Page 2 of Ian RP Travel Blog Posts


South America » Ecuador » East October 8th 2009

Hello my loves, Well we are back from Kapawi and what an experience that was! We caught a minibus from Quito and drove south east for 5 hours to a place called Shell - named after the oil co! From there we caught a 10 seater two propeller plane (an Islander) to fly 50 minutes into the rainforest. Flying in a weeny plane is great - scary and fun! The rainforest from the plane looks like one of those nasty 1970s lumpy green carpets (apologies to anyone with a green carpet of any kind) and it just goes on and on and on . . . We landed in somewhere nameless where we caught a motorised canoe for 25 minutes up the Pastaza river - a trbutory of the Amazon - to Kapawi. We are in ... read more
The rainforest
Kapawi
The  River Pastaza

South America October 4th 2009

Yesterday we went out in the countryside for a trip. Our guide was Wilson, an Ecuadorian, who took us to a number of places. Also, on the trip was the consultant pyschiatrist for the Falklands on his way home after two weeks there who had some interesting stories to tell. Unfortunately, I am going to write about the less exciting things we did instead. First up, a small village where we looked round a small family house where they had a small allotment, an orchard, a huge oven used by everybody in the village when they wanted to bake something (for a price) and a lot of guinea pigs in a shed. We didn´t have to select one for lunch luckily. One of the notable things about the countryside is that mostly the old houses are ... read more

South America October 4th 2009

Voy a aprovechar que tengo la tecla "ñ" para escribir en español - no os puede dar cuenta la ilusion que me hace . . . mi vida es asi de triste!!! Vale pues hoy salimos de Cuenca a pasar el dia en el campo - y que placer estar fuera de la ciudad por primera vez. Visitamos varios sitios: una casa tipica donde tenia cobayos (para comer desde luego - y eso con los bonitos y criñosos que son!), un sitio donde fabricaban guitarras, un pueblo que se dedica a hacer joyas en plata estilo filigrano, un mercado tipico en un pueblo, y un sitio donde cultivan orquideas. Finalmente fuimos a comer. Eramos tres ingleses, el guia equetoriano - Wilson, y el conductor Carlos. Hizo un tiempo fabuloso, como con 23 grados pero anublado - ... read more

South America October 2nd 2009

Early start today as we flew to Cuenca. Caught a plane at 7.30 in the morning from Quito airport which resembles a bus station in terms of chaos. Plane boarded late from the wrong gate with no-one informing anybody what was going on but we did get off the ground in the end. A bit cloudy so unfortunately we didn´t get great views of the volcanoes. Cuenca is Ecuador´s third city but a lot smaller than Quito. Walking around made us realise just how threatening Quito feels as Cuenca feels completely safe. Far fewer police on the streets which in itself makes you feel safer. It also has lots of cafes and restaurants which Quito doesn´t although the coffee is still disgusting. We had the worst cappucino ever in a heladoria (ice-cream shop). The coffee is ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito October 1st 2009

Hi - here is the first set of photos. Only some minor arguments at the internet cafe over doing this. . . . . Blog site very slow so not too many pics this time . . . . sorry!... read more
Allie at the equator
At the presidential palace
The main square - Quito

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito October 1st 2009

Good morning friends, family, acquaintances and. . . stalkers, It's 5.30 am and having not gone further than the end of the street for the last twenty years I'd forgotten that long haul can play havoc with your sleeping patterns!! Ian is of course fine, fast asleep etc etc, I was awake most of last night but slept from 9pm to 4.30 so I feel great and can see no reason to stay in bed when I could be speaking to all you lovely folks! Photos, photos - yes there will be photos - perhaps later today - though don't hold your breath. . . the usb port on the computer here at the hotel doesn't work so we need to go to an internet cafe to upload them. We have had two full days now ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito September 29th 2009

Hello darlings, Well after what seemed like the longest journey ever - almost 24 hours - we are finally in Quito. The Mariott hotel - very nice room, nice decor etc - tried to sabotage our trip by failing to provide our 3.30 am morning call, but as we weren't sleeping that well anyway we made it to the airport as planned by 4am. We had plans for a lovely brekkie and buying a couple of books to read but it seems nothing but nothing is open at the airport at that time of day!!!!! The flight was uneventful which is a shame because I like a bit of turbulance. . . strange that, coz at funfairs I'm such a coward but I just love it when it's for real . . . though landing at ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito September 6th 2009

Here is a route map of where we are going.... read more

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Kent » Faversham August 31st 2009

4 weeks to the off and neither of us is fit enough yet to walk at altitude on the punishing climbs of the Salkantay trail, which reach heights of over 4,500 metres, for six hours a day in order to reach Macchu Pichu. In order to overcome this slight disadvantage we went for a walk in deepest kent. 12 miles by Faversham along the Saxon shore way. Ok - it was only 5 hours and the highest altitude we reached was probably only about 10 metres but it was pretty knackering nonetheless. We recovered in the evening with a bottle of Cava and a takeaway Indian. As all professional athletes know, training is as much about refuelling in a scientific manner as it is about the hard miles!... read more




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