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Ecuador
,→Peru
|hitch = <rating country='ec' />
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'''Ecuador''' is a country in [[South America]]. It borders [[Colombia]] and [[Peru]]. It is great for [[hitchhiking]], just be careful in some places, especially at the coast. Many pick-up trucks are there. Drivers might ask Many locals ,especially far from cities, hitchhike their way to school, work and such. But! In Ecuador it's kind of common to pay for rides. After a month of hitchhiking some ride asked me for money, and I realized that many of the people who gave me a ride this last month were actually expecting money, but I left the car and they were too shy to ask. it's good to say before you go on the ride, "No tengo Dinero, esta bien?" or "Sin plata, esta bien?" If the say yes than you are good. if you can explain your situation don't ask before you will get away with itmight be asked a specific amount that is too large for you in the end of the ride. Many Ecuadorians are happy to pick up a foreigner. It's not the safest country to hitchhike though.
Along the [[Panamericana]] there are several Toll-Stations [[toll booths]] ("Peajepeaje"). Take an overland bus in direction of your destination and get out at the first toll station booth (normally $0,25cts .25 - $0,50cts.50). You have a couple of seconds to ask the other drivers until you get kicked out by the [[police]], but that's normally enough time to find a ride. If you are able to explain your situation in Spanish, you might be able to stay longer. If you want to avoid this kind of "trouble" you can as well try to stop cars along the Panamericana. Along this road normally you won't get asked for money.
[[Buses]] in Ecuador are quite cheap (usually $2.5/hr), and will usually stop anywhere. Now days there is buses or shuttles on even really small roads and they are quite frequent.There is usually two workers on every bus, a driver and a guy that helps with putting bags in the trunk, boarding the bus and collecting the money.Many busses expect you to run and board as fast as possible while the bus is still moving. Many times while I hitchhikied busses stopped thinking I am waiting for them, and when I said: "no tengo dinero" they told me to board the bus anyway. Many people also stop and try to give you money for the bus. == How locals hitchhike ==In Ecuador the locals hitchhike by doing the clasical fist with a thumb pointing out but they point the thumb towards the road and move their hand back and forth when cars pass to show they want to go to the direction their thumb is pointing.you can also hitchikie the classical way, but many will not be sure what you mean. I found out that cars stop much faster if you are hitchhiking like the locals, but also most of them will go if you are not willing to pay for the ride. == Regions ==Ecuador is roughly divided into 3 regions.La Sierra in the middle. Which is mainly high mountains. and it can rain here quite a lot. La costa to the west. Which includes the coast line but also all the land and forest after you come down from the mountains but still very far from the coast. here it's very humid and hot most the year. and El Oriente to the east. which is a big lands of changing forest.it's climate is something between La Costa and La Sierra. In El Oriente and in La Sierra in general hitchhikng is good. Getting rides is usually easier the further you are from big cities. But sometimes, on spesific days or hours very few cars pass by. In La Costa hitchiking is a little bit harder. In the last years many refugees from neighbouring countries are coming to Ecuador especially to La Costa.Many refugees tend to walk around with big backpacks.And because of that, many locals will mistake backpacker as refugees, even if you look like you are from totally different part of the world.Which might cause people to try to help you with giving you money and such,But also might make people be more hesitant to give you a lift.Many truck drivers which are used to refugees hitchhiking stop and mark you to go in the cargo bed if you wish. many times if you come to the window and speak with them a word or two, they invite you to the front. == Camping ==If you wish opening a tent for the night it's kind of common to do so in Gas stations or at the fireman station. Just go and ask. Mostly they'll say yes. You might get free access for bathroom and shower a roof and maybe even a meal.plus there is always people working there guarding so it's relateviley very safe. == Safety ==It should be said that Ecuador is not the safest country in the world.In some places it's better to walk only if you are with locals.If you don't pay attention to your stuff you might end up loosing them. There is also a higher chance in some areas for getting mugged.It's better not to go to very isolated parts far from the big roads, or wonder around at nights if you are new to the region. Many part of the country are very safe and you can totally relax.But other parts are a little bit more tense.So it's always good to talk with the locals and ask for advice.Most of the times you can feel the atmosphere from they're responses about the area that you are in. Police in general are very helpful, especially if they understand you are from a different country. They might offer you to camp next to them and such for protection. or help to find a bus and sometimes rides. == Cities ==__TOC__* [[Aloag]]* [[Ambato]]* [[Baños de Agua Santa]]* [[Cuenca]]* [[El Coca]]* [[Guayaquil]]* [[Ibarra]]* [[Latacunga]]* [[Loja]]* [[Manta]]* [[Montañita]]* [[Otavalo]]* [[Puerto Lopez]]* [[Puyo]]* [[Quilotoa]]* [[Quito]]* [[Riobamba]]* [[Santa Elena]]* [[Tena]]* [[Tulcán]] == License Plates plates ==
''This section contains text from the Wikipedia article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Ecuador Vehicle registration plates of Ecuador]. ''
The first letter indicates the province of issue. The second letter, also called the "key letter", identifies the type of [[license plate]].
{|class="wikitable"
:''Easily the easiest country to hitch. Spent about a month hitchin around. I recommend the walk from the highway to Misahualli to see the monkeys in the square and to camp along the banks of the jungly river fork.'' -[[User:Chael777|Chael777]]
:" ''I never had to wait more then half and hour, at any place in Ecuador. Hitchhiking through the coast is probably the easiest. Hitchhiking around the Andes is the best. I recommend visiting cities like Loja and Cuenca." '' - [[User:fyrexia|fyrexia]] :''Loved Ecuador, I hitchhiked from the Colombia border to Quito, over to Pernables, down to Montanita, over to Guayaquil and onwards to Peru. Never waited long, could easily sleep in the country in my hammock and got given money for lunch once, bought lunch once and given a place to stay twice. The coast is a little trickier but very doable, just aim for the pickup trucks, some might ask for money (one did) but just say you have none and it's all cool. The water in Quito is drinkable too and there is a lively couchsurfing scene, just be careful because its not as cheap as Peru or Colombia. Managed to hitchhike urban buses twice, I recommend always walking with your bag on your bag and turning around when a car approaches, especially on the coast, this type of hitchhiking works better than petrol stations and signs because Ecuadorian will pity you fast and want to help out'' - [[User:HoboSpirit|HoboSpirit]] == Border Crossings ==Ecuador only borders two countries: [[Peru]] to the South and East and [[Colombia]] to the North and East. In the Amazon region of Ecuador, there's some border crossings by river boat that aren't really good for hitchhiking, but might provide a great challenge. Ecuador has one of the most chill visa policies in the world, therefore many people with "difficult" passports can also come and enjoy the country for 90 days. === [[Peru]] ===All border crossings are ordered roughly from West to East. Ecuador and Perú had a border dispute as recent as 1999, so perhaps be sensitive on the issue. This is not a comprehensive list of border crossings, as there are many more, but most of these will have immigration offices to process international visitors. '''Huaquillas to Aguas Verdes''' ¡DON´T GO THERE! Only if you want to do sightseeing, you can cross walking, nobody cares, but if you need to stamp your passport is imposible! From Huaquillas you must go 5km in "Transversal Sur" to a place that is called CEBAF, the first one is only to entry in Ecuador so don´t go there, 2km more in south direction you will find a second CEBAF there you can stamp your exit from Ecuador and finally entry in Perú (June 2022).
== Gallery ==
Image:Hitchinecuador.jpg|[[User:Themodernnomad|themodernnomad]] hitchhiking in the rain in the jungle near Macaus, trusty tarp in hand
File:Eric pics 131.jpg|[[User:Eripson|Eripson]] (right) with friend Gaston hitching from Baños to Quito.
</gallery>
[[wikipedia:Ecuador]]