Amigo in Ecuador + Links to Photos

Hola Amigos,

Hope you are all well wherever you may be. Here are the latest notes from my adventures in Ecuador...

6th & 7th April, Ibarra, Hotel El Ejecutivo, 7USD
So the long and winding road from the border of Colombia leads me down to Ibarra and first introduction of Ecuador. There is not much to mention about this town and after spending one day wondering around the streets we decide to head on to Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

I was still travelling with Señor Cesar at this point and we travelled together all the way to the south of Ecuador.

I have to mention here the on the way from Colombia to Ecuador we had to pass a lot of VERY high mountains. Unfortunately, my right ear popped! I think from being at such a high altitude and I could only hear a little bit and there were constant noises in me ear! Darn...

7th to 12th April, Quito, 2 days Couchsurfing, 3 days Hotel Huasi Continental 7USD
Ibarra to Quito bus: 2.5 hours $2.50
So I hit Quito slightly fearful for my wallet and my life from what I have heard - muggings, fights, robberies etc. But this all turned out to be hype as I really enjoyed Quito and nothing of the sort happened to me, well at least until my last day in Quito.

For the first 2 days I try my hand at Couch Surfing. You go to couchsurfing.com, search for a couch in the city you are going to visit, contact people and ask them if you could sleep on their couch for FREE :) . The lovely Patty that lives about an hour outside Quito with her mumzy agrees and I stay at her plush house for two nights. After that, to be closer to the action, I say adios to my hosts and move on to Quito.

Two or three days of touristy activities follow, one of which includes a visit to the equator about an hour north of Quito. Now, the actual site of the equator, which they originally marked and built up, is wrong! The real GPS calculated Ecuador is 200 meters down the road. I visited both just to make sure.

After going out a couple of days with me mate Cesar, we decide to move on...


12th

demo

to 15th April 07 Latacunga Hostal San Francisco, Quilatoa
Quito to Latacunga bus: 2 hours $1.50

This is the fun part of the trip. We get to Latacunga and after staying for one night and meeting a third cool dude named Loris from Switzerland, we head out for the Quilatoa Loop trek, which is as follows.

On the 13th, we leave our big backpacks in Latacunga and with our essentials take a bus to Pujili. Here, we visit the market with all the locals wearing their colorful Ecuadorian attire, which is an eye opener. If you have seen my photos, you will know that I love local markets!...

From Pujili, we take a bus in the afternoon on to Quilotoa, which is an extinct volcano with a lake in the mouth of the volcano and I suggest you see the photos for what it looks like.

We check in to Hostal ........ in Quilotoa Town which is right on the edge of the volcano and stay there for the night. I share a triple room with Cesar and Loris, for $8 per person, we get a room with dinner and breakfast. The night is bitterly bitterly cold! We spend 2 hours trying to light a fire in our room and fail. We ask a local dude who lights the fire in 10 minutes and it is BLISS, oh warm toes feel SOOO good..

On the 14th we wake up early and hit the mountains without a guide to trek down to a town about 25km away called Chugchillan. The first hour is easy, we follow the trail. Then the clouds come down and we are completely covered, with visibility down to 2 meters! About two to three hours of wondering around different trails, in circles, getting lost follows. Finally we come across a house with life and ask the locals directions. A few more loops, circles, climbing down very steep mountains through thick forest follows, at times scary and we make it to Chugchillan 7 hours later.

By getting lost so many times, we miss the bus back to Latacunga so have to stay in Chugchillan the night of the 14th. This proves to be very nice as for $10 p/p we get accommodation plus lunch, dinner and breakfast, a nice hot shower and give our legs a rest. Little did we know that a monster of a bus journey awaits us!!

The bus back to Latacunga (where we left our big bags) leaves at 3am in the morning!! This is a local bus made for people that are 1.50cm high and the road is made for people that have bums made of steel as the ride consists of 6 hours of bouncing up and down. Lots of landslides on the way, one landslide which takes the driver 30mins to clear away so he can drive past and all edge of the cliff stuff. Hmmm, how do I DO IT!?

Anyway, we make it back to Latacunga in one piece, head over to collect our bags and hit the road once again onto our next destination...

15th to 17th April, Baños, Hostal Plantas & Blanca rm $5.50
Latacunga-Ambato: 1 hour $1, Ambato to Baños bus 1hour $1

The next destination is Baños and after 2 short bus rides, we check into the Hostal and wonder around the street of Baños, which is extremely touristy, so many hotels, internet cafes, tour agencies I hate it. It is famous for natural hot baths hence BAÑOS. Anyway, the next day we take a bath in the famous hot baths, then rent bikes and hit the downhill road out of Baños for another adventure. Visiting a few waterfalls, cafes, and other places on the downhill road proves to be fun.

However, I also decide to jump off a bridge with a string tied around my belly, which the dudes urge me to do, you fall and then swing like a pendulum, well scary. Cesar does the same and Loris tops it off with the even scarier back flip leap. To watch my jump, go to my youtube page here http://www.youtube.com/salala1980

The next day we decide to run away from the tourist drenched Baños.

17th & 18th Alausi, Hotel Europa $5
Baños to Riobamba 1hour 1$, onto Alausi: 2hours $1.50

The whole reason for making this trip to Alausi is to ride on top of a train along a cliff edge called Nariz del Diablo, which translates as the Devil´s Nose and it costs $10. Well what a waste of dollars as the view is not that amazing. We stay the night of the 17th, take the train on the morning of the 18th, then on the same day, make our way to our next destination.

18th to 20th Guayaquil, Hotel California $8
Alausi to Riobamba bus: 2 hours $150, Riobamba to Guayaquil 5hours 5USD

After spending more or less the whole day on the bus, we make it to Guayaquil. Unlike the previous 5 or 6 towns we visited which were up high in the mountains and cold, this place is on the cost hence HOT, what a nice change.

Anyway, after two nights wandering town and going out Friday and Saturday night in this nice place, we head on to next destination. From here, Loris heads back up the coast as he is going to spend more time in Ecuador, Cesar and I head to Cuenca.

20th to 23rd April Cuenca, Hostal Pachamama $4
Guayaquil to Cuenca bus: 4 hours $8

I end up spending 3 nights in Cuenca, a very relaxed, clean, historic and beautiful town. After two nights, Cesar decides to head on to Peru but I decide to stay for two reasons.

Firstly, I want to do some time on my own again. But the main reason is, I need to stay in Cuenca for some penicillin injections in my but :) If you remember, my ear is still blocked, so I go to the doctors on the 21st. He decides to cover all his bases, so gives me eardrops for the pressure change, antibiotics and 4 penicillin injections for any infections that I may have in the ear! So on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd I get three injections done (OOOowwwwww, still hurts after one month) and the fourth one I get done in Peru...

23rd April Into Peru
Cuenca to Border (Huaquillas) bus: 5 hours $6, Border to Mancora

On the 23rd I hop on a bus to the Ecuador-Peru border. The bus drops me off in Huaquillas, I walk to the Ecuador border station sort out my exit stamp and head to the Peru border. A dude offers me a ride in a taxi asking for 15 Peruvian Soles which is $5, what a rip off! I pay 3Soles and make it to the Peru border, get my entry stamp and then hop on to a mini bus to get to Tumbes, the main border town in Peru. From Tumbes, I pay 7 Soles which is about $2.50 for a 3 hour bus ride to make it to my first stop in Peru, Mancora!!


That’s all for now folks. I am in the south of Peru now, with about another week or so to go here, then I will head to Chile for a short time, followed by a month or so in Bolivia. I am really looking forward to Bolivia, as everyone tells me it is their favorite place..

Links to Photos
Ibarra

Quito

Latacunga and Pujili

Quilatoa Trek

Baños, Alausi, Guayaquil & Cuenca

Cuenca


Amigo reporting from Cusco, Peru Over and Out.

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