The story so far...

Photos: Peru

kikkijayne — Mon, 3 Nov 2014 08:20:00 GMT

Day 157 - Lima

kikkijayne — Mon, 3 Nov 2014 08:19:00 GMT

Coming to terms with another large night I cooked some breakfast at the hostel, packed & made the bus by around 10.30am. I was slightly worried that if it took as long as the bus from Quito I would be cutting it fine to get my flight and I wasn’t wrong.

We didn’t leave until around 11am and stopped so many times for so long that the journey took nearly 5 hours. This meant I was pushing it to catch the local bus for a further 2 hours to the airport. That said, all worked out and for less than $5 I was able to commute from Banos, via Quito right through the airport! The Avianca desk was check in chaos and as expected our flight to Lima was delayed. In all honesty I didn’t mind as it would mean my layover in the airport would be reduced. Either way I was safely on the ground in Lima, preparing for a nap in the food court of the airport before midnight.

Day 156 - Banos

kikkijayne — Mon, 3 Nov 2014 08:10:00 GMT

After getting to bed as the sun came up I only really had a short nap and then made some breakfast at the hostel. Radek and I watched a movie before I went to meet Steph and her spanish school mates for coffee and lunch at yet another fabulous little cafe.

Her spanish teacher, Irene was awesome and took us to this cute little tipica restaurant to eat encebollados sencillo - the tastiest onion and fish soup you can find accompanied with popcorn and fried plantains. We sat and chatted for a good two hours and Irene is hopefully able to link me up with some volunteer work in a women’s shelter in the north of Peru.

Post lunch I helped Radek file a police report for his stolen backpack and enjoyed some more couch time before meeting back up with Steph for vino after her class. We had several reds before heading to this amazing Swiss Restaurant for fondue with some of Nina’s friends. We sat and ate so much cheese and drank a lot of good wine until at least midnight - it was fantastic and of course we continued on for a second innings of those tasty and cheap mojitos. The rest of the night was almost a complete replay of the night before and just as fun.

Day 155 - Ruta de las Cascadas

kikkijayne — Mon, 3 Nov 2014 08:09:00 GMT

Our same group from the Casa Del Arbol mission reconvened for a market breakfast and then a day of cycling through Banos’ Rutas de las Cascadas, showcasing some of Ecuador’s 60 best waterfalls. We managed to negotiate bikes for $4 each for the whole day which wasn’t too bad notwithstanding that they weren’t necessarily in the best condition.

We had planned to ride between 15-30kms along the route, aiming to end at Cascada El Diablo which is arguably the most impressive on the route. Being told that the journey was mostly downhill we were somewhat surprised by the strong headwind and several hills. Cruising along the route we stopped at a fair few places along the way, including at a random little roadside restaurant where we were given free Colada Morada’s as part of festivities for the Ecuadorian ‘Dia del Escudo Nacional’ or ‘National Seal Day’ which happens to coincide with Halloween and also the upcoming All Soul’s Day. Colada Morada loosely translates as dark purple strained and is a traditional Ecuadorian beverage prepared with black corn flour and fruits including oranges, babaco, pineapple, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries. It is sweetened with panela and given extra flavour from cinnamon, allspice, cloves and herbs including lemongrass. Traditionally the drink is served with bread figures shaped like babies - t’anta wawa although we didn’t have those, just the drink. It was pretty tasty and to our surprise served warm!

While we were checking out Rio Verde we were randomly approached by a film crew who said they worked for the Ecuadorian Government or at least the Banos Mayor and were filming a promotional commercial that they wanted us to be in. Radek, Tomas and I agreed to be filmed - we didn’t have to do anything other than keep standing on the bridge and chatting. Hardly dynamic or adventurous but hey, if we appear on a billboard one day somewhere in Banos then so be it.

We weren’t able to ride all the way to El Diablo, so we chained our bikes up at a little cafe run by an effervescent Ecuadorian woman called Mercedes and hiked down to the waterfall. After crawling through wet, rocky cave like tunnels we were definitely impressed once we arrived at this powerful cascada. Our efforts were further rewarded with the perfect double rainbows over the base as we stood in our bathers at the top, drenched by the epic spray back and mist.

All of us agreed we were not riding all the way back so we hopped in the back of a truck with our bikes and headed back to Banos for the afternoon. I decided to make use of the $25 90 minute massage and pedicure special at a local beautician and found a decent haircut including a shampoo and blow dry for $5! It’s been a good five months since I had a trim so it was well overdue and she actually did a great job!

Also it turned out a girl that I met in El Salvador, Stephanie was living in Banos to do spanish school so we arranged to meet up for dinner. She brought a friend of hers, Nina, a german/british journalist who was making a documentary about environmental issues in Ecuador. We went to this excellent little place, Cafe Hood, ate tasty food, drank vino tinto and chatted for hours. Of course once the restaurant closed we also felt the need to sample some of Banos’ finest mojitos, and at $2.50 a drink it was inevitable that we would have several and end up in seedy clubs dancing to bad 90s music interspersed randomly with latino salsa tracks.

Steph is living with one of the local tour guides so we ended up linking up with him and a heap of his mates which progressed to an after party at their apartment. One of the guys was boasting about his musical talents and numerous instruments - he even said he had made and could play his own didgeridoo. I didn’t believe him so he went and got it and proved me wrong. I have never been serenaded by an Ecuadorian rasta trying to teach me to salsa while also playing a home-made didgeridoo before- so this was a real first and highly entertaining :) It was all good fun.

Day 154 - Casa Del Arbol

kikkijayne — Mon, 3 Nov 2014 05:48:00 GMT

A random mixed group of us left the hostel nice and early for breakfast at the market and then the supposed four hour hike up to Casa Del Arbol to play on the giant swing. There was Radek and myself, a German girl, Yohanna and two Swedish girls, Antonia and Caroline.

We managed to get there within two hours without too much trouble and while the clouds obscured full panoramic views of the volcano, it was a beautiful spot where we made the most of our time playing on the giant swing. The swing itself was nowhere near as scary as I had expected but every bit as awesome. We stayed swing-side for quite a while, had coffee and chatted hoping the clouds would clear. They looked pretty set in so we started the trek back to Banos via the road.

After walking for two hours and still feeling like we still had a good two hours to go we decided to try and hitchhike back. When you are walking with two very attractive Swedish girls you will never wait long for a lift and within about two minutes of conceding we had enough of walking we were all in the back of a ute cruising back to town. The journey was completely free of course.

Back in town we all went to the markets for more tasty juices and some soup. As most far as street and market food goes, sometimes part of the adventure is not knowing what you may actually get. This is what happened with my soap con pollo - which was actually sopa con paras de pollo (chicken’s feet). Not a win but edible, sin paras. Post lunch we did some fruit and veg shopping for dinner, walking away with what turned out to be a feast for 3 people for less than $3 in total.

We retreated back to the hostel for some more couch time and watched a movie before cooking up dinner together and settling in for more couch time. Definitely found home away from home and again, more awesome people to hang with.

Day 153 - Banos

kikkijayne — Mon, 3 Nov 2014 04:41:00 GMT

Enjoyed a slow morning breakfast taking in the view from the Secret Garden terrace before heading to the bus station for the commute to Banos. The bus was meant to take around 3 hours and while it took a good 5 hours the upside was that I made a fantastic new travel buddy through the journey, a Polish guy called Radek. We both decided to stay where Ricardo had recommended- D'Mathias. It was such a great hostel and so cheap! For $6 per night it was the cleanest, nicest place I have every stayed and full of excellent people. Total win!

Once we had checked in Radek and I spent the afternoon checking out Banos, went on a food mission for soups and juice at the local market before hiking up a million steps to the El Virgen mirador just in time to see the sun setting behind the surrounding mountains. On the way back down we sampled some random street food, including a jelly tea I can't remember the name of and then ended up settling in with some other peeps at the hostel on the couches to watch a movie.

Perfect place for some chill time.

Day 152 - Isla Santa Cruz & Return to Quito

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:28:00 GMT

Saw my last sunrise in the Galapagos from the comfort of my bunk on board before we bundled up our stuff and bid farewell to the King of the Sea, thanking the crew for a great journey.

Our final activity for the morning was to visit the highlands on Santa Cruz. After a short walk around the area of the Los Gemelos - twin collapsed volcanic craters - our group said goodbye to each other and all went our separate ways. Althea and I agreed we will remain pen pals - until I get an address I will just send her postcards from where I am travelling and she will send me email updates on her year in Ecuador. It’s pretty random that you become friends with a 9 year old but that kid is adorable and I look forward to seeing what she goes on to achieve with her life. Laura, her mum is awesome too and I hope we all do stay in touch.

Given my flight wasn’t until 12.30pm and I was at the airport by 9.20am, I felt a little like I was wasting my last morning on the island but instead had to embrace the extra transit time and overpriced airport coffee. That aside, during my forced reflection time I realised that today marked exactly five months since I left Australia. In the past 152 days I have travelled through 11 Countries - all of Central America and Cuba, sailed to South America, explored most of Colombia and now Ecuador. I’ve improved my Spanglish, climbed around 7 volcanoes, boarded down one, got my PADI and Open Water Diving Certification, completed around (27 dives), trekked to the Lost City and explored most of the Galapagos Islands. Not a bad effort really is it?

Got back to Quito around 5pm and it took a good hour and a half to get back to the hostel from the airport. I settled back into the Secret Garden, did some life admin including findng a cheap flight to Arequipa in Peru from Quito and then headed to bed!

Day 151 - Galapagos Islands - Isla Floreana

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:26:00 GMT

We finally cruised into the calmer waters off Isla Floreana around 4am. Despite pretty much not sleeping throughout the night I was up by 5am sitting on deck, sipping coffee watching the misty rain (guarua) come down. As the sun came up there was the most spectacular rainbow over the coast - a real reward for being an early riser!

After breakfast we headed to Post Office Bay learning more about the human history of the Island and also visiting one of the biggest lava tubes in the Galapagos. Floreana Island, now completely uninhabited by humans was first occupied by an Irish bloke, Patrick Watson, used as a prison by the Spanish and was once home to a Norwegian Tuna canning plant.

Devoid of any proper infrastructure or services on the island, locals initially used a giant tortoise shell as a makeshift post box through which ships passing by would collect and deliver goods. While not necessarily the most timely method of communication it was a free, reliable and effective exchange. While the tortoise shell post box has been removed, today there is a giant wine barrel post box in the same place, into which visitors are encouraged to deposit a postcard or letter to be collected and delivered by someone else travelling to that part of the world. If you make a deposit or visit the island you are asked to take a card or two to deliver to your home country or to your next destination. It doesn’t matter when the messages arrive, it’s all part of the exchange! I left a couple of postcards and took a few - one to be dropped off in Lima and the other I need to get to Sydney eventually. Hopefully mine one day reach their destinations and those cards I have reach their intended recipients.

After our little excursion to Post Office bay we hit the freezing cold waters further up the coast of Floreana for our final snorkelling excursion. It was probably the best snorkelling spot we had been to on the trip in terms of visibility and marine life. We had the odd sea lion join us, giant schools of all sorts of fish and some sizeable marine turtles too - it was just so freaking cold!

Feeling much warmer and drier, after lunch we ventured to the lake at Punta Champion to try and spot a few pink flamingos. Unfortunately while we could make out a few of them on the far side of the lake we were unable to get much of a closer look. Strolling across to the other side of the island we settled in at yet another spectacular beach, this one also occupied mostly by sea lion pups but is also the biggest turtle breeding site in the Galapagos.

Back on deck we started the long and rough journey back to Isla Santa Cruz where we would be docking at Puerto Ayora for the final night of our Galapagos journey. To pass the time and the afternoon we had salsa classes (of sorts) on the top deck, swaying more to the motion of the waves than the music. It was a good laugh all in all and a nice way to cap off a great trip.

After dinner we all ventured onto land for an hour to stretch our legs and indulge in some coconut ice-cream. All of us still felt as though we were on the boat so I am not sure it helped all that much. The mission was worth it for the ice-cream anyway! We headed to our cabins, packed and retired to bed, ready to farewell the boat & the Islands bright and early.

Day 150 - Galapagos Islands - Isla Espanola

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:24:00 GMT

Woke up to see the sunrise over Espanola Island, pretty spectacular start to the day, sitting on deck taking in the view with a few cups of coffee. After breakfast we headed to yet another incredible beach, sharing a morning walk with more sea lion pups, hundreds of marine iguanas and various other creatures. The sun was peeking through the clouds and most of us took the opportunity to take a quick morning dip.

Our morning snorkelling excursion was to Garned Bay and even though the visibility wasn’t great, the experience of snorkelling with sealions weaving around you never gets old.

Back on boat we had a lazy lunch and afternoon on deck as we travelled further around Espanola to Punta Suarez. Back on land we walked around the island, again trying not to step on marine iguanas and sea lions stacked on top of each other, on almost every rock and patch of sand. Further inland and around the coast we saw loads of Galapagos Albatross nests, including a few giant fluffy chicks. So cute! The Albatross are beautiful and are one of the few bird species that mate for life, spending a good 30 years or so with each other.

As we ventured along the coastline we saw loads of Blue Footed Boobies, Red Footed Boobies and even more Nazca Boobies. We watched the giant waves crash against the cliffs as the birds swooped around us and sat down on the rocks amidst the sea lions and marine iguanas to watch the sunset. Despite the clouds obscuring the view, it was the perfect way to end the day.

We were all in bed pretty much straight after dinner as we had very rough seas rocking us all the way through the night to Floreana Island.

Day 149 - Galapagos Islands - Isla Lobos

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:22:00 GMT

I woke up to see the sunrise over Isla Lobos from my bunk bed and to the sounds of seals barking on the rocks nearby. Pretty sweet eh? We started early with a walk around Isla Lobos, trying to make our way around the hundreds of sea lion pups, sea lions and bulls and then winding our way along the path between nesting blue footed boobies and frigate birds. It was yet another stroll around one of the most beautiful places, taking in all the wildlife and the stunning landscape.

We snorkelled nearby but the visibility was terrible and the water was absolutely freezing so that was a short-lived venture before we headed back to the main part of San Cristobal to farewell some passengers and welcome some more.

Althea, Laura and I made the most of some land time and headed to the only cafe in the town that had wifi. With giant vanilla milkshakes that we definitely didn’t need given how much food they gave us on the boat we settled in to reconnect with the outside world for an hour or so. It was at this moment that I discovered an email message from CarpeDM travel agency and a Facebook message from Mum from five days ago fretting because apparently I wasn’t at the airport or on the boat tour. This was news to me given I was on the correct flight, got to Baltra airport fine and had been aboard the King of the Seas the whole time. Having no idea that I was apparently missing I was a little unsure what had happened and still am! Nobody on the boat claims to have reported that I didn’t show up so I guess I will have to wait until I am back in Quito to ask the tour agency what happened!

Following another enormous lunch, met our new passengers - a Canadian girl and two spanish girls and then headed to Cerro Brujo for some afternoon snorkelling and land time. It was again freezing and the visibility was terrible but we did manage to see a few big marine turtles before retiring to the beach for the afternoon. La Playa (the beach) at Cerro Brujo, which loosely translates as ‘wizard hill’ was amazing. Perfect powdery white sand, black volcanic rocks and the most picturesque turquoise water.

Back to the boat we settled in for more food, hot drinks and conversation as we made our way through the night to Espanola island.

Day 148 - Galapagos Islands - Isla San Cristobal

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:17:00 GMT

We arrived at Isla San Cristobal early in the morning and started the day with a walk around Punta Pitt. We hiked up to a lookout, spotting numerous Blue Footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies, Red Footed Boobies, giant cactuses and some incredible basalt rock formations.

After our walk we snorkelled with some more sea lions and then set sail for the south of the island via Kicker rock for some more snorkelling. Along the way we had a school of around 50 dolphins swimming with the boat. We decided to get in the water well before kicker rock, swimming with the dolphins and jumping back in and out of the dingy to try and keep up with them. It was pretty amazing!

Once at Kicker rock it was absolutely freezing and the visibility wasn’t great- that said, we saw at least 25 Galapagos sharks circling beneath us and several sealions swimming around us. The number of sharks was quite phenomenal and there were also giant schools of fish milling around. There was a pretty strong current that carried us through the site pretty quickly and given how cold it was we didn’t take much convincing to get back in the dingy and return to the boat after around 30 minutes!

Back on board we travelled back towards the main town where we had some land time pre-dinner. Althea and her mum, Laura and I wandered around town, literally dodging the sea lions that lined the pavement, slept on park benches and in the middle of the roads! We spent a fair bit of time at a little playground, rode a giant tortoise statue and got ice-cream. It was a pretty damn cool afternoon.

After dinner we sat around on the boat chatting before retiring for the night as we set sail to arrive at Isla Lobos for sunrise.

Day 147 - Galapagos Islands - Isla Santa Fe

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:16:00 GMT

We arrived in the early hours of the morning to Santa Fe, and then headed to Isla Plazas where we saw Masked Boobies, at least a million sea lions, including little suckling baby sealions, sharks, land iguanas, marine iguanas and the most incredible landscapes. The island was dotted with giant cactuses and this incredible red grass type plant which was stunning against the grey sky and the turquoise waters.

After walking around the island for an hour or two we snorkelled nearby and then headed back to the boat for lunch. We spent the afternoon checking out Isla Santa Fe, did a bit more snorkelling and then set sail for Isla San Cristobal.

Most of our boat crew were feeling rather seasick, fortunately I was ok, so spent a fair bit of time watching the journey from the front deck as the waves rocked us through the night.

Day 146 - Galapagos Islands - Puerto Ayoro & Seymour

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:11:00 GMT

We spent the morning wandering around Puerto Ayora and touring the Charles Darwin breeding centre. Along the way to the breeding centre we stopped by the local fish market and watched as the fishermen cut up their catch, putting some on the bench for sale and feeding the rest to the Sealions and pelicans under and on top of the benches!

Once at the breeding centre we spent hours looking at thousands of baby tortoises and learning that the once strong population of around 500,000 was now dwindling, with 30,000 each year reintroduced to the islands via the breeding program. So many of this little guys (who grow into really really big guys) fall victim to a range of introduced predators, including wild dogs, black rats and goats. Of course people have also played a hand in putting a dent in the tortoise population, many using their fat as cooking oil and the rest of them for meat.

After some shopping time in town we headed back to the boat for lunch and then out to see the giant tortoises in their natural habitat further inland on the island. Althea, my little 9 year old boat friend and I had a giant tortoise counting competition throughout the afternoon. She reached 101 and I got to 100 - there were literally that many, let alone those we didn’t see. We also had a walk through a lava tube which was pretty cool. At the entrance to the site there were some giant tortoise shells you could climb into - I couldn’t resist and had to have my turn at pretending to be a tortoise. It was pretty awesome, although that shell weighs at least 80kgs so there was no way I was going anywhere with it on my back.

We headed back to the boat and settled in for the evening, preparing to sail to Isla Santa Fe throughout the night.

Day 145 - Galapagos Islands - Isla Santa Cruz

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:09:00 GMT

A 6am cab to the airport, smooth check in and then I was all set for my eight day adventure in the Galapagos Islands. The flight stopped for a good hour in Guayaquil but landed in Baltra on time, around Midday Galapagos time.

At the airport I couldn’t find the representative from my boat for quite some time, but eventually I found Leonidas (our guide) and we collected an older German couple and headed via shuttle and then dingy to our boat - King of the Sea. Once aboard we met the other guests and had lunch before changing to snorkel around the north of Isla Santa Cruz, quite near the airport. We had a good mixed group, a couple from Czech Republic, the Gernams from my flight, a coupe from Colorado, a mother and her daughter from New Mexico, a French guy fro New York and two Swiss girls.

It was freezing in the water for our snorkelling journey but we were lucky enough to have a sealion join us for a while, a few white tip reef sharks, loads of colourful fish and quite a large marine turtle. The colours of the landscape were also incredible. Back on the boat we had at least 20 Frigot birds flying overhead, we saw Blue Footed Boobies and the sunset over the horizon as we headed towards Puerto Ayora.

Once we moored in Puerto Ayoro we had dinner and then Leo, our guide invited me to join him to meet his family. Since I had nothing else to do I accepted the invitation and we ended up at his Uncle’s house for most of the night where I was forced to bring out my best spanglish. I think I did ok :)

Day 144 - Laguna Quilotoa & Toachi Canyon

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:08:00 GMT

Another early morning start after a latish night I made it to Plaza Foch to meet up with my tour to Quilotoa by 6.30am. Everyone on the bus was so friendly we quickly had a great little group for the day trip and settled in for the ride.

We spent the morning winding and climbing our way through the Andes, enjoying spectacular views despite it being quite overcast. For most of the drive we were at an elevation of around 4000m - not that we really felt it from inside the van. As a stop off en route to Quilotoa we wandered around at an Indigenous market and then visited ‘Mr Julian’, a local farmer who showed us around his traditional farm house. The farm house was a tiny, dark thatched hut and the floor was literally covered in guinea pigs squeaking about. Occasionally the indigenous people and in particular Shamans would use guinea pigs to test people’s energy, to assess their health and as part of healing or ritualised sacrifice. These guinea pigs were however, just for eating… Roasted Cuy seems to be pretty popular in these parts. Tastes kind of like rabbit but definitely looks like a guinea pig on your plate. It’s best if you ask for it without the ears and head...

Further along we stopped at the Toachi canyon, stretched our legs and then hopped back in for the rest of the ride to the lake. Once looking out at the steep 4km descent most of the group opted to walk down and take a mule back up. Me and a few others decided we would walk down and back up. Why not set a challenge for a Sunday right? So we started our descent, slipped and slid in the sand and rock a few times but made it to the shores of the spectacular Laguna. It was freezing and overcast but still phenomenally beautiful.

We made it back up in around 45 minutes- almost record time and just before it poured with rain! Thankfully we were tucked up inside this cute little cafe with hot cups of tea and bowls of soup while it literally bucketed down. This made the trip back quite snoozy but we did all stop of tea and chocolate cake about an hour out of Quito.

Once back in town, Carla, an American woman from our group and I went to another random mexican place in La Mariscal, shared some dinner and then both decided it was time for an early night. I headed back to the Hostel, spent some time chatting with people on the roof before doing a final pack for Galapagos and then settling into bed myself.

Day 143 - Otavalo, Cotacachi & Laguna Cuicocha

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:06:00 GMT

Managed to be up, ready and on the bus by 6am for the long drive to Otavalo. There was a great group of people on the bus and we all chatted for the four or so hours it took us to get to our first stop.

Once at the markets me and Lisa, a nice Dutch girl from the bus set out to explore what was on offer. I found some really awesome llama wool ponchitos, llama hair llama printed socks (to wear with my thongs) and that was about it. I was actually disappointed with the market - it wasn’t as authentic as I had imagined and had a lot of more mass produced junk than genuine hand-crafted indigenous arts and crafts. That said, it was still definitely worth the journey to check out.

Searching for the food section we met Alex, a Colombian/Ecuadorian guy who gave us free bracelets and offered to put an extension/dread-lock/braid thing in my hair. He told us where to find the food market so we headed there for a plato tipico desayuno - rice, chicken, egg, beetroot salad and friend potatoes before returning to Alex to get my hair thing. Of course I insisted that it be red and black and the guy worked away for half an hour to create this quite pretty piece of art in my hair :) Lovely guy who seemed insistent I would return to Otavalo and told me that I had excellent energy!

Post market we checked out the Cotacachi province, stopping by some leather markets in the town where Lisa and I found a vegan organic cafe and had an amazing fresh juice. It was the perfect perk up for the rest of the afternoon. The journey continued on towards Cotacachi volcano where we did a short walk up to Laguna Cuicocha for spectacular panoramic views of the lake and surrounding area. It was here that I ran into Ricardo and we made loose plans to catch up for dinner back in Quito.

The trip back took a good couple of hours but all in all it was a great day! Once back in Quito Ricardo and I ventured out for dinner to this excellent little Mexican place in La Mariscal for beer and burritos before calling it a night. He was off to Banos early in the morning and I had to be up at 5.30 again for my day trip to Quilotoa.

Day 142 - Quito

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:05:00 GMT

Another leisurely breakfast on the hostel roof taking in the view over multiple cups of tea I then set out to find several realiable ATMs from which I could make multiple withdrawals to pay for the Galapagos tour. It took me around 2 hours and eight attempts to get all the cash but I did it, mixing up the mission with some fresh juice and a tasty empanada to keep me going.

On the way back to the hostel I managed to pick up a few things I had been needing to get for ages - a new bra, hair ties and leggings! I was searching for shoes that weren’t my hiking boots or runners - like cheap boots that I could wear with jeans because Quito was freezing but quickly discovered they don’t stock shoes above a six 6 almost anywhere in Ecuador. Still, a win on many fronts even if I will have to wear socks and thongs or sneakers and jeans…

As well as picking up what I needed, I had a really sweet Ecuadorian man called Luis try to pick me up. He walked with me for quite some way back to the hostel before giving me his details and asking me to go out dancing with him that night. Very sweet but never going to happen. A man in a ute a the traffic lights then told me that he loved me. The perils of having blue eyes in Ecuador - hilarious nonetheless.

After paying for the tour I ventured up to Quito's Contemporary Art Museum. It is in an incredible refurbished old building and had some fantastic exhibitions, including a FEMLINK digital film series. I stayed and watched all 24, 1 minute films made by woman around the world and had the entire cinema to myself! Left the museum planning to walk to La Mariscal to check out the market but ended up caught in an epic hailstorm. Drenched and freezing I took shelter in a random cafe on a random street and settled in with a hot chocolate and random banana type snack to wait out the storm.

It took a good hour or so for the rain to stop by which time it was getting too dark to walk to La Mariscal on my own or back to the hostel if I left it any longer so I hot footed it back. Dry and warm again our random crew convened on the roof for some drinks and then Amy, our Brasilian friend Ricardo and I headed to Calle La Ronda in the Old Town for dinner and to fiesta. We ate roasted Guinea Pig (Cuy), drank the horrible warm local alcoholic drink, Canzela and then settled into a little bar to listen to some live music with giant mugs of warm wine.

Feeling sleepy we decided on a change of scenery and grabbed a cab to La Mariscal, also known as `Gringolandia’. We visited a few seriously seedy local bars, made further terrible drink choices and called it a night at around 2.30am, noting we all had to be up at 5.30am to go to Otavalo market!

Day 141 - Quito

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:04:00 GMT

Was up by 7.30am and spent a good two hours sitting on the rooftop drinking cups of tea with milk (a total luxury) staring at the amazing views of Quito and doing a little trip planning.

The boys joined me for breakfast and then headed off to meet their friend who they were staying with on the outskirts of town. I signed up for the free walking tour of the old town that our hostel offered and set off with the group to explore the city. Our walking tour guide Gaby was the bubbliest, friendliest and cutest Ecuadorian woman I have met. She took us all around the main spots in Quito, gave out lollies for answering ridiculous questions and shared candid stories about life in Ecuador, the country’s past and her beliefs about the future. We tried Ecuadorian tortillas - like a corn pancake filled with cheese - a tasty sweet and savoury fusion snack for a whole 50 cents and got shown the best fresh juice place in the city and an ATM that worked. Really interesting tour and super helpful orientation to Ecuador’s capital - Quito - which actually means 'middle of the land.

After the tour I checked out some of the artesian markets in the main plaza and then set off to climb the clock tower in La Basilica, the largest church in Quito - an enormous, beautiful gothic structure that gave the best views of the city and surrounding mountains. Gaby explained quite a bit about the architecture of the church, pointing out the various stone carvings mounted on the perimeters were of animals that had not biblical, but indigenous significance. The stone jaguars represented fire, the caiman’s, the rivers, the monkey’s the coastline, the anteater, the jungle and the birds the links to the sky and heavens. She also pointed out that there were parts of the church that remained unfinished, saying that this was because Ecuadorians were incredibly superstitious and believed that finishing the structure would bring about the end of days.

I ran into the boys in the park near La Basilica and they joined me to check out the church. We met a Canadian girl inside who had just arrived in Quito and quickly formed a little crew to explore for the afternoon. I recreated the walking tour for the boys and Alia and we added in a stop for some pan de chocolate and chocolate caliente as well as for more tortillas. Finishing up at the library and art gallery I headed back to the hostel to get my washing and sort my galapagos tour, planning to meet up with the boys for some pre-dinner drinks at the hostel roof.

The team at CarpeDM tours were fantastic at talking me through options for the Galapagos and eventually I settled on the least expensive but still expensive option - an 8 day budget boat cruise on the King of The Seas. At least 3% of the company’s tour proceeds go to community projects in Ecuador so I felt it was overall a positive investment on a guaranteed once in a lifetime experience. Notwithstanding that, coming to terms with spending two months budget on the trip I met the boys for a drink upstairs. We reunited with some of our pub quiz team, the fabulous Amy from New York and had a few new recruits which we settled in with on the rooftop for the night.

Day 140 - Ecuador

kikkijayne — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:02:00 GMT

Got on the road by around 7am. Took a taxi to the bus station, a collective to Ipiales and then a collectivo taxi to Rumichaca getting to the Ecuadorian border around 9.30am.

Had a super smooth run through immigration, walked into Ecuador and then got a taxi to the bus station to find a grab a bus through to Quito. My taxi driver was hilarious and had a large wolf’s tail hanging from the rear view mirror. He insisted on telling me that I had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen and that I should stick around in the north of Ecuador so I could teach him English. I politely declined his offer.

I hadn’t even got out of the taxi at the bus station before two guys had grabbed my pack from the boot and were trying to load me and it into a bus already driving off for Quito. They insisted that their services were gratis for a bonita chica and made the bus stop to get me on. It was pretty funny and they were actually quite genuinely nice. I guess this is what happens when you are the only tourist and single woman within miles.

We had just turned out of the bus terminal when we stopped again to pick up two other touristic looking types. The boys joined me on the backseat and turned out to be excellent company - Louis from England living in Colombia and Juan from Cali in Colombia. We spent the next 8 hours or so chatting, snoozing and sharing snacks as we missioned to Quito.

Once at the bus station the boys couldn’t get hold of the friend that they were meant to be staying with so ended up coming with me to the Secret Garden Hostel. We arrived in time for dinner and the Pub Quiz night so settled in on the rooftop. Quickly assembling a few other total strangers to our multinational, multilingual quiz team which I named ‘Let’s Get Quizzical’ we actually managed to win a few rounds and end up coming in second, 1 point behind the winning team! It was really fun and the hostel had great atmosphere. The only strange thing is that at 11pm they shut all the common areas and tell you to go to bed or go out. Ridiculous. It just means that people end up partying in their dorm rooms and keeping everyone else awake. The whole hostel was still up until at least 1am so most of us just sat around chatting in the dorms.

Another great night with new friends.

Day 139 - Pasto

kikkijayne — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 23:24:00 GMT

Woke up from a not very restful bus slumber at 6.30am and sat quietly staring out at the mountains and trying not to think about when I would finally arrive in Pasto. The wifi dropped in and out on the bus which was a great distraction when it worked and I got some life administration done.

I eventually arrived in Pasto around 3pm. Checked in at this random hostel (Koala Inn). It was super cheap, totally deserted and had a private room with a TV to myself for less than $20,000 pesos. Considering I had been paying $25,000 for 10 bed dorm rooms, this was pretty sweet.

I spent the afternoon wandering around town checking out a few of the old cathedrals and public buildings but felt super average and retreated early back to the hostel to lay down. Pasto is a surprisingly big, picturesque town nestled into the mountains with lots of cafes and a seemingly bustling small CBD. Not a bad place to stop really, just a shame I didn’t feel much like enjoying it

As far as exciting nights go, I ate some yoghurt and fruit for dinner in my room, watched CNN live and crashed out, making the most of a double bed and not having to share a room with anyone!