On The Move Again!!!

After a restless night of worrying about what time to get up and which bus to catch, I cracked at 5.50am, crept out of the dorm, collected my belongings from outside the door and got dressed in the bathroom! I grabbed a taxi outside and was in the bus station by 6.13am! As luck would have it, the next bus to Guayaquil was at half past and so I was soon on board and on my way! I was hoping to make it to there before noon, in order to then get to Puerto Lopez as early as possible, but I wasn't holding my breath... the supposed "4 hour" journey to Cuenca lasted for 5½, so imagine my surprise and delight when we reached Guayaquil on time! Then like clockwork, I was able to board a direct bus to Puerto Lopez leaving within half an hour, I couldn't have planned it any better (so once again, all that stress for nothing!) Look, I've said many times that I have changed on this trip... but I haven't had a personality transplant!!!

The next bus to Puerto Lopez was fine and by 3.30, I'd arrived, found a hostel and was off on the search for a whale-watching tour for Tuesday. The timings were perfect - the boat would leave at 10am and be back by 2pm - meaning that I could then take a bus back to Guayaquil that same day, and then overnight it to Baños! No need to stop in expensive Guaya again... and maybe I would have time to stop off at the cinema and catch Transformers 2!!! So, one I'd booked a tour, I wandered along the beach for a while, bought in some proviosns (i.e. a loaf and Coke, as per usual!) and returned to the hostel to chill out and watch a bit of Family Guy in Spanish... weird!

At the recommendation of the Lonely Planet, I had breakfast on Tuesday at The Whale Cafe in order to sample their apple and cinnamon pancakes! At last, an LP tip that didn't disappoint! After wolfing down both of them (well, I thought that a half-portion of one alone wouldn't be enough but I was wrong), smothered in real maple syrup and butter, washed down with passion fruit juice, I was pretty much set up for the day! I checked out of my hostel, put my bags into storage, ran around the town looking for someone to change a $10 note... seriously, Ecuador really needs to sort out its change issues! Fausto at the tour office kindly let me hop online to chek cinema times in Guayaquil. There was an 8.20 showing and and if I couldn't make it back for then, one at 10pm, so at least I'd get to see the movie, and then take a later bus to Baños. Excellent!

Once everyone had arrived at the office, we headed down to the beach to catch the boat. I wasn't quite sure what was taking so long though, as it wasn't there when we arrived and we seemed to wait for ages before we could then board. I was starting to worry - it was around 11am before we actually left the bay, the guide only spoke Spanish and then we seemed to be heading in the opposite direction to where I was expecting... oh no, not another tour that was going to be a let-down! We did seem to be making an effort to find some whales at least and of course I knew that with wild animas, there are no guarantees. Eventually, we saw our first whale, far off in the distance! I was pleased but secretly hoping that we'd get a closer look at some point, although from then one, every time we spotted one, but the time we'd turned the baot around and headed that way, it had disappeared from sight.

We then headed north toward the area I was expecting we'd visit but time was ticking and I had a terrible feeling that I'd not get a good look at these amazing creatures. Thank goodness our luck changed as we sighted one much closer to the boat and out it jumped of the water, just like on documentaries! From then on, we were much more successful and I spent a good hour videoing them - well, it was nearly impossible to photograph them as I needed to be zoomed in as far as possible and there was no way of knowing where they would surface. Besides, a photo cannot to justice to the way they move, it was incredible. Before it was time to head back, we were lucky enough to see a pair surface close to the boat and I managed to catch it on video. Yes, you guessed it... I got a bit choked up again and had to really concentrate on keeping my camera still! I was so pleased that the trip had been worth it.

Once back at the beach just after 2pm, I raced back to the hostel to collect my bags and then off to the bus terminal to catch the next bus back to Guayaquil. I had originally planned to take the next direct bus, but on reflection, it seemed better to take the first one to Jipijapa and change there as the buses to Guaya are so frequent, that would be the quicker option in the end. Imagine my annoyance when, after choosing not to take the 3.30 direct bus, the 2.45 to Jipijapa, that I had boarded, was still in Puerto Lopez at 3.20! Damn it, only 10 minutes ahead! However, I still had luck on my side as once I got to the terminal, there was fast bus to Guaya about to leave and off I went again! It was a really nice bus too, they even gave me a tag for my bag for the first time in Ecuador! As it made no stops or pick-ups along the way, I reached Guaya just after 7pm. Perfect, enough time to store my bags, find out about night buses to Baños and take a taxi to Cinemark!

Things then started to unravel slightly at that point - Guayaquil bus terminal has no left luggage facilites, so I would habe to take my backpack to the cinema! There were overnight services however, but the last one was at 11.30pm. Not ideal, as I would have little leeway with the film finishing and making it back again, but then I found one company that had a 1am service - a backup plan!!! The information kiosk had told me that a taxi to the cinema shoud be about $2, so off I went to flag one down and was quoted $4!!! No chance! As I started to walk away, he dropped to $3, but no lower, and despite being in a bit of a rush, I wasn't having any of it! So once again, I found myself wandering down Avendida de las Americas loaded up with all my belongings! However, once away from the terminal, I flagged down a taxi for $2 and was at the cinema in no time!

Imagine my horror, when at 7.40pm, I arrived at the box office to find that the showings in English that night were at 7.10 (not 8!!!) and 10.10! Damn, I had checked the times just that morning... but then I realised they were for the cinema at Mall del Sur, not Mall del Sol. Just 2 letters out! The 10.10 showing was due to finish at 12.45, giving me just 15 minutes to leave the cinema (with all my bags, assuming that I would even be allowed in with them), get back to the terminal, buy my ticket and board! Phew! It was a dilemma, as I didn't fancy the prospect of being stuck in the terminal overnight, but then again, I'd come all that way especially to watch Transformers. I threw caution to the wind and bought a ticket depsite having to then wait for 2½ hours and maybe having to spend $15 on a hostel in Guayaquil, should I get stranded!

The wait wasn't all that bad. Pizza Hut kindly spent over 30 minutes preparing my order that should have taken 5, so that was some time killed, and then I spent the next 2 hours writing my diary, that has been neglected for way too long! Unfortunately, in that time I also found that my Panama hat doesn'tkeep its shaped after being rolled up after all, and the huge queue that had formed behind me outside the cinema was for Transformers. I was so engrossed in my diary writing that, despite being at the cinema 150 minutes early, I was now at the back of the line, loaded up with my bags, hoping that I would be admitted and then be able to find a decent seat!

Thankfully, the queue was fast-moving, the ticket attendant didn't bat an eyelid at all my luggage, and I found a seat in the middle that was next to an area where I could put my bags and no-one would trip over them in the dark! All I had to do now was watch the film, not the clock, and make it back to the terminal by 1am! Fingers crossed! Now, I had been waiting for 2 years to see this film, ever since I saw the first one and loved it, but someone on Facebook very kindly told me it was rubbish. Not a good move as I am unfortunately influenced by bad reviews and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would in the end. I don't know if that is becuase I was expecting it to be poor, or if it genuinely was, but I will be haunting that guy from Facebook for spoiling it for me!

I usually watch the credits of films, but in this case, once the director's name appeared, I was loaded up and out of the theatre in seconds, throught the mall at full pelt and in a taxi within minutes! At that hour, there was little traffic and I actually made it back to the terminal with 15 minutes to spare! Success, I wouldn't be stuck in Guayaquil any longer! Then it turns out that the bus would be leaving at 1.15 after all and there had never been any need to rush! Furthermore, the other it never occurred to me that although the last night buses from the other companies departed at 11.30 that there would then be morning buses starting after midnight, so I was never going to be without options!

Oh well, after running up to the second floor of the terminal (as the escalators AND lifts were no longer operating), my bag was soon loaded under the bus and I was ready to board! Thankfully, a kind guy pointed out that I had put it onto the wrong one - even though it was the right company, the right bay and the right destination, there were two services operating at 1.15 and I was supposed to be on the second one! Anyway, it all worked out in the end, the ride to Ambato was fine and I managed to sleep for most of it! There I had to change buses and take a local service to Baños, but I got here just after 9am this morning, found the hostel I wanted and they had dorms available! Yippee! Unfortunately, the dorm now STINKS as somehow, overnight, my backpack got soaked in fish juice again! What are these people transporting? Some things may always remain a mystery...