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Published: January 7th 2008
New Years in Huanchaco
The garden area of our hostel converted into a make-shift music hallCurrent Location: Cuenca, Ecuador
¨Hey brendan, no longer in Montanita because of health problems with my dad. Headed to canada, back at the end of the month. Sorry about the change, open invitation when ever you´r bac in Mont.¨
This is the message I found on the bullitin board outside the Montazuma hostel in Montanitas where I was going to be working for the next month. Put there by Cole the English owner, and once again hardening my belief that the English are an unreliable, useless bunch of people. (Not my actual feelings, but I can´t pass up a shot to take a shot at the parents back home)
Because of this change of plans I only stayed in Montanitas for one day, having been there on my way down Ecuador, and instead hopped the next available bus to Guy-will-kill-ya, spent 5 hours in the noisy, stinky, bus-station, and then hitched an overnight bus to Cuenca. I would have kicked myself later if I hadn´t made this decision. Cuenca, is the most beautiful city I have been in on this trip. The streets are narrow and paved with cobble stones, buildings are old and well maintained, and the
Chiclayo
Soccer teams practicing on the beach. The pier behind them is one of the longest in Peru central plaza boasts the second largest church in all of South America, behind only Campinas, Brazil.
(On a bit of a side note, ever since I spent an exhausting summer laying tile, I have been much more aware of how a tile design, or a tile selection, or even the quality with which the tile is layed in an area, can effect the feeling of a building or plaza. South America seems to have mastered this art, emphasized by an 800ft long tile plaza in Cuenca, all of which is virtually free of grout-wobbles, constructed using minimal equipment and only basic planning.)
I´m booked in here for the next couple days and can´t wait to see the rest of the city and surrounding mountains.
As to where I will go next, I think that maybe a quick jump up to Quito is in order. The last time I was there I didn´t have much of a chance to see the city becasue we were heavy on Amazon trip planning, so I would like to spend a few days exploring its sights. Quito is also within a few hours of several small towns that strattle the equator as well
Chiclayo at Night
Plaza de Armas still covered with Christmas decorations, several weeks to late. as the North coast of Ecuador, which at this time of year is supposed to rival the best beaches in the world.
As my time in SA nears its end (3 weeks left) I have been spending more time thinking about what I would like to do when my travles pick back up in the US. Several friends and a cousin must be visited, but other than that what do you do in California/Oregon? With the exception of San Francisco site-seeing in the major cities is out becasue of the outrageous prices, so instead I have been looking into the hiking possibilities throughout the Pacific coast. One hike in particular caught my eye, the Pacific Crest Trail, a nearly 3000 mile hike from the Mexico boarder all the way to Canada. Now obviously I don´t have the time or the equipment to make this whole trek, but I´m interested in possibly doing a part or all of the Oregon section of the trail. This section is a little over 400 miles and goes through virtually every terrain imaginable. From what I have read it is the easiest and shortest (relative to the other sections of the hike), section of
Sleeping of the Bus Ride
Even on over night bus rides, where you are supposed to sleep the whole way, I still get off the bus feeling wanting nothing more than to crash out in a bed for a few hours. the hike and can be completed in anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks.
At this point it is just a possibility, but it really appeals to me, and would be an awesome way to end my adventures.
All is well
Brendan
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