Puro Miedo

This one is a short one. I was returning from Machu Picchu on a night bus from Guayaquil to Quito. I sat next to a nice old lady and she started warning me about the night buses and how you shouldn't sleep on them. I was like, right right. I've done this before. I'll be careful. And then she warned me about how the police stop the buses at night sometimes to "check for weapons and robbers," and how they will steal stuff themselves sometimes. Sure enough, that night, we were pulled over by the cops and we had to get off. To add to my fear, I had heard of two extranjeros being pulled off a bus by the border a couple of months ago, robbed by the police at gunpoint, and then left in a field. So needless to say, I was crapping my pants. Nothing happened, but nevertheless, that is one of the darker sides of traveling in South America.