Advertisement
Published: September 17th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Arrived safely in Ecuador after initial fears about entering the country without a return ticket.. I did have my story ready, but they didn´t ask at customs.. phew!..
And a bit of a longer web entry this time, as have visited lots of places since I arrived.. to try and see some of the country before I start teaching.
An interesting first morning in GUAYAQUIL (Ecuador´s largest city).. Took a bus into Central Guayaquil to change the (lots of) Mexican pesos I had in cash only to find that none of the banks would change them.. So I had to do a bit of a dodgy deal with a man on a street corner... I did manage to improve the exchange rate he was offering though, and I made him give me the money first so I would go into a proper bank with it to check it was ¨bueno" before I gave him my pesos! .. would definitely struggle here with no Spanish.. let´s hope it gets a bit easier from here on!
Wandered round the city with Jill, who is building a house on the coast near Puerto Lopez.. and was
a fantastic source of information on Ecuador (and Spanish!).. and I´ll definitely meet up with her while I´m on the coast. Guayaquil is huge, and unfortunately some pretty, old plazas and churches have been completely dwarfed by big ugly 1970s style buildings.. But the Malecon 2000 along the waterfront has been developed and is a lovely breezy 2km to walk along. Climbed the hill at Las Peñas.. old colonial houses and cobbled streets, with a lighthouse and a beautiful view of the city from the top. Oh and managed to fit in a quick pedacure.. $2 well spent after 3 months in flip flops! All in all, an OK place to stay for a few days and do chores .. but nice to get out of the city.. TO THE ANDIES...
TO CUENCA.... A pretty bus ride through the Parque Nacional Cajas, up into the Andies (a bumpy ride, with a grandad and grandchild asleep on me!.. not quite like the air conditioned, modern Mexican buses I´d got used to!).. Once we got abouve the clouds the views were amazing.. And on arrival in Cuenca I found Hostal El Monasterio which is on the 6th floor (slightly
breath-taking at altitude and with a rucksack on your back.. but the view from the sitting area is amazing).. and a private double room for $8. Cuenca is one of the most beautiful towns I think I´ve ever been to.. colonial buildings, churches, cobblestone streets.. along the Rio Tomebamba, where women still wash their clothes.. alongside the modern roads, restuarants and shops etc.. a strange mix of the old and the new.
TO RIOBAMBA, to meet up with Bryan who I met in Cuba. We get up at 4.30am (slight mistake there, Bryan´s alarm clock was still set to Cuba time!) to take the 7am train ride to Alausi and then down the Nariz del Diablo (Devil's Nose).. sitting on top of the train.. a bit scary as we were right at the front without barriers.. and I did have to go inside the train for part of the journey as I was frozen (and not moaning too much, as you can imagine!) .. but the mountain scenery was spectacular, so well worth having frozen hands for!
TO BAÑOS.. lots of travellers hanging out in this pretty valley beneath Volcano Tungurahua (which has been
active very recently, and Baños was evacuated at the end of last year for 3 months).. It´s not spurting fire at the moment, but there´s still alot of ash around from the last eruption a few months ago. We hired biked and cycled c. 20km (mostly downhill, thankfully).. lots of waterfalls and beautiful scenery... and a few scary tunnels and long drops down.. but great to get some excercise and smell the mountain air
TO LATACUNGA and the QUILOTOA LOOP.. Arrived in Latacunga on a Sunday and nothing was open.. so we bought a bottle of wine and watched films all afternoon.. very cultural! Monday took a trip in a 4WD through the mountains, around the Quilotoa Loop, a circular route through the highlands.. mountains as far as you can see, with gorges, rivers, llamas, villages, the most amazing scenery. Visited Laguna Quilotoa, a beautiful green lake in the crater of a volcano. And walked a bit.. not that far but at 4000m altitude every little hill feels like a mountain! .. had a traditional Ecuadorian lunch, starting with banana soup. In the afternoon the clouds descended, so unfortunately we couldn´t see anything past the road
TO QUITO.. I had planned to head to the coast from Latacunga, but I would have had to get 3 buses cross country to reach Puerto Lopez, so decided to go to Quito with Bryan for a few days before heading West.. We stayed in New Quito.. a travellers' ghetto with hostals, internet cafes, restaurants etc etc. Climbed the basilica for great views of the city, wandered round Old Quito, sat and drank lots of coffees, and found a few good bars.. and even an Indian restaurant, for a bit of spice (and cricket!)
Ecuador is fantastic so far... the scenery is beautiful, there´s loads to see, accomodation is cheap, people are friendly.. but the food is pretty average (especially if you´re veggie.. which i definitely am here.. i don´t want to accidentally eat guinea pig.. however nice they smell while being BBQed in every market place, seeing a whole guinea pig skewered from tail to mouth is a bit off-putting)..
Next port of call Puerto Lopez for a month teaching..........
Advertisement
Tot: 0.397s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 15; qc: 89; dbt: 0.3207s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Cheryl
non-member comment
Looks fantastic
Hiya mate, what excellent photos, just hope I can get back soon to continue the trip.