Back 'home' to Quito and after a few lazy days recovering from an exhausting week at the beach (that sounds convincing doesn't it!) I decided to be slightly more cultured today and venture into the old town of Quito. I actually braved the bus system to avoid an extortionate taxi fare and was reasonably impressed with my success. Despite being told the bus pretty much went through the Plaza de la Independencia, the closest stop was actually a twenty minute walk away but not to worry. I just hopped off when I realised we were doubling back on ourselves and just [View Full Entry]

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Off to Mindo this morning although it took a surprising amount of time to even get there. I knew the bus terminal had moved but unfortunately not to where it had moved. Although I visited Mindo last year that was on the return trip from the beach and I actually asked to be dropped randomly in the north of Quito close to my hostel so I didn't go to the terminal. Fortunately our taxi driver was slightly more knowledgeable that me and not only dropped us at the correct place but offered to wait until we had found a bus leaving [View Full Entry]

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The scorching heat of yesterday had only grown in intensity for today - probably not the best day to visit the beach but I'm not one to change plans if at all possible so we were off to Los Frailes today. The beach of Los Frailes makes up part of the Parque Nacional Machalillas, the most beautiful part if I'm going to be biased. The options of getting to the beach were as follows: a 'long but rewarding' trek through dry scrubland to reach the entrance followed by a thirty minute walk to the actual beach. a fifteen minute, 2 dollar [View Full Entry]

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Up bright and early for a whale-watching trip today although of course it was late leaving - this is Ecuador after all! Apparently they were refusing to take the boats out until the morning fishing boats had come back safely. Silly superstition and we ended up waiting until the fishing boats had unloaded before going. That said, it was very interesting to watch the fishing boats coming in. They had everything from giant crabs to rays so big they had to cut them up before loading them onto trucks. Eventually got going and had an hour long flat out ride [View Full Entry]

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We finally arrived in Puerto Lopez today after travelling pretty much the whole width of the country overnight. Puerto Lopez has to be one of my favourite places in Ecuador due to it's perfect balance of being lively enough for an extended stay yet not overrun with tourists. Apparently tourist season hadn't started officially yet (despite all hostels charging high season prices) as the touts which line the malecon advertising trips to Isla de la Plata and whale-watching tours practically threw themselves at us whenever we ventured out of the hostel. Cynical as always I refused to buy of [View Full Entry]

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Feeling slightly more human today after the drenching we got yesterday but it´s amazing what a hot bath and good night´s sleep can do. Absolutely gorgeous sunny weather today which was just a slap in the face coming the day after our soaking jungle venture. Still, better weather meant we could actually do something today instead of skulking in the hostel as we had planned so we decided on visiting a nearby exotic bird sanctuary to see some of the jungle inhabitants who were so shy yesterday at closer quarters. Started off a bit weird as they seemed to have [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Puyo expecting jungle. Was surprised to find out that the Lonely Planet description of a large town obsessed with the internet and American jeans was actually closer to the truth that monkeys and mosquitos. In fact, miracle of miracles, I managed to escape from the jungle without a single mosquito bite (this truly is a miracle as I´m normally the buffet for any kind of insect.) Have an amazing hostel in Flor de Canela which is full of little bridges and walkways with cabins hidden everywhere - figured it´s better to pay more for a decent hostel than end [View Full Entry]

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Arrived today in Cuenca and was instantly grateful for the slightly lower altitude than Quito that at least meant I could walk ten metres without wheezing like an asthmatic ant. Walked my feet to death as usual - despite looking so small there is a deceptive amount of walking involved getting around Cuenca. At least the ridiculously organized block system means it´s next to impossible to get lost (I still managed it but that´s neither here nor there.) Despite wandering around for ages I still didn´t manage to find the shop I bought all my traditional Cuencan pottery from - I [View Full Entry]

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For once on my travels my bank account is not the main victim - instead it's currently my feet which, after two days being stomped all around Vienna in little ballet pumps, (stupid I know) are protesting enough that a change of shoes is desperately needed. So what do I change into? Trainers? Sensible walking shoes? No, I choose brand new flip flops that have not yet been worn in to traipse the length and breadth of the Austrian capital for a third day. A highly unintelligent choice that I was unfortunately regretting as soon as we had got off the [View Full Entry]

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Navigated the metro enough to be able to reach Schönbrunn Palace on the outskirts of Vienna today. I make that sound harder than it actually was, amazingly it was literally one train with no changes - London could learn a lot from the tube system here! I have decided, as of today, that I need to live in Schönbrunn. That's need, not want. Palaces are all very beautiful more or less but Schönbrunn I could actually see myself living in. Just the right size, nicely situated and, most importantly, yellow! Maria Theresa obviously had a stroke of genius when she decided [View Full Entry]

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