SuzanneandDavid

Suzanne here... We'd not had long enough in either Baltimore or Philadelphia really. But we didn't have any flexibility. We'd booked our hotel in New York months ago. It was still eye-wateringly expensive, as New York always is, but a slightly better rate than booking last minute. Amtrak was more comfortable than the Greyhound. The journey passed smoothly and before long we were at Penn Station. On the way to the metro station, David patiently waited outside Sephora for me while I did a bit of shopping. The branch in Phily had been closed and I'd long ago decided to treat myself before we left the States. Very unlike me, I'm far from a make-up addict. But sometimes it's nice to try new things and overall I've not bought much on this trip. We bought metro ... read more

Suzanne here... Our Tennessee detour had brought us near the border of North Carolina, making it a logical place to stay for a couple of nights on our way back up to Virginia. We knew nothing about North Carolina to be honest, but some hasty research suggested that the mountainous Blue Ridge Parkway area was worth a stop. We found a likely looking campsite in Linville and decided to head there. On the way we stopped at the town of Asheville for lunch, at Tastee Diner (we do love a good old-fashioned American diner) where we had some excellent burgers. We finally pulled into the campsite at about 5pm, chose our pitch, got the tent up, and enjoyed showers. I mean, we really enjoyed them. They were our first showers for three days. We'd chosen the ... read more

Suzanne here... We knew that Washington has too much on offer to do in one trip, but we were still sad to leave. Then again, after four days of full-on sightseeing the more relaxed pace camping offers seemed attractive. After picking up the hire car, our first stop was Walmart to buy all the camping gear we needed - cheap tent, bedding, cookware etc. We got most things we needed, but decided to stop at another branch nearer the campsite for food. We did this, and got another few bits of camping gear. In the end I reckon it cost us around about £200. Seems a lot when most of it won't make it home with us. But a hotel would be anything from £50 upwards per night, so we'll soon make that back. I'd booked ... read more

Suzanne here... Mindo was a bit of a last minute decision. We'd done cities and beaches. So when we read about a small town in a cloud forest two hours from Quito, it sounded an ideal finish to Ecuador. We arrived at 11.30am, a bit early to check in. We'd not eaten so found Mindo Bio cafe and had a hearty breakfast. It was still early so we sat in the square for a while. It was hotter than Quito, but not unbearable. Our hotel was about ten minutes walk from town. We had to cross a river via a narrow rickety bridge, which added to the fun. We arrived at where we thought the hotel was, only to be faced with a locked gate. So near yet so far. Neither of us fancied trailing back ... read more

Suzanne here... We were sad to leave Puerto Lopez, but grabbed a tuk-tuk ($1 this time which is probably the going rate, but I can't say I begrudge an extra 50c) to the bus station. We were not entirely sure how to to Bahia de Calaquez. At the bus station they had told us we'd need to get a bus to Manta. It was a Sunday and the bus station was somewhat deserted. Luckily the one bus in was going to Manta. Five minutes later we were on our way. I'll admit that the beach cocktails and beers did not seem such a clever idea at this point. Luckily I was able to open the window slightly, so I did ok. The journey was longer than expected and it took just over three hours to get ... read more