Fun at the Frontera

The border between Ecuador and Colombia is notorious for scams and tricks, so when I arrived I was more cautious than normal. Some other Canucks I met told me that some thieves even dress up as cops to "inspect" your passport before taking off. In hindsight that'd be pretty impressive to pull it off considering the overwhelming police presence, all decked out in riot gear.

Over the my trip I've made it a habit to always ask several people what a good exchange rate or cab fair is ahead of time. I mean, the last person to tell you a fair price is the cabi or the money changer. Armed with knowledge that 2000 pesos to the dollar is fair, the money changers slowly offered me better rates from 1800 to 1900 to 1980 and finally 1990. The money changer pulled out a calculator from his fanny pack and showed me that US $80 times 1990 is roughly 132,000. That looked funny to me because 80 x 2000 is 160,000. The number should be relatively close, so I walked away, got my passport stamped and did my own calculation. It should be 159,200. I showed him how his calculator is magically wrong and that my math skills are old school, but sound. He reluctantly agreed and counted out my money. When I recounted the money he gave me there was only 132,000. I dunno how 25,000 kept disappearing. It must have been an honest mistake. Reluctantly he gave me the rest of my money and I hopped in a cab with some New Zealanders and an Austrian into the nearest town.

We dropped the Kiwis off in the centre and continued on to the bus terminal. The Austrian's guide book said US $1 is a fair price from there, but we were willing to pay $2. After all, we are tourists. But the driver was insistant that $4 is normal. He educated us that we are in Colombia now, not Ecuador. Thank you. The price of gas is much more expensive here and the 1km to the bus terminal is considered a very long ride for a cab. Interesting. After much arguing at the terminal he said, "Alright ask another cab driver!" Gladly, the Austrian walked up to another cab, turned to a local leaning on the fence and asked him. Sure enough, $1 to $1.50 is normal!! So we gave the sleazy cabi $2 that is more than fair and left. He didn't follow us or even shout at us walking away - and believe me, if there was a problem he would have!

Thankfully every other Colombian I've met since then has been incredibly nice and friendly. I even chatted with a friendly father and his son on the bus all the way from the border to Pasto. He told me to email him the next time I'm in town. And in all honesty, I'm still very happy to be in Colombia!

written by  ryanmyers on August 7, 2009 from Pasto, Colombia
from the travel blog: Ryan's First Sabbatical
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