Sun, sea, sand and street dogs...

Another day in Montanita, and not a lot happens. Get up, have a walk along the beach, eat breakfast, go for a swim, relax in the sun, pat a street dog, go for a swim, eat lunch, relax in the sun, pat a street dog, read a book, relax in the sun etc... It´s quite boring actually. I´m kidding.

Last night after a large bottle of rum and a few hours of cards we tried to rid our room of a massive cricket that had disrupted the game on numerous occasions (I freaked when it landed on my neck.) It took up camp under Dave´s bed and I hardly slept, frightened that it was going to jump in my mouth or on my face. It shouted all night, until Dave woke up, rolled over and crushed it on his pillow. Grim. They´re everywhere. Can´t wait until it´s a deadly spider in Oz. Great.



Have finally just said goodbye to Joubin, for good this time (turns out he was in the hostel joined on to ours.) He´s off to Venezuela before all the Iran World Cup games in Germany. Mate, it´s been great. Always a pleasure, never a chore. See you on the other side, in fifty something weeks...

Gnarly. Dude.

Have spent the day splashing about in the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean with Duncan and Dave, watching the crabs dance about on the golden beach which stretches as far as you can see... Suddenly I´m missing my desk a little less (sorry Annie.)

We arrived in Ecuador´s top surf resort, Motanita, at about 8pm last night after a humid 9 hour coach journey. It wasn´t too pleasant, least of all for Duncan who had downed a litre of bottled water (con gas) before we took off and then sat in agony needing the loo for a good few hours (go when you can, not when you want to Duncan.) Checked in to a lovely bright pink, bamboo hostel with hammocks and a balcony and went out for steaks and a wander. It´s small but really vibrant. Good looking surfer boys and girls litter the streets along with a whole range of friendly street dogs (forget mangy mongrels, here the homeless are handsome Golden Retrievers, Black Labs and Chow Chows.)

Spent most of the night being violently ill, which is a bit embarrassing when you´re sharing a small dorm, but woke feeling a lot better and ready for the beach action. Have lost Maria who left us this morning (we´re meeting up with her next week in Quito) but have just received a message from Joubs who we left yesterday at the airport, to say that his flight has been delayed and he´s in town too. So we´ve got our amigo back, and I´m once again the only (lucky) girl with a bunch of boys. Hoo. Ray.

(Pictures to follow.)

HTT

It appears that guys can only go travelling if they´re good looking. I think it must be in the small print at STA. Here are the new two, James and Si, who rocked up to our hostel yesterday. They´d already met Joubs in Peru, so them and some girls came with us to the American girl´s barbeque. Yvette´s massive flat is just around the corner from us, so we got there about 4pm, sat on the roof drinking and eating (me, Duncs and Maria had trekked to the massive supermarket in the morning to get provisions), played ping-pong and drinking games and then went to a club called Traffic. Saw in Suki´s birthday with flaming shots and a few games of pool. It was all good. And quite wild. And pretty random.

Have spent today wandering the streets. Breakfast. Ice cream. Markets. Churches. Tomorrow we´re off to the coast (which I´m wildly excited about), Maria and Dave in tow, although I think it will be without our amigo Joubs who has to get to Germany for the World Cup. The loser. Sniff...

Dying to be alive...

...the things you see, the way you see them, will never be seen again... let´s not go through our lives, without just dying to be alive...



Yesterday was incredible.

Left Banos on Tuesday evening and arrived in Riobamba late. Although to be honest I didn´t think I´d make it. The bus journey was horrendous and Duncan wisely didn´t tell me until afterwards that the road had infact been closed for the pass year due to it slipping away through landslides. Great. But got there in one stressy piece and checked into a fancy hostel near the train station. The highlight of the stay - Paparocco. The hostel´s freaky cat with one chewed ear. Joubs reckoned it was the devil.

Up at 5am. In the ticket queue at 6. Saw the train. Nearly cried. Rickety. Old. And often de-rails. I was petrified, especially as we´d be riding the thing for 6 hours sat on the roof - literally on the edge of sheer drops. Met up with David who we met in Banos (he´s from Farnham. Course he is. Everyone I meet seems to be connected to my life back home) and the American girls we did karaoke with. The boys found my fear highly amusing and Joub took great delight at singing Soul Asylum´s Runaway Train (not funny, buddy.)

However, it was amazing. Probably the best thing I´ve ever done in my life. Man, the views. I can´t even begin. I didn´t think that such utterly, utterly awesome scenery could ever exist. The pictures don´t even scratch how beautiful it was - check them out, I´ve just spent hours putting a load on here and it´s not working (am literally about to lose it.) I was blown away. And all the mountain kids hear the train, run out and catch the lollies we lobbed at them. Incredible.

A four hour coach journey when we got off and we arrived in Cuenca. Checked in to a lively hostel with Joubs, Dunners and David - I´ve now got three boys. Brilliant. Drank loads. Duncan went to a rave and I met some Ecuadorian guys and 2 German girls who took me to a salsa club. More drinks. Ran in to Duncan and Maria - the Ecuadorian girl we met on the train. More drinks. Then another club. More drinks. Stumbled in at 3am.

Today I feel awful. Awful. Of course I do. Joub´s roped me in to collecting the World Cup stickers as he was desperate for a swapsies buddy so we spent the morning sorting out our albums and buying loads of packets (cheap as salchipapas.) Ran in to Marcin who we met in Latacunga, had a wander and a chicken lunch and now getting ready for another night of mojitos... I´m loving it, loving it, loving it. I´m loving it like this.

Sick as un perro

Spot the difference. I´m sick. Woke up this morning with my throat raging even more than before. Having spent yesterday milling about town, checking out the volcano evacuation route and having dinner at our favourite cafe Casa Hood with South African Dee, I hit the sack at 9pm (after a bit of Beck´s autobiography - apparently he didn´t have an affair with Rebecca Loos...)

Run Duncan, run...



Got Duncan to accompany me to the pharmacy where they were quick to hand over some antibiotics which I necked with breakfast on the terrace. Then felt horrific for the rest of the morning. Sick, sick, sick. Looking forward to taking the next one tomorrow then...

This afternoon we checked out the local volcanic baths. It would have been amazing except that poor Joub had his camera nicked as soon as we´d got in there. Literally he had it one minute, and then it was gone. He went off to make a statement at the police station and Duncan and I had a quick dip in the hot, hot outside baths. It was great, although we weren´t really in the mood after Joub´s misfortune. He´s lost about 7 months worth of photos from his travels. That sucks.

I´m practically the Littlest Hobo these days. About to make a move again. 2 bus journies to Riobamba where we´ll take an early morning train to Cuenca tomorrow (you ride the train journey on the roof Indiana Jones stylee.) So until then, adios amigos.

A la la la la Banos

So, when the boys got back from their hike we decided to move on straight away. 2 bus journies later and we're in Banos, the volcano town that's on amber alert due to some activity. Checked in to a great hostel where Dunc, Joub and I are in a nice dorm for about two quid a night. Lovely roof terrace, free internet access (although it would be quicker to ink a message on the back of a snail and send it packing to the UK) and I'm currently having my clothes washed, dried and pressed for about 50p. Get in.

The dorm



The roof



Hit a local karaoke bar last night where we hooked up with a bunch of American girls. They clearly weren't interested in me, and the boys lapped up the attention from their hareem. Whatevs. A good few mojitos and some terrible Roxette renditions later (not from me you understand, I'm amazing at karaoke, always win don't I?) and the three of us were alone in the bar at about 1am. Unfortunately, some local guy had spotted Joub's digital camera and whistled to his mates who hung around outside clearly waiting for us. I had a bit of a spaz out, but the boys stayed calm and we managed to hail a taxi and safely get ourselves back to the hostel, which was literally only about 2 blocks away. So it was all good.

Today we had an amazing breakfast and health smoothie up the road (one with ginger has TOTALLY sorted out my sore throat), wrote some postcards on the terrace with our new friend Dan from Alton and are now going to check out the hot baths and possibly treat ourselves to a hot stone massage. So, a tough few hours ahead...

Dan, from Alton

Let´s hear it for the boys!

The boys have left me alone (fending off wolf whistles from the locals) in Latacunga today as they´re climbing the snow capped mountain, Cotopaxi. After witnessing what was meant to be a ´gentle´ climb at the lake (seriously, it was so hard core - Duncan even quit smoking for life afterwards*) there´s no way I´d even contemplate an actual Touching the Void type scenario.

They left me at 8am in bed watching Spanish Sesame Street (it´s the way to learn) and Spanish Art Attack (with a Neil Buchanan lookalike). After a bit more shut eye (I´ve been awake every morning at 5am - especially here as the church bells kick off at that time, although neither Duncan or Joubin believe me) I´ve ventured out to find pretty much everything closed. So I think it´s going to be a boring few hours as there´s not much to see that we haven´t already. Joubin´s requested that I hunt down the CD they play at the Columbian coffee house that we´ve been in everyday. It´s a compilation of `classics´ (Unchain my Heart, It must have been Love, Lady in Red, Wind of Change etc...) but sung in Spanish - and it´s the perfect, amusing soundtrack to our games of Uno (going down a storm, thanks Anna.) But I don´t think he´s going to be lucky this time.

Tomorrow the three of us are heading on, probably for the volcano town that´s on amber alert (we´ve been assured it´s safe to go) and then Riobamba after that. Then it´s the coast to really get to grips with the tan. I´m not doing too badly, although think I over did it yesterday. Apparently I looked `embarrassed´ at dinner last night, due to sun-burnt cheeks. Brilliant.

*It lasted 20 minutes...

It´s a small, small world...

So, not only did I have breakfast the other morning with a girl who lives next to Davey P on the Green in Ealing but it turns out that Joubin* went to school with one of Duncan´s best friends that he met at uni. As if that wasn`t enough we randomly met some Polish guy in a cafe yesterday who lived in the same flats as lovely Laura MacB in Hackney. I mean, come on.

In brief things are amazing. Hairy old bus ride to Latacunga with the boys yesterday. Checked in to a three bed room in Hostal Central. Went for Columbian coffee. Met a Polish guy called Marcin. Went to a rock bar that put on a live Rasmus DVD (can this place get any better?) Got some Persian yoghurt. Hit the sack for our 7.30am start...

Got driven up through the mountains. Drove so high we went through the clouds. Can`t actually describe it but for some sort of bench mark; I actually wept 3 times as my eyes couldn`t quite believe how beautiful it was. Saw how the indigenous people live - totally self sufficient in grass huts. One man who we stopped to talk to had never heard of England... Went to a market where we were the only Gringos. Then got to the crystal clear, turquoise lake Quilotoa. Where I cried again.





With the risk of sounding totally gay (sorry Duncs) - being slapped in the face with such astounding beauty kind of blew me away. It put things totally in to perspective. It made me ashamed of all the insignificant rubbish that stresses me out on a daily basis at home. I´ll forget it. I know I will. I`ll return and be just the same. But for those few hours I felt incredible. Okay, enough.

Here´s the last 24 hours in a few snaps. More pictures on my Flickr...























*Note, I´ve spelt his name wrong on some of the pictures on my blog. Clearly had my mind elsewhere, didn´t I?

You. And me. And Joubin makes three.

Look what we´ve gone and got ourselves.



He´s called Joubin, 27, from East London (Anna and Jodie you can see his flat from yours) and he´s somewhat easy on the eye. Anyway, he´s our NBF and today me, him and Dunc are becoming travel buddies, moving on to another town about 2 hours a way. The boys want to go to Banos - an apparently beautiful place a little further from here - but there´s a volcano erupting. It´s been on the front of the news everyday and, quite frankly, I´m a bit of a whimp. So we´ve decided to head to Lacatunga and keep an eye on it from there. Feeling great. Joubin´s a totally seasoned traveller having done a lot of South America solo, so he knows what he´s doing. Plus, him + Duncan = a sight for any girl´s slightly sun-scorched, jet-lagged eyes. Bring. It. On.

Lose the ´tude...

So much for leaving the internet cafe and seeing some of the town yesterday. I was too sick. Seems like the altitude change REALLY didn´t agree Sam, whilst Duncan (typically) was fine. It was weird. I didn´t really feel ill, I just felt strange and totally not myself and the thought of having to go anywhere made me want to cry. So I hung out on the roof terrace in the scorching sun with a beer and the hostel boys, watching the Champions League (is that what it´s called? Eddy - how did I do?)

Ecuador night was amazing. Food amazing. Music amazing (think the pan pipe people in Bournemouth Square...just more amazing.) Sam, not so amazing. I went to a really bad place and ended up in bed at 9pm, in floods of tears. I sobbed for ages and even had to get Nanny out for the night. Not sure I´m going to be able to hack this. Not homesick at all, just terribly shy and unconfident with new people. I´m fine when I get to know people - but time´s not on your side in this environment. You have to get straight in and chat from the off. Duncan, full of beans had no problem. Everyone loves him and off he went clubbing into the small hours. Me, totally paranoid that everyone hates me, ended up mute - with a soggy pillow...



Woken up today feeling (physically) a lot better. Think I´ve finally lost my altitude problem (see what I did there?)

I´m here. He´s queer. We´ve already sunk a beer...

After about 23 hours of travel, many tears (Duncan´s, not mine - I´m clearly made of stone) and a couple of TERRIBLE films on the flight we arrived in Quito. Red lipstick probably not the best choice - street kids surrounded our cab, banging at the windows asking for my name. Although I kind of liked it. Never get that sort of attention in London, do I?

Secret Garden hostel is amazing. Clean, cheap and super friendly. Already got my eye on a guy who lives here. He´s called Thomas. He´s four. He speaks fluent Spanish and not a lot of English, but it didn´t seem to matter. We hit it off straight away and spent some time drawing cats and dogs - luckily they make the same noise in Ecuador as they do in the UK. I think it´s love...





Sharing a room with nine people was a bit odd. Heard a few squeaks from Duncan but his snore spray seemed to keep him quiet for most of the night. Unlike the German bloke who rocked up with a girl he´d met in a club at 5am. Yeah, glad they were on the top of my bunk...

Feeling a bit sick from the altitude. Weezy. Tight chest. Sore throat. But am told this will soon pass, so it´s all good. Got a hot date with Thomas tonight at the Ecuador themed night on the hostel terrace which over looks the whole of Quito. It´s really something. But for now I think we´re going to take it easy and have a wander around town to see what´s about, trying to avoid the tramps. One of which whilst writing this entry, entered the cafe and smacked me on the back with his begging pot. Note (again) to self: lose the lipstick.

We'll always be together, together in electric dreams...

I didn't realise just how many amazing friends I had. I knew I had lots and I knew they were all pretty good looking. But only until they were all rammed in to Soho's Pitcher and Piano on Friday night did I *really* appreciate just how many and just how stunning. Dunc and I had to lock ourselves in the loo for five minutes half way through the night as we were so overwhelmed. So thanks to those who came for making it ridiculously radical. A special thanks to Anna, Oli and Talia for making people dance - people were actually asking me for contact numbers for you guys, not just for events but also for romance. No word of a lie. Amazing. (And sorry that I sloped off early. I don't like goodbyes, do I?) For those who weren't there, here's a little bit of what you missed...

The invite...



The venue...



Wags (the first person I saw)



Eddy (the last person I saw)



Isn't she lovely? Paula and Tam



Where's your boyfriend, Conor?



Sweetie, darling Kathy



Mango and Shilpa



Sweet as Sugar



The rockstars...



Time out in the toilet



Ady trying it on. Again.



Angie and Lisa



Dora and Jess



Lynderella and Ed



Corkers and James