The Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy!

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24th- 25th: busing it from salento-armenia-popayan- ipiales- colombian/ecuador border
25th- border- Tulcan- Quito
25th-27th- Quito. I WENT TO JAIL!!!!!
27th-29th Banos (refer to next entry)
29th september-1st october- busing it Banos-Guayaquil- ecuador/peru border - Piura - Lima
1st-3rd October Lima

i thought this would be an appropriate heading to the piece....will explain soon! let me just say...i will never complain about long flights or 10 hour bus trips! i have been to hell! almost 60hours of buses in 5 days! ahhhhh!!!



having finally left my beloved Colombia, i dreaded to think of what the following few days would have in store for yours truly. It was a dreaded bus after bus. Leaving beautiful salento at 5:30pm, i didnt arrive in Quito (ecuador) until 7:30pm the next day. so 4 different buses later, im back in Quito! im quite proud of my spanish- being able to get by on transport, speaking to locals along the way- people automatically want to talk to you when they realise your a foreigner! but after my camera was stolen, im always dubious of their intentions!I looked back today and reflected as to where i am, where i´ve been, and how far i´ve come. learnt so much along the way...puedo hablar espanol muy bien ahora...mas o menos!



i finally brought out my book to read. let me just mention that through the relaxing beaches of north colombia, i was still to open the book! funnily enough, its called ¨hitchikers guide to the galaxy!¨ and given i had so much time on the bus to quito, then the 36 hours to Lima! it was an appropriate time!



i was too tired to fully appreciate the beautiful scenerey along the way-But what i can remember from the lapses of attempts at sleeping...it was very scenic! Bad description i know! i was too lazy to bring out my new camera to show you guys! highlight was the road from Pasto to Ipiales!



IPIALES
Ipiales is the bordering town on the columbian side. its best bypassed except for the stunning Santuario De Las Lajas. this neo-gothic church is built on a bridge spanning a spectacular river gorge. it was apparently built to commemorate the appearance of the Virgin here.



QUITO
coming back to Quito- i arrived at the hsotel called ¨centro del mundo¨, which i knew well from the previous time. i just happened to land on their free rum and coke night. exhausted from travels, i just had to say NO! having spent much of my previous visit partying, this visit was spent on a more cultural note! I WENT TO JAIL! and i visited the amazing Museo Guayasamin- hailed as one of the most famous indiegenous artists in the world, Oswaldo Guyasamin´s work varied in style throughout his year and included not only painting, but also sculpture.
Now about my day in JAIL! don´t worry, it was only a visit. very few tourists know aboutthis opportunity. but it was great! a real eye opener. The jail was pretty dingy looking from the outside. alot of paperwork, searching, crotch-grabbing, we finally made it in. The jail coinsisted of numeorus different confinements, linked by a common corridor, and heavily guraded. confinements varied from primary confinement to heavy duty confinement for those inside with worst crimes.
i met alot of the inmates inside. i wont mention their names, in case there is some law out there about it! i met guys from the states (usually new york), england, Italy, Switzerland, columbians, Peruvians..no Australians!
there were alot of foreigners in their. every single on of them was in for drug trafficking. the amount they carried varied from 1kg to a shitload. now here starts the fascinating stories....
* their sentence varied from 6 to 12 years, depending on how much you can bribe the judge.
*drugs are continued to be trafficked inside! one english guy was given a further 12 years for drug trafficking inside jail
*you have to buy your cell. minimum US$200. L and B both didnt have enough money so were given mattreses on the ground to share with another 30 or so guys

Then i visited another confinement area, which was clearly more upmarket. here was where prisoners had more money. you could buy anything you want. everything illegal, but guess who was supplying it...the prison guards. so some cells had television, DVD player, sony playstations, hot showers, mobile phones and outlets to recharge them. some cells were turned into kitchen that were then hired out. another cell was turned into a shop and they were selling chips, chocolate...alot of things. drug use is quite common place inside, and they would usually be supplied by the guards too! prostitutes were allowed in on particular days, and if you had the money, you could sleep with her..
all in all...definitely one of my highlights of Ecuador!!



BANOS
(refer to next entry)


LIMA
over 36 hours later on board 3 different buses, i landed back in Lima. went back to the same cool hostel- The point Lodge. and just slep and slept. i seemed to becoming a music addict! i go into random shops and start listening to various music- no english! i´ve come across some awesome music. great collection for when i fianlly get back to australia!! i remember sitting in one restaurant in Banos (ecuador) eating pizza and listened to some of the most amazing music that i have heard. the woman that owned it didnt know what it was called or who the music was by- a friend had made it for her. she ended up burning a copy for me..for a samll fee of course! it is south america after all!!
after so many buses, i couldnt handle another 22 hour bus trip to Cuzco, so i woke up one morning and booked a flight, and 4 hours later, i got on a 1 hour flight to cuzco!

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