Goodbye Ecuador

Up about 7:45, packed, had breakfast at another restaurant, then to the bus station to catch a bus back to Loja, then get on our 12:30 bus for Zumba, near the Peruvian border.After Vilcabamba, the road turned to mud from the rain. The bus couldn't make it up!!! He was slip-sliding all over the place. He tried three times, before finally backing down the hill and then stopped and waited. After 20 minutes, he said he was turning back and going back to Loja and started driving. Noooo!!!!! There were about 10 people on the whole bus, so a bunch of locals told the bus driver to stop, they'd pick up a camioneta (truck) instead. They hopped off the bus, and a truck came fairly quickly, and they were off. We discussed what to do and decided to flag down the next bus or camioneta that came along. The bus driver said they'd cover the cost of the bus fare on the other bus. We waited about 30 minutes, and another bus came. We flagged it down, and got on. As we came to the part of road that our first bus couldn't make it up, we crossed our fingers. This bus had a lot more people on it, it was heavier and it made it up! A bit further, we came to a spot where another bus had gone off the road and was stuck in three feet of mud. I hope that doesn't happen to us!AFter dark, the bus ride was pretty crazy. The bus raced along the edges of the mountain, right along the edge of cliffs, teeny bridges, so small, when I looked out the window, I couldn't even see the bridge, just the raging river below.We finally made it to Zumba about 9:00 I think, well after dark, and got a taxi to the "best of the worst" hotels.