El Hoy

check me out in Ecuador's national newspaper... i love it, don't i?

Day 26 - Mindo

Quito has been very special the last few days. The place ERUPTED on saturday with the world cup game, both before with excitement and after with the win against Poland. They scored after about 20 minutes, coinciding with a sudden hail storm. The stones were splashing our pints everywhere, so we did a runner from the pub (without paying - how sick is that - but we tried but it was too manic). The town went wild after that, and even now, 4 days on, people are still raving about it. I also managed to get my picture in the NATIONAL NEWSPAPER (el Hoy) supporting ecuador when they scored. photos coming soon...

We decided a couple of days ago to get out of Quito, so headed to a town called Mindo. Its in part of the mid-altitude forest, so at 4pm every day the rain kicks and the forest is covered in patchy clouds. Its definitely a sight worth seeing.







The town is beautiful. Really quite, and whilst geared up for tourists, isn't overrun. Sonia commented on what a nice life dogs have here when we saw one lying alseep in the street, only to realise it was dead. Nice. But the place has an amazing church, although we just missed the sunday service. Some weird sculpture of the virgin mary holding a baby virgin mary - catholics taking it a bit too far, methinks.



Cooked up a BBQ in the evening which was AMAZING, although quite embarrassing when both me and marcin realised we'd never lit one before and didn't have any gasoline (am I american? I mean petrol) or paper. Had to enlist the help of the hostel owner to light it for us. The place is amazing though. loads of huts on stilts and we had the whole place to ourselves. I loved it.



Yesterday we went trekking in the forest for this amazing waterfall but couldn't find it, so went rafting instead. Its inner-tube rafting, so its just like being on a big waterslide. funny though. quite slow, but cold and wet and nice scenery. Sam bottled it so rode in the truck with the owners taking pictures on our way down.





We're now back in Quito to catch a flight to Peru tonight. Apparently we have to pay $25 (12 quids) to get OUT of ecuador. departure tax. how rout is that. But its fine. Next time you hear from me, I'll be in the most exciting country in the world - for me at least...

Day 22 - La Mitad Del Mundo

Today was a very exciting day. VERY exciting. Today we went to La Mitad Del Mundo (the middle of the world), where we got to stand ON THE EQUATOR.



Tucked away about an hour outside of Quito is this tiny grubby little village built right on the line of the equator. A quid to get in and your in another MASSIVE village purely to house the tourists visiting the monument. Here's the thing though. Despite the red line depicting the equator, despite the signs telling you that you are at latitude 0, despite the hand-outs from the staff on the gates, those dudes are keeping a secret. The site was marked out by the french ages ago, the whole place was built, only to find out a few years ago that the equator was 200m down the road. STITCHED UP. The whole place is a FAKE. And only the guidebooks let you know the truth.



After checking out the massive monument (50p to go to the top - no way!) we went to a crappy one-room museum where I asked the dude where the REAL equator is. Obviously a bit competitive, he told me it was down the road, but that the museum there WASN'T built on the real equator either (it is, fact!). The whole place is crazy. But interesting, he did show us some stuff saying that thousands of years ago, the incas managed to find the right location and build temples on it, without even using GPS. Smart arses.





Found this cute church on the (fake) equator too. I lit a candle for justice, purely because it was cheaper than the one for sincerity.





Headed down the road for the real equator and found this GEM of a museum where you can do all sorts of experiments. It really is on the equator this time, and our guide showed us how water swirls down a plughole on either side of the equator (in different directions, if you weren't paying attention in physics class) and bombs it straight down right on the equator. You also lose your balance a bit if you try and walk a tightrope, can balance an egg on a nail, have less strength (sam and I tested this thoroughly and its all true) and even weigh a kilo less. I loved it.







Saw some other weird stuff about ancient ecuadorians too. Loads of weird stuffed animals and an explanation of ancient people used to behead their enemies and shrink their heads (down to the size of a fist).







Off out tonight to some bars with maria, and maybe a salsa club. although I'm not really into all that, despite being told I "could be quite good". WHATEVER. Chicks dig salsa - I don't need that sort of attention.

Day 18 - Quito

Nightbuses. what a rediculous idea. Someone, somewhere, said to their boss "I've got an idea. why not run buses at NIGHT, so people can sleep on them". What a great idea....

so, we jump on the bus, watch some slick american film in spanish, say goodnight to each other and close our eyes. At 3am, despite still not being asleep, the driver turns the lights on for people to jump out for a fag. Then we proceed along mountain roads at 100mph, rocking from side to side, not getting comfortable. My new clean-shaven neck is stinging from the shaving rash, my eyes are bulging from the bags under them. It was pretty horrendous. The first on many nightbuses. Great.



We hopped into a cab, arrived at our new hostal where (because the rooms were busy) slept on the lounge sofas for 2 hours before being shown to a dorm where we slept for another 5 hours. We're staying in Casa Bamboo, which is wicked. It has a kitchen, so sam and I went out and bought loads of food for the week. The kids here are all really friendly as well, and from all over the world. Its a different sort of backpacker too - more hardcore, more long-term. Its nice.



We've spent most of our time here getting WASTED. Last night, for example, 6 of us downed 4 bottles of rum. I then drunkenly phoned my boyfriend, who didn't answer. and then was sick in the communal toilets. It must be the altitude. We're planning on staying here in Quito for another week, so I'm gonna start hunting for some spanish lessons later on. But tomorrow, we're off to the actual equator, where apparently you can flush the toilets and the water doesn't swirl away, it just drops right down the tube. Wicked.

Its a funny time. I think because we're not moving on now for a whole week, the homesickness thing is starting to kick in. I'm missing the boy, and missing hanging out with everyone after going out. I'm missing good music, and missing the familiarity of food and transport. I mean, its not rubbish. I love it here. And I'm not even once thinking about ditching this. But I think when you're not trekking up mountains and bussing across whole countries or swimming in the sea, its almost like you're at home. Just without loads of the good bits. Saying that, I'm having a ball. Our ecuadorian mate Maria is taking us out tomorrow night, and I'm trying to convince her to take me out to a techno night on saturday. and if I start my spanish lessons tomorrow or thursday, I should be feeling more productive and more eager to get to Peru, in a week.