26 hour journey

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Whew! That was a long trip getting to Ecuador. Left my house in Victoria, Canada at about 5:45 pm. After three flights, two buses, a ferry, and a taxi. ride, it was roughly 8:45 or nearabouts when I finally checked into our hostel, Casa Helbling, in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

Sister and mum rode with me on the bus out to the ferry, to see me off. When we got on the bus, Mum proudly announced to the bus driver 'She's going to Ecuador!"

The driver asked incredulosly, to which she replied "Because she can!".

A girl overhead this and came up to me on the ferry to chat about it. Turned out she was on her way to Indonesia so I gave her some tips on Bali. Went when I was ten, so couldn't remember too much, but we bonded over mutual travel jitters and got on the bus to the airport feeling better.

First flight was Vancouver to Toronto. Uneventful. Watched a bit of the movie Enchanted, which is always cute, then semi-successfully slept a bit. Not very comfortable, obviously.

Thought I'd forgotten one of my books at home so bought The Shadow of the Wind in the airport. Not bad so far, but ended up finding the other book. Oh well, more books is never a tragedy!

After my first round of US customs ( not too heinous) it was another flight of similar length to Miami. The people on the flight... Kind of the stereotype of what you might expect from somewhere like Miami. Most of the women seemed to have had plastic surgery at one point, some very heavily. Men where a bit of a mixed bunch, from one who was the spitting image of George Clooney (if he travelled economy class!) to an old retiree who looked more like one of the pair of grumpy old men Muppets. Flying over... Eveglades, golf courses, tons of pools and palm trees. Also about what I expected. Slept fitfully at best.

Getting through Miami airport was a LOT more stressful... Firstly I landed on the other side of the airport from my next flight and had to walk with my somewhat heavy bag. Then had to clear customs again, much worse this time! Huuge line of super stressed tourists being VERy angrily yelled at to take off our shoes, belts, hats, sweaters, empty our pockets, take any liquids out of out bags, get out our passports, go through the full body scans... Vey dehumanizing. To make things even weirder were the giant TV screens featuring a looping video. Some all American guy in a suit talking about how 'we at TSA have your best interests in mind' and how 'I just want you to be SAFE!' Very Big Brother and creepy.

Then I finally got to the gate, expecting to meet my Mum's cousin, who I'll be travelling in Ecuador with... And he was not there!

I tried to access the Wifi to check my email... Nope! Unlike the other airports, Miami chargs for Wifi, and then only take credit card, arrgh!

Finally, trying not to panic, found someone whom I could borrow their internet, and checked my email.

His flights were changed at the last minute, and wouldn't arrive until time to catch the NEXT flight.

Oh well, not much that can be done, so I got on the flight. Upside was the seat next to me was empty, so I got to stretch out, and combined with the included pillow and blanket, got an okay sleep for about two more hours, before dinner. Cheese pesto tortellini, surprisingly edible, really.

Got to Ecuador at nearly eight, I think, cleared customs fairly quickly, and got a prearranged taxi to take me to the hostel. Got a hilariously butchering of my name... Rosse Semary Mcalister! Okaay then!

Taxi took about twenty minutes.. Quito seemed weirdly familiar, similar Thre World big city vibe to a lot of places in Asia I've been to. Especially with the look of the people, if you discounted the language of the signs, could easily have been somewhere in the Philippines or wherever.

Huge prevalance of graffiti and street art, though, more so than in Asia. Much of it quite well done, though I'm not usually a big fan.

Finally got to the hostel, Casa Helbling, in the newer area of Quito. Nice, clean, spacious, with lovely rooftop terrace and nice spot for breakfast surrounded by flowering plants and a giant tree with birds in it. Run by a German guy called Claus who was very helpful.

That night, though, I crashed almost immediately, after a quick email to my family to reassure them, and a call through Facetime.

Woke up again at 12, when Kevin finally arrived, then went back to bed pretty soon after.

Will post about today tomorrow, I think... I need to go bed again. Will say we found a good deal for the Galapagos, and will leave on Sunday for eight days!

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Comments

[Danielle Rau]

Hi Rosemary!
Your mum sent me a link to your blog, how very exciting! Have a fantastic adventure (although you have already seen and done SO much in Asia already) ;) Glad to hear that you are doing well and keeping up with the traveling. Very jealous of your footloose & fancy-free days, have a blast. BTW, we are still in the UK, Sebastian is now 5 yrs old, and my little girl just turned 3! We hope to take them to China one day. x