Day 12 - Montañita

So, lesson number one when travelling. never assume because you are getting a 4 hour coach that there will be a toilet on board. sensible assumption, but the rest all had one. This one didn't. I downed about a litre and a half of carbonated water before jumping on the bus and within minutes realised that this was a bad decision. 2 hours in, I begged the driver to stop the bus. Everyone (all ecuadorians) were peering out the window. It was hell. I peed IN FRONT OF THE BUS so all the traffic coming towards us could see me. Then had a bit of stage fright. Couldn't get enough out. was taking too long. so zipped up and got back on, only to realise I hadn't let *enough* out. the next 2 hours were equally hell, without the option of stopping again. killer.



But we made it to Montañita. Weird little beach resort with the best surfing in the country. Long stretches of empty beaches, all the hostels made from massive bamboo canes, constantly tripping over surf shops, a massive dreamcatcher hanging over the sandy streets, rabid dogs on heat everywhere. Its nuts. but beautiful. We'd lost Joubin, the dude we acquired a week previously, so it was just me, Sam, Maria and Dave. Had some cocktails and hit the sack.





Next day we went for a walk on the miles of deserted beach. Not a soul in sight, swam in the killer waves (it would definitely be illegal to swim in those conditions in the UK). Took a battering from the roaring waves when I swam out too far, but loved it. We walked a good couple of miles and found this cute little village which was having a party to celebrate the anniversary of its foundation.





Joubin rocked up about 2 hours later - instead of going to venezuela, he dropped by for a night to see us one last time. But Maria had to take off to go back to work. So me, sam, joubs and dave got a bottle of rum and played cards all night. Its weird. I'm so used to being a productive person. I like to be producing stuff. Building my spanish up. reading about things. but here, its so hard. I don't want to waste my time playing cards, but it feels so right. Things will change soon once I get stuck ito some spanish lessons.

Anyway, another lazy day goes by on the beach, and joubin and dave both head off, so sam and I decide to explore further up the coast. Apparently Puerto Lopez is nice and quite and chilled out, so we decided to grab a bus there and check it out.