We absolutely loved Ecuador!!!
Would go back in a hot-blooded second!!! Straddled the equator, spent time soaking in the hot mineral baths of Baños, caught the movie "Trainspotting"
, had our lonely planet ripped off (luckily for us, our friend Nick, a great English Chap, gave us his as he was heading back home...did you go back with your parents???)....had a harrowing 8 hour bus ride to Rio Bambo through the mud slides that had wiped out the roads prior to our arrival, not to mention a bus 24 hours before...
We finally arrived in Vilacabamba on May 8th...Vilacabamba is a cute, quaint village, surrounded by mountains...
We had wanted to come here since first entering Ecuador (after our tear-gassed boarder crossing from Columbia) It has the typical town square, a couple of mom and pop stores, and very nice and friendly people...
We had seen signs about a "quaint" place to stay called Ruinas...breakfast, purified h20 and juice all day, pool, Jacuzzi, hot showers, pool tables, ping-pong, movies...sounded too good to be true!!!
And all for 10$US...
Well, it was too good to be true!!! We arrived at 8am...the manager of the hotel (10 room hotel...most are dorm rooms) asked if we really wanted to stay there, as 25 Israeli men, and 6 women were already staying there...
We thought that the Ecuadorian manager was being a bit prejudiced (we would rather stay in places with a mix of people from all over the world)...
little did we know that he was trying to warn us...
as it was Michael, me and another woman from Sweden) We love to meet people from all over the world, and thought staying here would be no exception!
The were many problems, and here's a short recap...
Our room was right next to the lobby...
where the computer that is used for internet (free), the main TV and the control to the satellite dish. There is a television in every room (we thought we would be able to catch up on CNN/and whatever else is going on in the real world) However, the control for the TV was at the front desk, you could not change the channel in your room...
The remote should have been under lock and key!!!...
well, let's just say that I do not like to be woken up at 3am in the morning to the Playboy channel, let alone being woken up at all!!!
All day long you could hear when they were SEX-SURFING!!! There are signs posted in every bedroom, bathroom, by the pool, that "quiet" time is starts at 10pm (should be 11 or 12am)....
It never was quiet!!! Shouting, when they could have a conversation with a person 10 feet away...
not just during the day, but at 4am in the morning...
jumping in the pool at all hours of the night!!! Yelling about the email that they just received at 2:30am (when the computer is supposed to be off at 10pm.)
And just plane RUDENESS!!! We encountered one chap, who did not understand part of a movie that we were watching that dreadful evening...
he asked his friend in Hebrew what something meant-No Problem!!! However, I did not hear what was said next, in the movie...
I asked M what happened, he told me...
then this PRICK-ASS has the GALL to turn around and give us the evil eye, because we were talking!!! Being the demure, IRISH woman that I am...I told him that he did not own the whole frigging world and to turn around and watch the movie, that if he was going to talk, than, I could too!!!
The owner of the hotel partied with them, and could not have given a SHIT, that there were 3 others staying in the hotel...
M got up several times that night to tell them to keep it down, before finally exploding at them at 3:30am!!! It was quite a sight!!!
M got up at 6:30am secured us a lovely place up in the mountains...
only 4 cabins, no electricity, 10 minute hike to our cabin from the restaurant/lobby-NOTV!!! And only a 50 minute hike down to town!!! Gorgeous white, yellow, and green fire-flies (I have not seen them since growing up in VT)
We have been cruising through Peru...
Trujillo one night, Huarez 3 nights, where we did a couple of day tours, one to a 17,000 foot mountain in the snow...
our tour guide encouraged us to try the Mate de coca tea, and coco leaves...It helps relieve the headache at that high of an elevation, and makes breathing easier...
Me, I prefer the tea...tastes like chamomile!!! M has run out of chewing tobacco, so...as you can guess, he likes the leaves better than the tea (NO it does NOT get you HIGH)...
We saw several Alpaca's-gorgeous creatures, look similar to Llama's, but are nicer!!! We are now in Nazca, Peru after 2 grueling bus rides...the first, a night bus, a mere 8 hour ride-where this man kept kicking my seat, (he wanted me to keep my seat up for the duration of the ride, because he was tall...Hell, he was not much taller than me) Michael threatened him with bodily harm, and the SHIT finally stopped!!!
Off at Lima for one hour, and on another for 6 more hours!!! Very hot ride...into the desert...
I spent yesterday, and much of last night recovering from our flight over the Nazca lines-in a very, very, very, (did I mention VERY) tiny Cessna 152 plane(3 passengers)...over the hot, dry, desert!!! At 8:45am, it was already boiling hot!!! I will say, that it was definitely a "once in a lifetime" experience!!!
And after our 5 passenger flight to the San Blas Islands in Panama, I "threatened" never to get on a plane that held fewer that 30 passengers!!!
I think the problem was, me having breakfast before the flight...every time the pilot tipped the wing so we could see the impressions in the sand, I was looking straight down on the ground.
We had to change our bus departure from last night to tonight...another night bus...only 8 hours (to Ariquipa to see the condors) I sure hope I get a SHORT, nice, old lady behind me tonight!!!
all for now!!!
luv, SG
p.s. as always, would love to hear what "adventures" you all are having!!!
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