P to the Lo

After another day of sun and another large bottle of rum (goaded by Dave) we decided to head on up the coast to Puerto Lopez (clearly Duncan and I called it P-Lo, which we found highly amusing each time, simple things...) Said a teary goodbye to Dave at the bus stop (he was off to Guayaquil to see the "regeneration of the city") but the two of us wanted more beach action. Rocked up in P-Lo and instantly wished we hadn´t. It was cold, completely dead and pretty grim. A complete contrast to the sunny beauty of Montanita. I think we both suddenly felt really far away from home and pretty lonely.



Our hostel (Sol Inn) would have been wicked, had we not been the only people in it, so we bought some crackers and cheese, befriended the ratty hostel cat and set up a GSOT Leagureboard. In the Grand Scheme Of Things, I´m currently winning (cards, people.)





Thursday - up early to get the hell out of there. Duncan shaved his beard off which was the highlight of the stay... An hour bus to Xipijapa (after some local guy helped us catch the bus in his motorised tuk-tuk). Four hours to Guayaquil where we stayed for one night to see the "regeneration of the city" (sorry Dave, you were right, pretty impressive.) Caught a film at the Imax cinema (Adrenaline, documentary about sky and cliff divers) which was incredible. Won 10 games of Uno in a row. Got attacked by more crickets. Taxi to the bus station where we took an over-night bus to Quito. Didn´t sleep a wink despite knocking back a few sleeping tablets, and arrived in the city tired and grumpy at 6.30am this morning...

Checked in to hostel Bamboo (Dave had said it was great) although we had to crash out on the lounge sofas as there was no room available at that time. Slept until mid-day and have spent the rest of the day in the scorching sun, eating food and wandering the city, waiting to meet Maria who is going to look after us for the next week.

Generally feeling a bit lonely and blue. Not really homesick but really far away. Having an amazing, amazing time but not sure yet whether if given the choice again I would give up the job, flat and friends I adored for it. I seem to spend most of my time scared. Scared of the mental bus and taxi journies, scared of the streets and the shady people, scared of the crickets. It´s not such a nice feeling. But I´m managing it better than I thought, and I guess I´m only 3 weeks in. Plus I have PMT. No wonder Dave and Joubin left when they did...