trips have been special too and I will remember them for being organized, efficient, and pleasant which is new to me :-)