Ecuador. The Land That Forgot Time

For A Country That Sells So Many Watches...

I'www.themortgagenomad.cave been traveling all over Ecuador for over 7 months now. To some, this will sound like a long time, and for others that have been here for a while, it'll come off as "cute". I have been here a couple other times in my life, with the longest being 3 weeks, which was by no means anywhere long enough to observe the lack of time appreciation this country experiences. In this post, I'll share some of my experiences, obviously with a North American perspective and a bit of Canadian levity and humour.

Planes, trains, and automobiles

Okay, we'll replace trains with busses, but hey, a catchy title is just a important, right? Things move differently here. Very differently.
Planes: Although these are encountered a lot less, there are still some interesting aspects of flying in to Ecuador. This is when having at least a slight bit of Spanish comes in handy. Ecuadorian airports are bustling and unlike what we may experience in many other countries - you're on your own. This is not so much of a time issue at all, but rather an observation that things happen very fast in the airport, so making that connecting flight may be an issue if you don't pay acute attention.
Buses: Buses are everywhere down here, and it really is amazing how many people travel this way, not only municipally, but nationally. It's the beating pulse of transportation, and one of the most popular due to the low cost and convenient routes. Here, timing is very important, as a matter of 10 minutes being late could get you a 5 hour stay in the terminal. It's a great idea to call ahead and check departure times if you absolutely need to be somewhere at a certain time. Now, this isn't always the solution of course, because traveling by bus is also very unreliable at times. What we see back home as a 300 km trip taking 3 hours is completely thrown out the window down here. That 300 km's here? It could have a few delays, right from leaving on time, to road conditions, picking up more riders at every stop, or in some cases, adding an extra half-hour just because the driver decides he needs to eat lunch or take a whizz.
Cars: Cars are probably the best ways to travel, and if you have your own, GREAT! If you're heading somewhere and need to hire a car, count on it being a lot more expensive than a bus, but you also have a better chance of arriving closer to your estimated time. This added cost can also be offset by group travel in a van or similar vehicle. You'll be a lot more certian to arrive on time this way.

Of course, in Ecuador, there'sa pile of variables that can delay (and never speed up) a trip, no matter what you're traveling in. Weather in this country can change in a moment. A flash rainstorm can cause washouts, making passage impossible, and as I write this, there's a big strike across most parts of the Country due to the Naboa government taking away diesel subsidies. This can not only delay travel with roadblocks, but can also turn violent, also delaying or completely ending your trip. Best practice is to stay up on the news to see what's going on.

Hope for the best but expect the worst...the stoic traveler

We all have hopes of getting to where we need to be when we need to be there. In Noth America, and most places across the globe, we actually expect it. This Country is a geographic anomaly it seems, and can take a whole day to get anywhere. For example, when I traveled from Cotacachi to Quito in August to pick up my VISA and Cedula. Now, this distance is 103 kilometers, or 60 miles for all y'alls. Google says the time for this is two hours (both in metric and imperial), which is still twice as long as we expect back home. Based on this four-hour round trip, I left at 730 am and counted on a short day. The trip involved a 10 minute cab to Otavalo, a couple hours in a bus, and another 20 minutes to get to the part of Quito I had my appointment in, so I figured I'd be back by noon. Nope. Ended up taking over 3 hours to get to my appointment that I was now an hour late for, then waited in the registry office for a couple more hours, and then a few hours back (after hitting the Starbucks across the street to just decompress, of course). What I would generally consider a three hour trip ended up taking 11 hours. It seems to take 11 hours to anywhere for some reason. When I left Cotacachi for Tena a week ago, a 270km (170 miles) journey...a 3 hour drive back home, including rest stops, took 11.5 hours. That was a cab to Otavalo, bus to Quito North, another bus through Quito, including a police stop, and then another bus to Tena. Total? 11.5 hours. Aye aye aye!!

That time I showed up on time.

I stayed in this little town called Libertador Bolivar, about 15 minutes South on Montanita this Summer. It was a super tranquilo little town, with the only thing going for it was it's proximity to Montanita...lol. Seriously though, it has about 15 kilometers of beach to walk, including all the way to Montanita tp the North and Valdivia to the South, Behind me was a small dental office called REDH Dental, owned by the sister of the AirBnB owner where I was staying. I took full advantage of this, with teeth cleaning and a couple of teeth to be taken care of. I made the appointment for 2pm, and showed up at exactly that time. Rita, the young dentist was shocked. As opposed to us having to be on time in North America lest we lose our spot, she said that people can show up an hour, two, or maybe even the next day kinda late. To me, this is crazy, and to her, it's just what she calls "Tuesday".

Ecuador is it's own time zone.

We may not be able to control what happens, but we can control how we choose to feel about it
~ paraphrased from a fella named Epictetus a bunch of centuries ago.

SO, now I'm getting how time works in the place with no time. I work in Canadian Mountain time, which can be the same as Ecuador, or an hour behind. Appointments still matter to me, and although I am becoming one with my circadian rhythms, I still have to be aware of the time. As for all things Ecuadorian, however, and although I have not changed my level of punctuality, I have certainly lessened my expectations of reciprocity. If a business says it's open until 4pm on a Wednesday, and I go there and it's not, I freak out far less these days. Once we expect the worst, anything better is simply better. When I worked in India, they had Indian Time,sometimes waiting until 8pm for a 10am meeting. Back home, we all laughed at our own "Indian" time, which sometimes includes your clients not even being in town for the meeting (after driving 8 hours for it -- true story Woodland Cree...lol). We now laugh with each other at the idiosycrasies of this thing called "Ecuadorian Time", and it is now just a reason for a chuckle.

Hakuna friggin' matada, amiright?

Do you have your own funny stories about how time works, or helpful tips for timely traveling or other alliterations? Let me know in the comments!! Like this post? I have a series at www.themortgagenomad.ca that talks about evertyhing from staying safe to eating well and best travel tech while on the road.