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Published: November 30th 2010
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Apparently there are so many things to do in Ecuador, and a really good country for those who are in search of the more old school backpacking.
With this I mean, really interested in secluded areas where you are one of the very few "gringos".
Of course this depends on where you go, and when..
Because of the previous riots we decided to stay away from the big cities, and since we also wanted to dedicate our stay here to surf, we headed for the coast where there's little else to do - Canoa.
We had read about a good place on TripAdvisor called Sundown Inn, It's not recommendable!
Well, it depends on what you want to do though. if you're only reason for going to this surf-mecca for learning spanish, then it might be ok.
For us it was not. And by the way, the rates given on their web page is only for spanish students.
We ended up staying at a place called "Baloo", a great hostel right ON the beach.
Since it was low season, we also had the whole thing for ourselves.
Our days went by with surf, jogging, surf, sleep, food etc.
Just what we needed
after 4 months of constant noise around us.
Canoa is a great place for beginners, and spoken from a real newbie, as this was my first time on a surfboard.
We ended up staying here way longer than anticipated, despite the lack of sunshine.
Our next destination was supposed to be Quito, because we both were eager to get over to Colombia.
But the Ecuadorian people are really good salesmen!
From Canoa, we were gonna take a bus to Pedernales and then further on to the capital. But, when arriving there there were so many people screaming "MOMPICHE, MOMPICHE, MOMPICHE" up in our faces.
And as I mentioned was the reason for our stay in this country to surf, so we soon found ourselves jumping up and down on the seat in a crappy bus
Mompiche is a little fishing village, with nothing else to offer than surfing.
We had already been thinking of going here, and we knew this was our last opportunity in a couple of months.
Well, going to Mompiche isn't the easiest route we've done and you won't find a good explanation to how, because there are none.
This is how we did it; From Canoa
we took a crazy orange bus (don't remember the name of the company) stops on the main road outside Baloo, to Pedernales.
After this it's all a big blur!
We changed buses around four times, there were always some people saying to us that we had to get off and change without us knowing to which bus or why.
The last bus dropped us off in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere, and so it was.
But we were on right track, we only knew this because of a big handwritten sign that said Mompiche.
We were about to start walking, but two school girls stopped us and said it was to far away.
So, there we were...
Luckily we were not alone, the girls which gave us the heads up also told us to wait for a random vehicle we could hitch a ride with.
And the one we got was an old truck. We had to climb up a small ladder on it's side with backpacks on, and before we knew it we were heading down the bumpy road looking like cows in a cubicle!
Unlucky for me I had placed myself right next to the
exhaust pot, and because of the bumpy road it was very difficult to switch place.
Needless to say, when we arrived to the little town my face was covered with soot!
The "pueblito" really is as small as everybody says, and the only thing to do is surfing. There is a good point break, and during off season it's really good for beginners.
So, that's pretty much what we did while staying here. Surfing, drank a little rum, surfing and so on..
Apparently this place boosts with surfers and backpackers during high season, but we actually enjoyed the tranquility very much.
Two weeks after arriving to Ecuador, we decided it's about time to head over to Colombia.
But, we had to make a pit stop in Quito first. And while in Quito there's no way you can leave without visiting the "Mitad del Mundo" (Equator line).
This park is a tourist trap, really cheesy and ugly and the ironic part is that it's actually not the real equator line.
You'll find that one further up the street, behind the "madness".
This is actually a really nice little area where you can do and see different sort of things.
Like
try to balance an egg on a nail (you'll get a certificate) and see "demonstrations" of various equator- and solar-related phenomena.
This option is by the way much cheaper than the fake-park.
So, in only a little over two weeks we had done what we wanted in Ecuador.
we know there's so much more, but that'll have to be another trip though.
Colombia next..
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