iguanawankenobi

AUGUST 15. AREQUIPA. FIESTA, BULLFIGHTS AND WARM BEER.2300m "Para bailar la bamba Para bailar la bamba se necesita una poca de gracia" -Ritchie Valens Getting to Arequipa was both frustrating and uncomfortable. Our bus arrived 4 hours late, leaving us stranded in a shady area of town with the temperature dropping rapidly. At least I had someone to share the boredom with...I had crossed paths with Fiona who I´d shared drinks and conversations with, taking in the view from The Secret Garden terrace back in Quito. After a restless sleep on the overnight bus, we were awoken by the stifling heat. Our bus was winding its way through the mountains, struggling to make it over the high passes...so they turned off the AC to take some load off the engine, leaving us with no ventilation at ... read more

bJULY 24. ISLA DE LA PLATA. POOR MANS GALAPAGOS. LOTS OF BOOBIES AND WHALES.... read more

JULY 20. MONTANITA. RUTA DE LA SOL. MORE LIKE RUTA DE LAS NUBES. SEA LEVEL Billy Jean is not my lover, she´s just a girl who thinks that I am the one...but the kid is not my son RIP MJ Leaving Guyaquil behind for now. With Scott and Camillo in tow we throw our bags and our serious hangovers on board a bus bound north for Montanita. Anybody reading this expecting some intelligent, insightful look into Ecuadorian beach culture may as well turn the page...scotts girlfriend and some of Camillos friends are meeting us there later this afternoon and things are guaranteed to get ugly.. After enduring yet another brutal Canadian winter I couldnt wait to get my beach on, especially seeing that the remainder of my trip will get progressively colder the further I move ... read more

JULY 15. GUARANDA. 2500m. PARQUE SIMON BOLIVAR. PEOPLE WATCHING. TIME TO KILL. "Took advantage of a straight believing town, tore the bandage..look who is bleeding now" -SILVERCHAIR I said goodbye to Latacunga and jumped on a bus to Ambato where I would make a connecting bus to Guaranda. I had no intitial plans on visiting Guaranda but it was on the way to Guayaquil and it also appeased my new found desire for getting lost in small mountain towns. Although my collective bus experience may as yet be limited to three bus rides, if there is one trip I would recommend it would be the journey between Ambato and Guaranda. Spectacular views and compelling interactions between the locals. The most interesting aspect of this trip for me though was observing the sometimes subtle and often dramatic ... read more

JULY 13TH. SECRET GARDEN. COTOPAXI NARIONAL PARK. 3500M. GETTING COLD "No its not my kinda scene, footprints on the other side remind me of where i have been" -POWDERFINGER Any chance i get, i like to ride on top of a bus, truck or train. When our driver said that two of us had to ride in the back of the truck i jumped at the opportunity. Unfortuntately if i knew who i would be sharing the scenery with i may have thought twice. Not for the first time has some obnoxious yank spoiled the ambience. For some reason he felt the need to knock back a sixpack of the local pilsner along the way and proceeded to belch (not burp) uncontrollably the entire trip, his empty bottles left to rattle at the bottom of the ... read more