Crossing border of Peru and going to Ecuador

This was a memorable experience for me as I almost got stuck in Peru for not having an entry stamp in my passport. Not sure how that was possible. I was standing on a long line in Puno, the first entry point of Peru and after all the waiting, they took my form and passport but returned the passport without a stamp. My mistake was not to check if they put the stamp or not, I almost took it for granted that they would, that is what they took my passport for. But the reality was, they never stamped the passport. That means I have been in Peru for the last 24 days and visiting all the places but my status is ILLEGAL!!!! US citizens do not need any VISA for entering Peru but need a stamp in the passport. Many many thanks to the team leader, Manuel for getting me out of the immigration office after 3 hours of continuous persuasion with the officer in charge. Finally, they gave me an entry as well as an exit stamp for the same day which makes my Machu Pichu Stamp invalid as it is dated before my entry date of Peru according to my passport. But nothing else could be done, technically they could put me in the jail for getting into the country illegally!!!!!!!!!

The story does not end here. I was the only US citizen in the travel team so I always had to fill out extra forms and stuff in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia where everyone else(mostly from UK and Australia and Canada) were done with their immigration in a minute. It is unfortunate but may be, it is because the way US Immigration treats the people from most of these South American countries! My earlier team leader, Ale said that she studied in California for a year with an exchange program and still was denied for a visitor visa for the US in the later years and she would love to visit NYC if she could come to the US. She seemed very upset for being rejected by the US immigration for her visa even if she paid $140 non-refundable. Same story with few others from Bolivia and Peru, Manuel said the same. He stood for hours to get an interview with US Consulate in Lima, his $140 was taken but after the 2 hour long interview, they rejected him for the visa and suggested to rather visit Europe!!! So, Manuel, Ale and many other young stars who have love for places like NYC without even being there are not able to come and visit due to the strict immigration process to visit the US, sometimes not making any sense, why?????

BTW, when my things were sorted out fine in the border of Peru, I was all set for entering Ecuador but Nicole, an Australian girl who was traveling with us realized that they did not put a stamp on her passport in the Peru border while exiting! So, while entering to Ecuador, the immigration officer would not put the entry stamp on her passport without the exit stamp of Peru. We basically took lot of things for granted just the way the US, UK, Australia and most other West European countries work, but this was South America! We should have kept our expectation low and made our efforts better to avoid such situations. This was one of the best learnings during this trip. If I was traveling on my own , I would have been more careful to make sure I watch, observe and notice everything but I guess I depended on our team leader more than I should have. It really was not his responsibility by anyone's standard. Good learning!