There are two ways to catch an inter-city Ecuadorian buss.

Option 1) You can go to the "terminal terestre" (buss station) where there are booths set up by various bus companies. Each company informs would be riders of thier destinations by way of large plastic signs above their respetable vending windows, that sometimes also display departure times.

If you take a cab into the interior of the terminal terestre you are charged an extra .70 cents for entry by the armed guards dressed in urban camoflage and sporting machine guns, hoepfully with the safety on. Once you pay for entry and have purchased your ticket from the walls of venders, you are required to pass through a gate that seporates the vendors from the bus departure area,an extra twenty cents per person. Finally, you are greeted by a melle of waiting busses, one of which is yours.

Option 2) Wait outside the terminal terestre, where the busses leave, and flag down a bus going in the direction desired. There are no intermediaries, and the money collector on the bus will take your fare from you probably an hour or two into the ride. Just be careful, bus drivers don´t like to make complete stops. When exiting or entering a bus, it is best done on the run.