Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 620

I am writing from Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, located in the southern part of the country, just north of Peru. I’ll say more on Guayaquil soon. I’ve included a few more photos from Lima, and yes, none of them show much sun. It is just how Lima is this time of year. However, one day last week there actually was a day of partial sun which was terrific. The city just seemed so much more pleasant and the Miraflores section, where I am staying, felt a lot like Miami Beach. My blog entries are usual very upbeat and several people have commented that I rarely seem to have many “issues” in my travels whether it is getting lost or being ripped off, or some other issue. Well, that changes in this blog entry as I spent ... read more

It´s now 12:30 on Sunday and England have just won an unconvincing 1:0 against Ecuador. It´s possible the bar I was in will be on the Sun website, although I won´t be in any photos. It´s a shame that it wasn´t 2:1 to England, it would have been nice to have some cause for celebration for los Quiteños. England are going to have to play a whole lot better if we are going to beat the Netherlands or Portugal. Still, the streets are yellow and there is a good mood, people are celebrating anyway and the cars are beeping their horns. Not sure what I´ll be doing now. Finding some food I guess. For now, adiós. Tim ... read more

A piece of advice... never get a haircut in Peru. In fact never travel with short hair as you will just end up spending your time choosing between hairdressers stuck in the 50's, a very bad mullet or shaving it all off. I have abstained from the latter and after the last attempt at a decent haircut in Cusco, which left me begging Matt to get the scissors out to stop me looking like a 96 year old, I am now having to learn to live with a mullet. It is an affliction, honestly. Well moving on... next stop Lima, the capital of Peru. We were in Lima for the national elections, which was all very exciting, well, had the potential to be exciting but it wasn't at all... everything was closed and they banned the ... read more

Yesterday was our test at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ). This was the university our professors were from and where we took our tests. Today we had a field trip to Otavalo a traditional market in the highlands. There were rows upon rows of handicrafts, clothing and everything imaginable. Our guide had told us that we were expected to bargain with them. This was not so easy not knowing Spanish. After everyone had spent lots of money we went to a hacienda to have a traditional Andean meal. It consisted of beans the size of my thumb, mushy potatoes, an avocado and a shaving of chicken. Most people did not finish their beans because they were quite bland. Overall it was an interesting meal. Afterwards we hiked to a waterfall, where the locals get married. ... read more

Last week it was the festival of the summer solstice combined with the festival for San Juan = one big party all over Ecuador! We decided to head back to Otavalo as our guide Luis from a few weeks ago invited us to his village to partake in some festivities. We got there on Friday night and the party was in full swing. Lots of different families and villages all dressed up in random costumes and playing great traditional music. The highlight of the night - the circular dancing. It was magic! Apparently the dancing in a circle symbolises the shape of the sun and it was only men who were allowed to dance. In a month the women have their own festival for the moon. It really was mesemerising and we stood and watched for ... read more