An altitude induced mishap

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My last night in Lima coincided with the final world cup qualifier for Germany 2006, played in Sydney between Australia and Uruguay. I watched the first game in Huacachina with a Uruguayan girl I met on an earlier tour, it was great fun and a predictable result. Of course I was extremely gracious to her in defeat. The return game started at 4:00am local time, and by coincidence there were up to ten Australians at the hostel in Lima. The place was absolutely jumping around 7:00am when Australia slotted home the winning penalty, as we started hopping about like mad kangaroos to celebrate a terrific achievement for Australian football. Congratulations to the mighty Socceroos and all the best for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Apologies for the free plug regarding our football team, but the final night at the hostel capped off a very enjoyable stay in Lima.

It was soon time to move on, dear reader, and north is the plan. I booked an overnight bus to Mancora in northern Peru. Mancora is the most famous surfing beach in Peru and it was time to kick back, read, chill out, lie in the sun and swim in the warm water. I shared a bungalow with a Scottish lad from the bus and was joined by my English friends some days later for nearly a week of downtime on the beach. There was a surfing competition on the saturday, and a presentation ceremony and clubbing venue was set up on the beach that night. It was a fun night and we decided it would be a good idea to kick off our sandals and feel the sand between our toes, as we got on down to the happening tunes from the DJ in the house. This proved to be a bad idea as all our sandals walked during the night. I had no money at the end of the night which is not unusual, but I can´t say I've experienced having no shoes! Oh well, here in South America you live and learn.

I booked a bus trip with my English friends and we headed north across the border into Ecuador. It's always exciting to visit a new country and I'm glad to be here. We caught a connecting bus from Guayaquil to Montanita on the west coast which is the most famous surfing beach in Ecuador for more sun and surf, similar to Mancora south of the border. Montanita is a nice little town and caters very well to the tourists. I personally preferred the town to Mancora, and for the surfers who may be reading Mancora has the better waves if you plan to pull out some gnarly moves. We then booked a bus east to Riobamba with another seamless transit at the terminal in Guayaquil, which is the largest city in Ecuador. Riobamba is a beautiful city and famous as the starting point for the legendary Devil´s Nose train journey, where tourists all jump on the roof for the five hour trip via Alausi. We clambered onot the roof on a glorious day after a very chilly 7:00am start at over 3000 metres, and chugged through beautiful countryside on the steep descent with smiling and waving villagers to cheer us on.

I will introduce a new initiative into this journal which I sincerely hope is a one off entitled:

My most embarrassing travel incident ... no laughing out loud please!

Prelude: Altitude does unusual things with your goods because of increased pressure. For example in La Paz my roll on deodorant once burst on application, and the ball popped straight out spilling the contents on me. I smelt spectacular on that day, but only from the left side!
Scene: I'm perched atop the front of the carriage on the train trip to Devil´s nose. There were hundreds of tourists on board, and many are looking forward at any given time to watch the progress of the train down the mountain. The altitude is over 3000 metres.
Action: It's 9:00am and warming up considerably. So I decide to grab my sunscreen, give it a single shake and pop the cap without squeezing the tube. The sunscreen starts to squirt on to my trousers, and I instinctively cup my hand to save the precious substance, as sunscreen is expensive over here! Instead of stopping there's a constant flow of sunscreen which emptied on to my hand and trousers. I offer my hand back to other travellers and say "Does anyone want some sunscreen?" I already have some unwanted attention because of my altitude induced mishap. But I'm one to make the most of any situation and waste not want not is my motto. So I begin to liberally apply what sunscreen I can to my face, and then turn back to my travelling friends who immediately burst out laughing. Then they proceeded to take photos of Coco the clown. Considerably more unwanted attention and general merriment ensues on top of the train at my expense, and it takes me around five minutes to gain a semblance of control over this shambolic situation. At the same time the train pulls into a station and in an attempt to assuage my wounded pride I turn to the carriage generally and say with a smile "I´m going to apply some more sunscreen lotion" to which a Canadian lady immediately responds "Good, you forgot your teeth!" The whole incident was extremely embarrassing, but at least I can assure you the red face wasn't from sunburn.

In summary, Ecuador is a friendly, picturesque and cheap country with the US dollar as the official currency. There are superb bus connections, and the commutes between cities entail short distances. We've had a relaxing time as the travel adventures gradually creep further north, and there is less hustle and bustle than experienced across the border in Peru. Ecuador is a small country that doesn't feature prominently on the backpacker route but as the travel saying goes, basically all of you should be here now!

All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players." William Shakespeare

As I continue my travels, until next time it´s signing off for now

Tom

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Photos

Sunset on the coast
Beautiful views from a hilltop while travelling along the coast.

Don
This sure footed worker watched over us, yet knew exactly when to duck under the power lines.

Montanita beach
Ecuador qualified third from South America for the world cup, but I think the boy pictured is a bit young this time around.

Devil's Nose train ride
We all piled on the roof for this great travel experience

Comments

[Geoffrey Rooney.]

Your last travelblog comment.
Your travel journal no 6 was most informative and interesting and need I to say so well written.

[Steve and Tuyet]

hola from Argentina!
Hey Tom, am enjoying this opp. to catch up on your travels. As you´re heading north, we´re going south and we are now off the gringo trail. We´re also having chill time at the moment, much needed after weeks of altitude. Have fun amigo. Tuyet and Steve.

[Olivia]

Well Stranger, Sounds like your still having a ball... Nice embarrasing story, I'm still gettin over mine from Mama Africa's Ha Ha We're in Queenstown at the mo, headin to Oz on the 7/12 so can't wait. Continue having fun

[janke8]

maybe you can help me
My sister and I are flying from Miami to my daughters and son-in-laws tennis resort in Vichayito on the beach south of of Mancora. North of Los Organos. We are in out 50's but adventurous. My daughter suggested we fly into Lima and then take a flight from Lima to a National Airport called Piura. Their place is near there. We are considering flying to Guayaquil and taking some kind of transportation to their place which according to the internet will be 318 miles. There isn't much info on this being as you have been there you can tell us what you think is best. Thanks and keep on keeping on, I enjoyed your epidodes...!!!

[Cynthia and Michael McEachern]

Northern Peru
We also have the same concern. We discovered on the internet what sems like the same tennis/beach resort in playa Vicayito, Peru. We're thinking of flying to Guayaquil, but then what? We'll be with three children under 11. What's the best and safest wy to get to Playa Vichayito? Our travel time will be soon on Feb 20th. Thanks!!