Cuenca Part Two

From Wednesday onwards, the week continued in much the same way. We took our city tour which I enjoyed a lot, despite the weather being overcast and grey again and that James was stood up right in front of me the whole time!!! I therefore abandoned taking any pictures and just sat back to enjoy the ride! It was great fun, especially when the guide sounded a siren so that we knew it was time to duck down in our seats! You see, the bus had to travel down some roads with low-hanging wires and that was our cue not to get decapitated!!! At one point though, I was too busy looking at some people looking at a bus full of gringoes, and I was promptly smacked on the head with a cable! It didn't hurt and was really hilarious! That would never happen in the UK!

Mi Amiga Anh!

My Spanish lessons continued to go well, although I seemed to be getting a lot of homework for a beginner and Mery was teaching me loads of grammar and not so much vocabulary! I soon realised though that she was giving me a crash course in the basics and that I could teach myself vocab in my spare time. I'd never bother to learn the grammar by myself! I also enjoyed my first salsa class, even though it was quite fast and furious! I loved it, there I was dancing salsa in South America! The part where we had to partner up and move our arms as well as our feet wasn't quite so much fun as I just could not get the hang of it at all!!! It's surprisingly complicated! The second lesson wasn't any easier and I had to try to press on with a stitch in my ribs, I have no idea how South Americans move their hips like that!

On Thursday, I spent ages burning my photos onto DVD. Anh had kindly let me borrow her laptop to reorganise all my memory cards, and her 16GB flash drive to copy them onto. That meant that I could go straight to the internet cafe with them all ready to burn, and it saved me so much time as to take the photos directly from the camera takes hours and hours! My memory cards are just so big and I'm not sure that I have enough space left for the rest of my trip, especially as I took over 1,000 shots on the Galápagos!!! Thanks to Anh and the internet cafe, I now have a lot more space on my cards and back-up copies of the last 5 months!

On Friday, it was my last full day with Anh, so we got up early to make the most of it! However, most things don't open very early in Cuenca, so we just had to go to the German bakery again to kill some time! Whoops, I somehow ate yet another danish pastry! After that, we bought ourselves some rather fetching Panama hats (complete with "Genuine Panama Hat Made in Ecuador" labels! Then it was time for the main event of the day - getting my hair bleached blonde!!! As luck would have it, the hairdressers opened at 8am, so we could have gone there first thing! I had been thinking about doing it for months and, with only 12 weeks of travelling to go, I thought it was now or never as this is the time to be crazy! A little over an hour later, I emerged with a platinum-blonde do that had been blowed-dried into the most ridiculous style ever!!! Nobody on Earth has had their hair like that since 1960, all I was missing was some rollers, hairnet and a fag! I loved the new colour, but I just had to go back to the hostel at once to wash it and put some gel in!!!

For my last Spanish class that afternoon, Mery and I spent the second half in the town looking for traditional street food. Her usual vendor wasn't where she expected her to be, so it took a while to find another, but it was worth the wait! I tried tortillas and humitos, which are made from minced corn, cheese, onions and butter. The tortilla version is fried on a griddle, similar to a potato cake, and for the humitos, the mixture is wrapped inside maize leaves and then steamed. Both were absolutely delicious and I enjoyed an afternoon outside, speaking Spanish! Well, it's now not bad for a beginner at least, I am able to string sentences together and my understanding has greatly improved. It was certainly worth spending some time in one place to take lessons.

Over the weekend, I have mainly been relaxing (and stressing out a bit, but more of that in a moment!) Anh's friends from Quito came to the hostel on Friday night and so, she decided to stay for a few day's more, yippee!!! We went out to try guinea pig on friday night, but Scott had selected the most expensive restaurant possible! I have heard there is practically no meat at all on a guinea pig, and as much as I wanted to try this traditional Andean food, there was no way I was going to spend $19 on one! I settled for a nice bottle of Coke instead while Anh, James, Scott, Adam (Australia) and Jorg (Germnay/New Zealand) opted for slightly less expensive options! on Saturday, we headed to the market to buy meat and veg for dinner as Jorg is a professional chef! I also tried to find the humitos lady again, so off I went with Anh so she could sample these delicious snacks as well. Unfortunately, she was closed and we had practically walked to the opposite side of town just to buy them! Not to worry, we stopped at a little knick-knacks market on the way home, only to find a lady right opposite or hostel who sold humitos!!! They weren't as good as the ones the day before though!

Last night, the meal that Jorg cooked was absolutely amazing! The beef was juicy, pink in the middle and melted in the mouth, accompanied with perfectly cooked vegetables! it was a miracle we had any room for the main course as we'd eaten so much of the delicious homemade guacamole and chips that the guys had prepared for starters! Of course, I still made sure I had room for dessert - delicious fresh fruit! It was great to have a fantastic meal like that! This morning, however, we all felt a little bit... well, I don't know how to put it tactfully, but let's just say that the caramelised onions and garlic were quite rich!!!

The guys headed to some local markets for the day, but as iut has been my last full day in Cuenca, I decided to stay here and actually get some photos of the town! My week has been so filled with lessons and eating and relaxing, that I haven't anything to show for it! Well, to be honest, I needed to take a break and relax and I really love this town. I would definitely come back to Cuenca again in the future and could easily spend a few months there! I did get some nice pictures as the sun finally came out this morning and I also took a video of a very interesting perfomance in the main square - in a nutshell, young head-banging Ecuadorians, wearing rainbow-coloured balaclavas, playing flutes and panpipes, plus a demented local man doing what can only be described as a 'trolley dance'... I've spent the remainder of the day using Anh's laptop again, trying to get all my computing up to date!

Cuy (that's roast guinea pig to you and me)

I finally had guinea pig earlier! It was still expensive at $7, but that's not a bad price! I'm glad I did it, but I did go all nauseous at first, maybe it was the sight of a whole rodent on my plate. Once I'd binned the head, I felt better and tucked in! OH MY GOSH, whoever said there wasn't much meat on them was no wrong, I would say there was literally 4 tiny mouthfuls on the whole thing, one from each leg! Taste-wise, it was like gamey chicken, but with the texture of thighs rather than breast meat. I hate chicken thighs, so it wasn't the best thing I've ever eaten. Oh well, box ticked! Now though, I'm stressed about leaving tomorrow. It's been 10 days since I was last on a bus! Of course, I will be fine, but I want to go to Puerto Lopez to see humpback whales. To do this, there is no direct bus from Cuenca, I have to go via Guayaquil. It will be a long day and I will need to get to Puerto Lopez at a reasonable hour in order to book a tour for Tuesday morning.

I will have to set off really early in the morning from the hostel, but I don't want to be wandering around town in the dark with my backpack. I should get a taxi, of course! Then, once I have been to P.L., I will need to go back to Guayaquil in order to then travel on to Baños and I'd like to get there as soon as possible, so I can be in Quito by next weekend. I have had a wonderful time in Cuenca, but I have stayed here longer than I originally planned, so I feel a bit of pressure to getting moving fast again! I'm not 100% sure why I am so stressed about it, I think it is becuase I have to go back through Guayaquil twice more and I am proably going to have to spend at least one more night there! It is so expensive there and the bus terminal is so far out of the main city! Oh well, on the bright side, if I do need to spend the night there, I can go to the cinema to watch Transformers 2! It was released here in Cuenca on Thursday, but only in Spanish. My lessons were good, but not that good...

Cuenca Part One

I had woken up early after spending the night in the expensive, hot & noisy room in Guayaquil, so there was no need to hang around! I took a cold shower, got my things together and walked to the bus terminal (which of course, I had stumbled across the day before during my insane wanderings!) I found the ticket desks and within minutes, I'd bought a ticket, made it up to the second floor of the terminal and had boarded the bus! Perfect timing, in four hours I would be in Cuenca! 5½ hours later, I finally arrived, in a less amiable mood! Well, in my book, a spade is a spade, so if it is going to be a longer journey, just tell me! It didn't help that after 3 hours, the bus was completely full and the guy stood in the aisle next to me thought it was acceptable to lean on me. Not just my seat, on ME, and no amount of huffing and puffing and jerking of my chair made any difference!

It was good to get off the bus in Cuenca and of course, I did my usual trick of walking straight out of the terminal, avoiding the taxis and touts! I took out my GPS so I knew which way was north, and thus I set off in a westerly direction. I was off my map and so had to wing it at first, but soon I was on the right street and found the hostel I was looking for. It was a bargain, just $5 a night and after an easy check-in, I went out looking for Spanish schools! It was only after I left the hostel that I spotted the one I shoould have checked into across the square... I meant to go to Hostal Norte, but I'd seen Hostal Estrella del Norte first and went there! Well, the "Estrella Del" part was in miniscule letters! Oh well, the right one looked much nicer, but probably more expensive, so I'd be better off in the wrong one after all!

The lady in the Tourist Information centre was really helpful and gave me a list of all the recommended Spanish schools in Cuenca. They were a little more expensive than I had anticipated, but I went along to Simon Bolivar Spanish School, as their Quito branch had been highly recommended. To study individually, it was going to be 60% more than I had budgetted for, but they were running a promotion whereby it was half price for lessons for 2 people, making it 40% less!!! However, it would all depend on another guy sharing with me and he would only be in Cuenca on Saturday, so until then, I was unable to book anything!

I then had some time to kill, so I thought I had better check the damage to my bank account after my Galápagos trip! To my absolute amazement, I was considerably better off than expected and so I decided that I would return to the school the next day and book the individual lessons and treat myself! Well, the school also offered free internet and free salsa lessons as well! I then had a lazy afternoon wandering around Cuenca, I instantly liked the town and I also found a lovely hostel to move to for the rest of the week. That evening, I had a great chicken kebab and corn-on-the-cob from a street vendor and felt really quite good about the week ahead!

The New Cathedral

On Saturday, I headed back to the school to organise my lessons, but it was closed. Oh dear... well of course, it was the weekend, but Pamela (the girl I'd spoken to) never mentioned that! I had a few hours to kill before I could move hostels, so I started the mammoth task of uploading my Galápagos photos, before collecting my bags. The hostal had been fine, a bit on the shabby side, but I think it may have doubled as a brothel as well! There were some interesting noises coming from the adjacent room and there was a random guy hanging around in the lobby, outside the door - must have been the pimp, and all at 11.30am! It was good to move to Posada del Rio, an absolutely lovely little place with friendly staff and a nice, cheap dorm! There I met Scott (USA) and spent the remainder of the day bending his ear (no change there then) and fretting about my Spanish lessons as the school didn't open that afternoon either! How was I supposed to start first thing on Monday morning???

Sundays in Cuenca are completely dead, so I stocked up on food the night before from the nearby supermarket and decided to use the free time to finish uploading my photos. Luckily, I had received an email from Pamela saying that I could come along to the school on Monday afternoon to register and start classes, so that was a load off my mind! It then took four hours to get all the photos onto my Flickr page AND I had found a computer with a DVD burner that I was able to use myself! Fantastic, as I would now be able to back up all my photos from February onwards!! Not fantastic, I would have to return later in the week and spend several more hours doing that! Once back at the hostel that afternoon, I was shattered and took it easy. A new girl, Anh (Germany), had checked into the dorm. I was supposed to be cooking dinner that night, but I spent the next few hours bending her ear instead!

On Monday began a week of studying, eating, wandering, relaxing and having a genuinely great time! I'd had a bowl of granola (the same as on the Darwin!) for breakfast, but I joined Anh and James (USA) at a German bakery. Of course, I had to have a danish pastry, it would have been rude not to! We then headed to Bananas Cafe next door to the hostel, where everyone who stays there tends to hang out! James and Scott have been helping the lovely ladies there to develop their menu, and so I had my third breakfast of the morning!!! I then got ready for the rest of the day, and headed to the school to register and begin my lessons!

My first lesson went well and my teacher, Mery, was lovely. I had ideally wanted to study in the mornings, but I'd enjoyed the class and decided to stick with her in the afternoons. However, after a little confusion as to whether or not that would be possible, it transpired that Mery also teaches privately. In order for her to continue with me in the afternoons, she would have to come into the school and be paid much less and it would also be costing me much more that way as well. Unfortunately, our hands were tied! If only I had known about her before I had committed to 20 hours at the school - and she even had adverts in my hostel that I hadn't noticed!

Tuesday was another lovely day, and the sun was out! Cuenca is one of Ecuador's rainiest places and so far, I had been lucky for it just to have been mainly overcast. James, Anh and I headed to the main square (which is my favourite in all of South America so far) to take an open-topped bus tour of the city. Unfortunately, all the top deck seats had been reserved and so we decided to go the next day instead, rather than be sat on the bottom deck inside the bus! That gave Anh and I some time to kill before my class. We headed to the main market and then treated ourself to lunch in an Indian restaurant. I had a chicken madras with rice and a naan, washed down with a Pepsi, all for only $5.55!!! That night, back at the hostel, I met up with Scott and Anh and we went out for sushi! A beautiful friendship was forming between Anh and myself, but it was starting to become expensive!

Parque Calderon

Anyway, we all had an absolutely lovely evening! I tried Norimake (I think) which is raw tuna wrapped in rice and seaweed. I have to be honest, the first bite was squishy and a bit tasteless, although it was reminiscent of Grimsby docks! However, which each bit it grew on me, especially after a liberal dunking in soy and wasabi with a piece of ginger on top! I had been wanting to try sushi for a long time and so it was good to finally do it and, as Anh assured me, in a good restaurant! That was enough splurging for one day, but then Scott asked to see the dessert menu... oh dear, I had soon comitted to a chocolate volcano and vanilla ice cream! Yikes, I had only take out a $10 note (thinking that would be more than enough) and I had accounted for most of it! In fairness, although an expensive meal by my usual backpacking standards, it was still very cheap compared to the UK and it was worth it! We did get a bit of a shock though when the bill arrived - we expected to tip but they had added on a staggering 22% for tax and service! My $10 bill was no longer adequate!

Cruising Around on the Darwin!

WHAT A WEEK! Goodness, I thought I only needed to visit the Galápagos Islands once in my lifetime, but I have to go back, it's not enough! Well, this blog entry will have to be similar to the one about Fiji, otherwise you will get bored if I tell you all about the snorkelling, swimming, eating, sunbathing.... in too much detail!

In fact, I will have to come to you with the details at a later date, but to whet your appetite, here are some photos of the most wonderful place I have ever visited:

Brown Pelican, Bachas Beach

What are YOU doing in my lagoon?

Friday 12th June - Islas Plazas & Santa Fe

Land Iguana, Plaza Sur

Sea Lions, Santa Fe

Saturday 13th June - Isla Española

Gardner Bay, Española

Albatrosses, Española

Sunday 14th June - Isla Floreana

Post Office Bay, Floreana

Sunset over Puerto Ayora

Monday 15th June - Isla Santa Cruz

Giant Tortoise, Charles Darwin Station

Tortoising Around!

Tuesday 16th June - Islas Rabida & Santiago

Red Sands of Rabida

Fur Seal - it's not a Sea Lion, honest!

Wednesday 17th June - Islas Bartolome & Sombrero Chino

Isla Bartolome

Lava Heron, Sombrero Chino

Thursday 18th June - Isla Seymour

Frigatebirds, Seymour

Blue Footed Boobies, Seymour

Glorious Galápagos!

The day had arrived and I had to get up at 4am for it: my flight to the Galápagos Islands!!! I'm not sure why I had been told to arrive at Quito airport 90 minutes before departure, when the check-in desk didn't even open for nearly an hour after that! Once through security (after having my bags examined an extra time because I was headed to the Galápagos), I bought myself some breakfast and boarded the plane. The crew served us a little choc chip muffin and soon we landed at Guayaquil, the transit stop that all flights to the Galápagos make. I had 45 minutes to wander around and pop to the loo, before reboarding.

The plane was now full of American tourists on a group holiday - I could tell because they all had engraved name badges! Goodness help me if I ever go on a trip where I have to wear a label like a 4-year old!!! Breakfast was served and it was really good, although I was so annoyed that the majority of the other passengers left most of their meals which I could have eaten three times over! After an hour or so, we began our descent and I got my first glimpse of the islands. As the plane landed on Baltra Island, I got quite choked up and was practically in tears as I walked across the tarmac - I was on the Galápagos!!!

I met Hans and Christal at the airport and we shared a taxi to Puerto Ayora, the main town on Santa Cruz. As I had taken the earliest flight possible, I'd arrived just after 9am. This was ideal, as I then had plenty of time to get over to the town to look into diving trips and to buy a ferry ticket over to Isla Isabela that afternoon. The weather was lovely; it was great to be back in a sunny place by the sea once more, especially one where pelicans, iguanas and sea lions were walking around in the fish market, hoping to steal some scraps!

That afternoon, I took a boat over to Isabela, the largest of the islands. It wasn´t the best journey I´ve ever had, and after over 2½ hours of banging up and down over big waves, trying to keep nausea at bay, it was great to disembark! I quickly found the hostel that Erika had recommended and finally had chance to rest after a day of travelling! The next day, I took a trip to Sierra Negra, the second largest volcanic crater in the world. We rode horses to the top - I WILL NEVER RIDE A HORSE AGAIN!!! Nothing major happened, but after three horse-riding excursions in 18 months, I have finally realised that:

(a) The horses are uncontrollable and only do what they want to do, especially when they only understand Spanish
(b) It is quite boring being stuck on an animal that only walks
(c) It is quite scary being stuck on an animal that only runs
(d) It really makes your bottom sore!

I think I've had a romantic notion in my head about what horse-riding should be, and only now is that ideal firmly dispelled! Anyway, after an hour of being dragged through a hedge, pushed into other horses' bottoms and, at one point, having my ankle caught in the reins of another horse at full gallop (OUCH!), we reached the summit and had a great view of the crater.

Sierra Negra

We then walked to Volcán Chico and learned about the landscape, various types of lava and how the islands were formed. It had been misty and drizzly all the way up to the summit, but as the guide has promised us, the other side of the volcano was hot and sunny... in fact, so much so, that the walk back to where we would have lunch was a little tortuous in the heat and I was glad to finally stop and take out my sandwiches! Then is was time to ride back down to the jeep, on the same horses! I swear, I am never doing it again! On the way back to Puerto Villamil, we stopped at a tortoise sanctuary where they have a breeding program.

It was then time to visit Las Tintorellas, and there we saw white-tipped reef sharks, penguins, sea lions and marine iguanas - and so close to us! Unfortunately, I hadn't realised that when I had booked a "snorkelling trip" it was actually a "lot of walking and then a tiny bit of snorkelling at 5pm when it is too dark to see much!" Nevertheless, I was much happier when I spotted some sea lions in the water and managed swim within a few metres of them, that was quite special. That night, I was quite tired and so I reorganised my backpack and had an early night, after all I had to be up at 5am the next day in order to catch the return ferry to Puerto Ayora.

Well! Let's just say that the return ferry was worse, because at 6am, your body is simply not built to cope with such upheaval. I swear, I could feel my liver and stomach banging into my intestines as we slammed over the waves! I was glad to get back to Santa Cruz and quickly found a hostel and some bananas for breakfast. I then had 3 days in Puerto Ayora to relax before my cruise and to go diving. On Monday, I hired some snorkelling gear and walked to Turtle Bay, a beautiful stretch of white sand. However, it really isn't a good place to snorkel, so there wasn't much to see! It was really chuffed though when an iguana went swimming by... you don't see that on the Med! It was a cloudy day, so I found it quite easy to fall asleep on the beach, only to be awoken when a little finch landed on my chest! First time that's happened!

Is he smiling at me?

That evening, after returning to my hostel and seeing that I'd really caught the sun, I booked a diving trip for Wednesday and wandered around the town. I bumped into Hans and Christal and joined them at their table whilst they had dinner. They are a lovely couple from Germany, now living in Canada, and I found Christal's stories to be hilarious! Hans very kindly bought me an ice cream afterwards and invited me to meet up with them again the following day. On Tuesday, I hired the snorkelling gear again and went to a new spot that I'd been told was actually good for snorkelling in!!! This time, I needed to take a water taxi across the port and walk from there. So, I waited at the pier and a dinghy sailed up. On I hopped and asked how much it cost. "Nothing!" came the reply - it was a boat from one of the cruise ships moored in the harbour and they just decide to give me a free ride as the went past!

Back on dry land, I began to walk to Las Grietas, the area to snorkel in. Luckily, I had chosen to wear my walking shoes as the path was over irregular volcanic rocks, and it took longer than I had anticipated to get there, due to having to really watch where I was walking! Once at Las Grietas, I was surprised to find a pool at the bottom of a large gorge in the rocks. It was quite a challenge to get down into the gorge, and then a greater one to get into the water without falling on the sharp lava or losing a sock/shoe/flipper down a gap between the boulders! The water was quite chilly, but incredibly clear, and it was quite special to be snorkelling in such an unusual place. Quite special until I realised that there were only about 5 fish in total in the whole pool and once again, I'd gone snorkelling in a place with nothing to see! After an hour at most, despite it being a beautiful spot, I decided it was way too cold to stay in the water with nothing to see, so I eventually managed to get out of the pool and to get dressed again, without losing a sock/shoe/flipper! I chilled out on German Beach for a little while, before taking the water taxi back again.

Today, I went scuba diving! I chose to dive at Gordon's Rocks as this is the site that is most reliable for sightings of... hammerhead sharks!!! I had three dives. I spent the first one trying not to drown as I had too many weights on my belt! Even with a fully-inflated BCD, I was still sinking and so I was using my air extremely quickly! I was worried that I would make the group have to end the dive early, but as it happened, I was still the one whose air consumption was the best! We did see two hammerheads swim past and so I can honestly say "Box ticked!" but as I was concentrating so hard on trying to breathe, I can't remember it all that well! The remaining dives were much more better as I took a weight off, but unfortunately, there were no more hammerheads! We did see an eagle ray, turtles and five large white-tips hiding in a cave beneath us!

Tonight, I've had another lovely meal with Hans and Christal, and Rune (Denmark) who I met diving today! I've also just gone to the shops to buy some food for breakfast as I will have yet another early start tomorrow, but I completely forgot that it was too late and they would be shut! I did find one that was open and I bought some Sprite for the boat trip. It took a while and a lot of confusion over the cost of the drink and the cost of the bottle deposit, but I got there in the end! Now, I don't think I will have much time back here, so I went back to the hostel to get an empty Sprite bottle that I already had, so I would at least get some money back! Well, stupid me, just because the shop was open when I went there, it didn´t mean that it would still be open when I returned, not at that time of night! So I just managed to to flag the shopkeeper (and his entire family) down in their car as they were pulling away from the store, all for 50 cents!

Well, every penny counts... I'm off on a cruise tomorrow...

Emma at the Equator!

After going to airport in Lima THREE HOURS before check-in even opened, I was relieved to finally make it through to the departure lounge! I had chosen to arrive so early, just so I could share a cab to there with some other people from my hostel, all to save a few pounds. However, I then had leftover soles which I had to change into dollars at the airport, but luckily, I actually got a fair rate on them! I then spent this on a stupidly expensive sandwich and a bottle of Coke, completely negating the benefit of sharing a taxi after all! Oh well, I was in such a good mood, I even splurged out on a huge Toblerone - maybe I was pleased to be leaving Peru? Anyway, the flight to Quito was fine and the views of the city from the plane as we approached the runway were amazing - I knew it was situated high in the Andes, but it is built on flat areas between the peaks, rather than clinging to the mountain-sides like La Paz.

After exiting baggage claim, it was obvious that the official airport taxis into the New Town were way too expensive, so I left the terminal and managed to negotiate a better deal outside. The driver, Jorge Washington (I kid you not) was friendly and we enjoyed a conversation in Spanglish on the way to my hostel. I must admit, even though my Spanish is atrocious, I am surprised by how much I have absorbed in South America so far, and we genuinely were able to communicate! Once at the hostel, I dropped off my bags and met some British guys who that day had booked a trip to the Galápagos Islands. Great! I then proceeded to pick their brains for tips and recommendations! Off I set to the nearby tour agencies to get ideas - at that stage, my plan was to take a bus to Guayaquil, flight out to the islands from there and then to just on a boat at the last minute in order to get a good price.

To cut a potentially long story short, it turned out that it was only $20 more to fly there from Quito and that I may get a cheap deal on the islands, but it may take days to find space on a boat and there would be no guarantee of getting one of a decent standard. I also found out that high season would start on June 15th and as long as I booked everything before then, it would not matter that my return flight would be after that time, it would not be any more expensive! The pressure was off! I'd heard about a standard class boat (i.e. slightly better than basic backpacker class) that would be sailing on June 11th for 8 days and it was at a great price. Admittedly, it was still much higher than I initially wanted to pay, but after checking my bank balance, I decided that for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I should probably treat myself and splash out a bit!

On Thursday morning, I went to Gulliver's Travels to see Erika, who had been so helpful the evening before, to go ahead and book it! She seemed really genuine and I had a good feeling about going with that company. I had intended to pay for everything using my credit card, but then it turned out that there would be an 8% fee. Now 8% of a Galápagos trip is nothing to be sniffed at! So then I had to get hold of enough cash... what a palaver! For three days, I had to go withdraw as much money as possible from 2 different accounts to get enough cash. Unfortunately, in Ecuador, my daily limit is stupidly low and then my back-up account was frozen as HSBC thought it had been fraudulently used. Well, it was me, trying my card in 4 different ATMs!!! In the end, I used my emergency stash of traveller's cheques and finally got enough together to pay Erica. It was certainly interesting walking around the most dangerous area of Quito with a moneybelt the size of a house stuffed up my t-shirt! Panic not, I was absolutely fine and during my time in Quito so far, I have never felt unsafe at all, but should I have been one of the unlucky ones, that mugger would have had all his Christmases at once!

Today, after I'd taken the plunge and booked my flights and cruise, I then had free time to visit the Equator! Erika had given me clear instructions on how to get to Mitad del Mundo, but me being me, decided to walk the first section and skip the first short bus journey that would take me to a place to catch a second bus to the monument. Well, I couldn't find the bus stop and rather than ask for directions, I wandered around aimlessly for too long! I decide to walk back and perhaps follow Erika's instructions after all! Then I noticed a bus with Mitad del Mundo on the front so I asked if it went there - on I hopped, and the conductor then told me I would have to change buses. As is turned out, "Mitad del Mundo" was the name of this particular bus company, not the destination!!!

Of course, I had no idea where I would need to change and after paying the fare (which at least was very cheap), I hoped that at some point, the conductor would tell me where I would need to disembark. After an hour, I was still quite concerned but resigned myself to simply taking the same bus in reverse if I was genuinely lost, and I would then at least end up back where I started... in theory! Eventually, the conductor told me to get off and to take the bus behind us, so within seconds I'd boarded a new bus and was at last on the right one! After I got off, I then had to find out where the real Equator was - the monument at Mitad del mundo marks the official one, as designated by the Spanish many years ago, but it is no longer zero degrees latitude due to the shift in the Earth's poles. Of course, wanted to visit both! First, I visited the official one, but later I found the real Equator as confirmed by military GPS...

You put your left leg south, your right leg north...

There are a few other attractions at Mitad del Mundo, but they cost extra and didn't really appeal to me - once I had planted one foot either side of the line, that was box ticked for me! Then off I went up the road to visit the real Equator and a little museum called Intiñan. I took a guided tour around the museum and I really, really enjoyed it! Our guide was lovely and she explained a little about the history of the area and the indigenous people from there. I was particularly fascinated with her tale of shrunken heads and how they were made... gruesome stuff, although I was that enthralled with it all, I did have thoughts about having myself shrunken after I die. I'm not sure who will want to keep me on their mantlepiece though!

We then were shown some experiments to demonstrate how water drains in different directions on either side of the Equator. I had read that this is an urban myth, but lo and behold, it did indeed work, I was gobsmacked. In hindsight, even though I videoed each demonstration as proof, I didn't notice how the water was poured into the sink before the plug was pulled... maybe she set it in motion first? Either way, it was still great fun. I then finally managed to balance a raw egg on the head of a nail, which is allegedly easier to do on the Equator. It took a while, but imagine my glee when it balanced! I have a certificate to prove it!

Eggcellent Emma!

Once back in Quito this evening, I needed to get ready to be up at 4am tomorrow to take my flight to the Galápagos! Unfortunately there was a power cut at the hostel and so I had no light to organise my backpack! I had also been left a voicemail on my mobile phone. Not good as my answerphone very clearly states NOT to leave a message after the tone, as I will not be paying to check my messages while I am away! So of course, I thought it was the bank and I needed to email home to get my Mum to contact them and tell them it was me who had been trying to use my card all day! So, with no power, no email and I couldn't even send a text message as I only had enough battery on my phone for my alarm the next morning. I had a flight to catch, and one I REALLY did not want to miss! So, off I went in the dark to find a block that still had power in order to send an email. After I'd walked one block I then realised that I was walking alone in the most dangerous part of Quito at night in a power cut. Not clever! Nothing happened and I returned to the hostel, but I realised that nowadays, I am a little TOO fearless!

Anyway, the power eventually came back on and I was able to pack and send the email! I've only been in Ecuador a few days, but I've really enjoyed it so far, a far cry from the past few weeks! What a relief! I think that now I have organised my Galápagos trip, I can relax, the pressure is off! In fact, once I am back here in the mainland, I may even stay in one place for a while and study Spanish as I do have the time to spare. I'm very excited about the next few weeks here... especially as the greatest adventure begins tomorrow morning. Galápagos, here I come!

What To Do In Peru?

After Machu Picchu, I decided that it was time to take things easier. Admittedly, because of the planned strikes in Cusco last week, I didn't imagine that I would be able to leave until Friday anyway, but it at least gave me an excuse not to rush off onto the next town (which I probably would have done otherwise!) On Monday evening, I met up with Alice again, from Arequipa, and we had a genuinely leisurely day, just what the doctor ordered! We wandered around the town, trying to avoid pushy touts as much as possible (i.e. not at all) and then stopped off for a massage, which after my Herculean hiking efforts the day before, was well needed! It was hilarious, 45 minutes later we emerged like giggling schoolchildren, and I would have been concerned that someone had slipped something into my drink... had I had one! We then found a cool little cafe that served chai tea and shisha and another hour was whiled away chatting and relaxing.

Wednesday and Thursday were much the same - I would wake up at 6am as usual, despite being tired, I´d get up for breakfast and eat a stupid amount of bread rolls, way more than my quota I am sure, and drink several cups of Tetley tea. Thank goodness I'd been given a packet of teabags by a fellow backpacker in Potosí as I had at last found a hostel that supplied milk at breakfast! On Wednesday, the strike was in full flow and so there was no way to leave the town. We visited the museums that were included in the Tourist Ticket, so it made sense to make the most of it. Shame they were really quite poor, one seemed to exhibit strange dolls that I could only imagine had come from someone's recently deceased great aunt's attic!!! Thursday was even less productive, I think we only stopped eating breakfast and got dressed sometime after noon!!!

On Friday, I decided that I should be a little more productive, so Alice and I planned to visit the nearby ruins in the Sacred Valley, again to use the Tourist Ticket. Unfortunately, Alice had had a big night and wasn't quite up for it anymore. Now, I´ve been on my own for months now, so buses and getting around is child'd play for me, but for some reason, I was hesitant to go off alone. I don't know why, maybe just because I've had a rougher patch recently. After procrastinating too much, I eventually plucked up the courage to find out where the little local buses departed and to just do it! I took a local service out to the furthest of the nearby ruins, Tambomachay, and from there I walked back through the valley towards Cusco, about 8km in total I think, taking in all the ruins in that area.

It was a lovely day, in fact I was pleased that I had my back to the sun or a burnt nose probably would have resulted! The ruins were, well... disappointing really, and not just because I'd now seen Machu Picchu, but I was pleased that I had made the effort to see them. Saqsaywaman was however, quite impressive - I'd wanted to see this Inca fortress inparticular as this is the one that has walls made of interlocking blocks of stone that you can't even fit a sheet of paper between the cracks. I'd seen it on TV and so being in the area, I had to see it for myself!

Saqsaywaman

On Saturday, I decided that it was definitely time to leave Cusco. I think I needed to have a decent period of rest, but I was ready to continue. I had phoned Qantas in the week to move my flight to Quito forward to June 6th and I immediately felt better about that. OK, I had rushed through Peru, but I haven't really developed an affinity for it at all. It is a country that I have wanted to visit for a long time, but after seeing Machu Picchu, I felt that was enough for me. I don't know what it is, but I just haven't found Peru all that amazing otherwise. I can't put my finger on it... it would'nt be quite fair to say that it is the people, but let's just say that Argentina was the place that the people made the experience.

After another lazy morning, I spent nearly 2 hours in an internet cafe, just to get my photos OFF my camera, never mind uploading them, and then I took a taxi to the bus terminal. I didn't bother buying a ticket in advance like usual as I had enquired about prices to Nazca when I'd arrived in Cusco the week before. I was pleased that everything walked smoothly - I walked in, bought a bus ticket, grabbed some snacks and had boarded after seeing my backpack safely stowed under the bus. This is how real travellers do it, they just turn up without stress, buy a ticket and off they go! At last, I was on a bus in Peru withouit feeling nervous! In fact, I was so calm that when the driver put on some AWFUL music that sounded like bad Bollywood in a blender, I just popped in my earplugs and was rather amused!

My enthusiasm wore off a few hours later though, when the radio was still on and the temperature started to drop. The Lonely Planet had warned that this would be a cold route through the mountains and I had come prepared with many layers, my usual hat-scarf-glove combo and a blanket, but it was REALLY cold. Really, really was. I did sleep overnight, on and off and it could have been worse, but I was glad to arribe in Nasca just before 7am on Sunday morning. Once again, I had not planned in advance, I just knew that I was there to see the famous Nazca lines and that it should be fairly easy to organise once everything actually opened that morning!

Now, I don't know if I have a sign around my neck that only the locals can see, but I'd barely started off up the street when a woman was trying to get me to her hostel, then off on a tour over the lines. Her English was poor, but I tried to tell her that I'd just got off a long bus journey and I wanted to relax before making any decisions. She was the pushiest person I think I've met on my travels so far (and perhaps that's why I don't like Peru much, it feels really pushy). She soon had me bundled into a taxi into a hostel (even though she had actually told the driver to take me to the airport, until I realised that we were going in the exact opposite direction to the town centre!) I didn't even know if I would bother staying the night there once I'd seen the Lines! The thing was, as nothing was yet open, I couldn't even research an alternative tour operator.

I decided that if she was so desperate for my business (as she kept going on there were 2 other people booked into a plane and how I would "complete" the tour) that she should knock $5 off the cost. She wouldn't budge and started to walk off! To cut a long story short, I decided to just get out on a flight straightaway while the skies were clear and after we had sort of chased each other around the plaza, with me begging her to stop being so damn pushy! Then, after telling me the price in soles (as I had no dollars on me), she then started to insist I pay in US - by this point, I decided to call ths shots, she'd get soles or nothing at all!

Phew! Once I'd been whisked off to her office to pay and stow my bags, I was taken back into town to collect another person and then she vanished out of the van, without giving me a ticket or receipt. Oh dear, not again! It was fine however, I was taken to the airport checked in with no problems. It was there that I read the signs stating "You have the right to buy a flight from whichevr company you choose in the airport. Do not go through a middle agent." Why do I keep doing this? In the end, I decided that if I had paid too much, it probably wasn't by much and at least I was there.

The flight was brief, only 30 minutes, but it was one of those things that I just had to do. As we took off, Iagain had Mysterious Cities of Gold on my iPod and I got all choked up again, pretending to be flying off in the Golden Condor with Esteban, Zia and Tao. Well, I'm a child of the Eighties, Google it! I sat up front next to the pilot and soon we were circling over the Whale, Spider, Spaceman, Condor, Hummingbird and so on. The Lines were a little smaller than I expected and perhaps not all that impressive really, but I was glad I had seen them, it was a box I needed to tick!

Afterwards, I was dropped off back in the town and saw that there was a bus departing for Ica in 15 minutes time. I would have had to wait until that evening to take a direct bus to Lima, so on the spur of the moment, I bought a ticket to Ica where there are frequent services bound for Lima. So, I'd been on a bus for 14 hours overnight, then I'd wandered around Nazca playing cat and mouse with Miss Pushy Peru, I'd taken a quick Cessna flight over the desert and then I was back on a packed, hot bus by 10am! At this point, I realised that I was trying to get out of Peru as soon as I could! Once, in Ica, I then bought a ticket to Lima (eventually as they spoke no English and did not understand that I wanted to know how often the buses left as I needed to get some lunch first). After gobbling down a portion of fried rice that could have catered for the Sermon on the Mount, I was back in the bus terminal, waiting to board my bus to Lima.

This was another 5 hour journey (but I didn't have a fat man and his daughter spilling into my seat this time, unlike the one to Ica) so it was pleasant enough and I finished reading my book. I was parched by the time I arrived in Lima that evening though, and I couldn't believe my luck - I hate it when sellers board the bus, trying to sell drinks and snacks at every stop, but what do you know, the one day I was dying of thirst, no one got on to sell anything! When I arrived in Lima, I had no idea where I had been dropped off and it had started to get dark. I refused all offers for a taxi (stupid, I know, but I just couldn't take anymore touts) and I walked up the road towards a neon hostel sign. Once I was eventually buzzed in, I simply wanted to ask where I was on my map, in order to get my bearings. This was a difficult task as the guy spoke no English and was behind a sheet of mirrored glass. Where the hell had I ended up? So, like a prat, I just kept saying (in English) "I can't see you, I just want you to tell me where I am!"

Eventually, a woman who spoke some English appeared in person, after I demanded that I needed to speak face to face, and I decided to stay there for one night - I got 5 soles knocked off the price and had my own room with a TV, just what I needed after nearly 24 hours on the road! I did wonder after a while if I had somehow checked into a brothel... there was a lot of neon outside, there was a large mirror in the room and a poster of a young model in only underwear next to the bed... oh well, I had earplugs! But why did the staff insist on hiding behind a mirrored kiosk in reception???

On Monday, I woke up unscathed after a decent sleep. Well, I was technically rudely awakened by the sounds of at least a dozen cockerels... in the middle of Lima!!! I'd booked a new hostel in Miraflores online the night before and so I flagged down a taxi and after telling him that 10 soles was not acceptable and that 6 was fair, off I sped to a location the driver didn't seem all that sure about. Once again, I did wonder what they hell I was thinking, as I later read in my guide book that you should never flag taxis down in Lima, especially in the area that I'd stayed in, but in fairness, I arrived at my new hostel and he did give me my 4 soles change!

My new hostel was lovely, decetn location with nice staff. Once I'd checked in, I decided that I didn't need much time in Lima at all. Well, it doesn't seem to be that great a city and at this time of year, the weather is pretty rubbish - cold, misty and damp as the clouds roll in from the Pacific. I found a cheap call place, phoned Qantas AGAIN and moved my flight to Quito to tomorrow! That gave me yesterday to chill out and get my laundry done and today to explore the main city sights! Well, I found a geocache yesterday and today I did... erm, nothing! It was another grey day and I just decided that I had no interest in seeing yet another plaza and a few churches! Well, I'm genuinely past the point where I feel guilty if I haven't explored a city.

In fairness, I did have cerviche for lunch, which is a very traditional Peruvian dish of raw fish "cooked" in lime juice, and it was alright really! So, tomorrow I am off to Quito in Ecuador, which should now give me enough time to get out to the Galapagos islands before the high season starts. It will still be incredibly expensive, but I'm hoping that it will be worth it as eveyone who has been over there says it is fantastic. Everyone also said that NZ was fantastic too... fingers crossed I guess!

So, I have rushed through Peru in 2½ weeks when I had originally had 4 here. I´ve rushed through 4 countries in 6½ weeks - Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru - and that's way too fast, but I think that the thought of getting to the Galapagos has been playing on my mind the whole time. Once I've been there, I'm planning to slow it down as the only thing I have to do after that is fly home! Once the pressure is off, I am hoping that I'll be able to enjoy Ecuador and Colombia a lot more. So, the new plan is to study Spanish for a while in Ecuador and then spend some time up on the Colombian coast in the Caribbean scuba diving. I may even take the next PADI qualification while I am there, I´ll be a Dive Master before you know it! The thing is, I've realised that fast and furious is just the way I travel and although everyone else goes slower and probably gets more out of it, that's not the way I work. I'll have plenty of time to really enjoy the remaining countries and if I genuinely cannot slow down and I skip through them as well, I'll just take an early flight home. Who knows? I don't! We will just have to wait and see...