Montañita (Pacific Ocean!)

---

We spent last weekend in Montañita which is a little surfer town on the coast of Ecuador. The town was founded by a few exPats so it´s basically a hippie haven. We arrived on Friday night after a 3 hour bus ride. The trip was actually pretty nice, a comfy ride with a movie and bathroom (and the trip cost $5.25!). The bus terminal in Guayaquil is new and looks like a huge mall from the States. It amazes me that people here don´t have running water but they have a mall with every fast food restaurant and nice stores blocks from their homes.

The first night we stayed in a cute hotel right on the outskirts of town. We were told to stay a litte outside of the center if we wanted to sleep. We found a 4 person room with private bathroom for $10 per person. Ironically, our neighbors decided to come back and party from about 12:30 to 5 so our quiet night in was frusturating. When we got up the next morning we went on a hunt for a new hotel. We found one on the 4th floor in town for only $8 per person. The best part of the hotel surprise was HOT WATER!!! I had my first warm shower in over two weeks and it was glorious.

After the hostel search we went to the beach. It was a cloudy day and a little cold for the beach, but I put my toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. The water was warm! We saw the sunset on the water, which looked very similar to Cape May. That night we found yummy pizza for dinner (I just wanted something without rice). Then we hung out on the main street in front of one of the little tiki bars.

The next day we found a place with French Toast for breakfast, which was also very good. Then we went to the beach for a while again. It was sunny and a few of us went swimming (hair wet and all!). We had another hot shower, shopped a little bit and hopped on the bus to come back home.

It was a quick but fun weekend. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

---