36 Hours in Ecuador.

Sorry for the delay in getting this up since my arrival! I am sitting in an
internet cafe just down the street from my hostal. The connection is good
but slow and there are armed guards. I think they are actually here to flirt
with the woman behind the counter, rather than protect the place!
well i guess i should start at the beginning... or at least since toronto...

My flights from toronto, were long but good, the food on the plane from
Toronto to Bogot� Columbia was pretty bad, kinda like chef boy R dee chicken
and rice thing... oh well. I sat beside a woman who has been living in TO
for 7 yrs but i s from columbia and was on her way home for family visit. we
had a good chat which made the long long flight better. I watched mission
impossible 3, in Spanish as an attempt at last minute language gathering,
but it was mostly noise and smoke, so not sure what that accomplished! When
we arrived in columbia the gate agent met us with out boarding passes, but
mine was missing so she took me to go and get another one. Security was
tight but rather simple- My bags were not searched, i was asked no
questions, and only got a pretty peripheral pat down by a woman in military
uniform. then on to wait at my gate for an hour...
when i arrived in Guayaquil security was equally simple. was the first one
through customs in my line so that was all there. then i picked up my
luggage, which arrived very shortly afterwards. then i had my bag X-rayed by
some one who didn�t�t seem to be very interested who sent me on my way. the
only real check was that i had to produce my baggage tag to leave with my
bag.

Noemie�s friend Jorge met me at the airport. It was nice not to have to
navigate Taxis etc on arrival! He drove me to my hostal to check in. When
we first got there no one was answering the door, so Jorge used his cell to
call the front desk. He said he was there with a friend ( amiga- a word that
means female friend) and the front desk guy was asking him a bunch of
questions about what kind of friend. i think he though JOrge was looking for
a cheap hotel to stay in with his girlfriend. after that was straitened out.
i put my stuff in my little (though nice sized room) and we headed out for a
drink. He had his lap top with pictures of the things that i should see,
and he made some suggestions for my next days travels. He was on pretty much
the same page as my lonely planet travel guide. He took me back to my hotel
where i promptly fell asleep despite the heat and humidity, and actually had
t get up and put the blanket back on the bed halfway through the night. I
slept very very well!

The next day i was up early but stayed in bed until almost 8. had a lovely
breakfast a the hostal, which makes amazing french toast and fresh juices.
Then i hopped on a bus down to �Malecon 2000� which is the redeveloped water
front along the river.

A note on buses and drivers in general here: CRAZY! honking, speeding, but
some how you still feel safe. Seems that my neck is just fine from being
rear ended on the weekend, thanks to ice, drugs and a good shoulder rub. no
pain, even on the constant start stop of the buses etc here.
The buses do not stop completely for men to get off and on, but luckily they
do for women.

On the way to the waterfront I got off my bus to soon and had a pleasant
adventure figuring out where i was... got some help from some students at a
university (there are many here!) and hopped on another bus to my final
destination. When i got off the bus the driver said i should get a cab down
to the water, but when i asked how long it would take to walk there it was
only 5 minutes, so i just went on foot.

There are little shops selling junk everywhere. i guess i should not call it
that, but that is kind of what it is... knock-off brand name shoes, plastic
jewelry, watches etc etc... When i got down to the water front i strolled
along there from one end to the other, taking pictures of the aquatic plants
that float back and forth up the river with the tide, and of people etc
etc...

There was a group of people there from ba�os near where there has been a
volcano erupt recently, trying to drum up tourism, since it has dried up
quite a bit since. Met a guy from Austria who has been traveling here for 2
months now and is living in Ba�os. he made some good suggestions for
additions to my itinerary.

From the waterfront i climbed a hill called los pa�as, which used to be a
very bad nieghbourhood, but has been entirely reclaimed. the houses are all
in colonial style and bright colours. there were some homes that were under
construction as well. all the scaffolding is bamboo. even for very high
concrete buildings... I will post pictures when i get a chance.

at the top of the hill there is a light house and a little church, and an
amazing view of the river and the surrounding area. you can see the
contrasts between the fixed up areas and the untouched ones. HUGE
difference. At the top i met a swiss woman about my age who is traveling on
a similar schedule and i expect to see her again on Friday in montanita. She
seemed to have a pretty certain sense of direction so when we decided to go
to a artisan market she lead the way. Her sense was not right on though,
and we ended up a the huge cemetery that i had intended to visit anyway so
we wandered there for a while. Huge White mausoleums, statues, etc etc.
very different from here. and up on a very steep hill above it were many
more humble graves built on such an incline I was not sure how any one could
dig or put up a stone up there.

ONce we had our direction set, we headed down to the artisan market, where
there were lots of neat little trinkets and many locals shopping which was
interesting. I didn�t buy anything but i might go back at the end of my
trip.

Next we tried to walk to a large park to get out of the sun and heat and
soak up some green,but we could not go because the police had it blocked
off. not sure why but i was not about to fight with them! instead i parted
ways with my swiss friend and headed to a smaller park: parque de bolivar,
which is full of iguanas. this was fun as they are all sizes and all over
the place. there were a bunch up in a tree, and they would all start
bobbing there heads in unison and the treat would shake. By this time it was
5:30, and it is dark by 7 so i decided to head back to the hostal. After a
help from a few kind strangers i figured out where to catch bus 88 back and
was home shortly after 7pm. I then called Jorge, who picked me up and we
went for supper at a place called frutabar. The food menu was not large, but
the juice menu was HUGE. I had a tamarido juice--- AMazing and a �Hawaiian
chicken sandwich� this was probably the best chicken sandwich i have ever
eaten. for those of you that know my eating habits you know that i am not a
huge poultry fan. but this was awesome. it had roast chicken, with fresh
peaches and pineapple. there was a salsa to go on it that was made of grated
carrots, tomatoes and onions that was superb as well.

Jorge dropped me at my hostal at about 10:30 and i was asleep almost right
away despite trying to write in my journal. I had walked all day, and had a
happy full stomach so my eyes were very heavy. I slept great. i slept in.
and now i am writing this. I am going to go do some more city exploring this
afternoon, and then get ready to head to Montanita on fridday. i am going to
take the bus in the morning so that i can stop along the way. I was goin to
go with Jorge but he is not going until saturday this weekend, and i have
kind of had enough of this big loud city. it is beautful and intriguing but
i am looking forward to a little less bussle.

Love you all and will write again when i next have a chance! hopefully
tomorrow.

Cheers

Erin