Quito!

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Hola!!

Arrived in Quito after a nightmare 53 hour bus journey from north Colombia! Thankfully I didnt have to do it on my own as Dave, Australian guy from the Lost City tour, was on his way to Ecuador too! We got the overnight bus to Bogota with Alan, Irish guy from the Lost City tour, which was actually really comfortable and slept for about 11 hours which is a record for the bus! :o) Then Dave and I carried on to Ecuador, however, thats when our luck with buses ran out as we stupidly went for the cheaper option which meant changing buses in Cali instead of getting the direct bus to Ecuador! To cut a long story short we got quite ripped off with the price so we didnt end up saving much money at all, the journey also took a lot longer than we were told so we had to change buses at 2am in the morning and wait for our connected bus which left at 3am and both buses were absolutely horrible! I didnt think I was that tall but my legs wouldnt fit in front of me without digging into the seat infront so i had so sit on them the whole way.. wow that trip taught me what true pins and needles are really like!! hehe! The only vague positive about the whole trip is that they showed the film Blood Diamond in English! :o) Luckily the border was no problem at all and we got through both borders with in half an hour which is amazing as most people told us that the queues are so horrendous that it usually takes at least 3 hours! We then jumped on to a nice cheap bus (buses are sooo much cheaper in Ecuador!) from Ipiales to Quito and arrived in Quito at about 11pm absolutely exhausted! Got a taxi straight to the Secret Garden hostel and luckily we had reserved as they were completely full! The hostel was absolutely amazing although I wasnt overly impressed at the beginning as the drunk Swiss volunteer, Marco, tried persuading us to share a bed as it was cheaper - i got a teeny bit cross and said I would rather sleep on the terrace hammock i was standing next to! Think Dave was slightly offended but i didnt really care - after spending over 50 hours on buses together I was keen to get away for a while! :o) Marco made our stay even more hilarious as he is soooo funny and crazy although unfortunately it seems he is a bit of an alcoholic which he admits and thats why he is volunteering there as you get free alcohol! He´s only 28 though - such a shame, we all gave him a bit of a lecture though so hope he sorts himself out soon! I thought about volunteering there too as its such a cool place to work but you dont get paid, you just get free accomodation and food and drink etc and a few Spanish lessons and also you have to work there for at least a month and i decided i just didnt have time!!

The next day I went to Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world - the equator!) with Dave and another Australian guy, Gavin, who I met in Cartagena! It wasnt quite as exciting as i thought it would be (it was kinda just a line!) but it was cool anyway and there was the "official" equator 200 metres down the road which was also an outdoor museum where you could do different experiments (i.e. they show how water drains clockwise and anti-clockwise depending on which side of the equator you are on, and directly on the equator the water just goes straight down! Apparantly all of the experiments are a big hoax (and on some of the experiments i noticed their trick but didnt say anything because i didnt want to be the annoying person in the group who ruined the experience for everyone else! hehe!) but it was fun anyway! That evening we went out for Chinese with a group of people from the hostel and then spent the rest of the evening on the roof of the hostel by the wheelbarrow fire and enjoying the view over Quito! Met lots of new people that night including Philip (the German guy ive been travelling with since) and 3 German girls who I spent most of my time in Quito with - we became the little German clique and didnt stop giggling the whole week it was so much fun!

The next morning i had my first Spanish lesson which was really fun - i learnt lots and my Spanish teacher, Jackie, was absolutely lovely - the cutiest little thing in the world and told me i was the most eager student she´d ever had when i asked her if i could please have lots of homework hehe! :o) That evening we all had dinner together on the terrace (the hostel has a set dinner every night and a professional chef and the whole hostel eats together - its soo lovely just a bit too expensive to do every night!) and then went out clubbing that evening which was lots of fun especially as the club played mostly English music which I hadnt heard for months so was very excited! :o)

The next morning we wanted to get the Teleferico cable car up to the top of the mountain but it was closed so we went to see the big Virgin Mary monument at the top of another mountain which was really nice! We were in a rush to get back though as I had my next 4 hours of Spanish at 1pm and we were sat at the top of the mountain waiting for a taxi for nearly an hour until the police there finally came along and asked us if we were waiting for a taxi and offered to take us back down to the bottom of the mountain in their police pick-up truck for free! Bless! :o)

The next day the 2 German girls, Marieke who is travelling and Katja who is just on holiday for a few weeks, had to sort out flights and trips etc so Philip and the other German girl, Patricia, and I went to Papallacta (I postponed my Spanish lessons for that day) which is a tiny tiny village in the mountains where there are natural hot springs! We spent the day there which was really relaxing and very beautiful - it was freezing in the mountains as it was over 3000 meters high but the water was soooo hot! :o)

The next day Marieka and Katja left for their jungle trip, but not before we persuaded Marieka to book a flight to the Galapagos islands to meet us here (shes arriving tomorrow! yey!) and Philip, Patricia and I got the Teleferico up to the highest mountain in quito (4200 meters) - you really noticed how much thinner the air was there - we did a bit of walking and were out of breath straight away! The view was amazing though! :o) That afternoon I had my Spanish lessons and in the evening Steve and Esther (the couple I travelled with in Colombia for the last 2 weeks) came over as they had just got to Quito and we all spent the evening on the rooftop!

The next day we sorted out our flights, wandered around town and then I had 6 and a half hours of Spanish! It was soooo hard concentrating for that long! That evening we had dinner on the roof again (as I realised i got a free 3 course meal with my 20 hours of Spanish... score!) and Steve and Esther came over for a beer! Had an early night as had my final 5 hours of Spanish starting at 8am the next morning! I couldnt concentrate at all though as I had so much to do before leaving for Cotopaxi at 2pm so I asked if we could take the Spanish lesson out of the classroom so she ended up escorting me to the bank, post office and the big cathedral which i really wanted to see before leaving! :o) It was a nice last morning in Quito and after lunch a big group of us from the hostel got the bus to the Secret Garden hostel in Cotopaxi! :o)

To be honest i was quite glad to leave Quito, i had a great time there because the hostel was amazing and the people i met there were so lovely and we all had so much fun, and the city in itself is quite pretty BUT.... it is not safe at all! Everyday someone from the hostel got mugged or ketchuped/mustarded (a new tactic where someone behind you squirts you with ketchup or mustard and then run away and old ladies then come and tell you whats happened, offer to take your bag while they wipe you down with tissues and then run away with your bag!!!) and Patricia got assulted in a taxi she got on her own!! Horrible horrible horrible!! So consequently we were all completely paranoid everytime we left the hostel! :o( I think thats one of the reasons we spent so much time on the rooftop/terrace of the Secret Garden and the fact that the view was amazing and everyone was lovely! The only downside was that it was absolutely freezing in Quito (except when you were in the sun!) especially in the evenings but luckily there were lots of ponchos we could wear on the rooftop! :o)

Rightyho... ive been here so long im starting to get a numb bum so will quickly upload some photos from Quito and then do a quick (and i do mean quick this time! hehe!) blog from Cotopaxi! :o)

Lots of love, xxxxxxxxxxx

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