The one time we got hustled in Peru

There are always those horrible stories about people getting robbed, lost or even worse. We were lucky enough that nothing serious happened to us, but there was this one time that they got the best of us.

Background

We were passing through Peru on land, and our plan was to do it in 2 weeks. Unfortunately for us, the geopolitical situation at that point had different plans. There were huge protests in Ecuador and the border crossings were closed. So we got stuck for a whole week in Mancora (a town that we didn't like so much) and got out of there with the first chance.

Ittsa Bus Mancora

The way to cross the border was to take a bus from Mancora to Huaquillas. All the bus companies in Mancora are located in the same street. We, in our naivety chose the one that has the nicest office, and a name of an actual bus company in Peru (which we later discovered, that other than the name, had absolutely no connection to the real Ittsa bus company). We bought 2 tickets to Aguas Verdes (the border), and paid 35 Soles (~10$) each and went on the bus, happy to be finally crossing to Ecuador

The actual bus ride

The bus stopped at Tumbes, a town 40 minutes away from the border. All the passengers got out of the bus and the driver told us to get out as well. We told him that we are supposed to get off at the border and not here, and he said that it's the last stop of the bus and there is a taxi waiting for us. From the other people on the bus we heard that they paid 10 Soles to get to Tumbes, having paid 35 each we thought it makes sense although did not appreciate the driver's dismissal of our questions when we were told that this specific bus will take us to Aguas Verdes (which is on the border). The driver called someone on the street and told us that this is our taxi driver and everything is paid for. We got in the taxi and drove away.

The taxi drive

During our taxi ride we discovered that not only nothing is paid for but also that the bus driver didn't even know the taxi driver (or so he said) therefore we had to pay additional 35 Soles for the taxi ride. When arriving to Aguas Verdes the driver asked us if we want to visit the town or to cross the border, like it wasn't obvious. We said that we want to cross the border and the driver told us that it's 5$ more to the border crossing, which was apparently in a completely different place. We paid, of course, and finished our horrible day in Huaquillas on the Ecuatorian side.

Our mistakes

We made a few, starting with choosing a bus company by their ticket office, then hearing the people talk about a different ticket price and a few more. But the main mistake I believe we made is not asking the taxi driver about the price before we got in the car.

Final thoughts

We were lucky enough to pay just 15$-25$ more than we should have and still arrive safely to our destination. Lucy was still bargaining with the taxi driver while I just said we should pay him and be done with it. Both of us speak Spanish so it was easier for us to actually be calm and understand what is going on, but it was definitely a lesson for us. And a bad memory from being hustled in Peru.