So our holidays began with a few days of good eating and good drinking in Quito, as we felt like treating ourselves. Once that was out of our systems, we hopped on a bus to Cuenca, in the Andes in the South of Ecuador. It's a really nice old colonial city, surrounded by national parks and beautiful countryside, and we spent a week there with a friend who we'd met in Argentina. Laura was now teaching English at a language institute there and we had a great time with a whole big group of Gringo English teachers there! There were big festivals going on there at the weekend as well, with lots of very dodgy home-made fireworks going off all over the main plaza. All very exciting and i dont think anyone got too badly burned...
After Cuenca, we headed down to the coast; a little surfing village on the Pacific called Montañita. We were joined by loads of the teachers from Cuenca when their holidays started so it was great fun. Real party town. we'd thought we'd only stay for a few days, but Rich and I really caught the surfing bug and ended up staying just over a week. Surfing's the source. Although very frustrating to start with (lots of shouts of ´you're dragging your foot, youre gonna be fish food´) by the end of the week, we were pretty much indistinguishable from the locals. Well, almost. The sunburn was the only giveaway. Next stop, Bells Beach Australia.
Over the last month or two, we'd met a fair few people who'd been through Colombia on their travels, and without exception, raved about it. when you asked them how they'd enjoyed it, they always seemed to get this far-away look in their eyes and look really happy to just be talking about it again... So we decided to take a little bit of our holiday time in Colombia before meeting our friend Robin in Bogotá.
So far, its been a great decision. the people have been unbelievably friendly, maybe cause there are so few tourists about, the countryside is stunning, the food's good... and well, everything really. The security situation has apparently been improving over the last few years, and the trouble seems to be fairly limited to specific areas nowadays. There's been quite a strong military presence everywhere we've been so far, which is sort of reassuring... In some ways...
ther's been a lot of sitting on buses over the last week or two though, and so we've developed a bitof sympathy with the hardships that bus travellers face. In particular, i dont recommend watching 4 Arnold Schwarzenegger films back to back. It took the best part of a week for my brain to recover from that.
We stopped off in Popayan on the road up to Bogotá, another really nice old colonial town in the south. From there, Rich went straight up to Bogotá and i went off for a few days to see the some relics around the little town of San Agustín. I splashed out and hired a guide (the brilliant Jerry Luis) for a day on my own, and we had a great, long day of sightseeing. the statues left by the San Agustinian civilisation were quite incredible, although some of Jerry's theories about alien assistance seemed a bit far fetched! In the afternoon, we rented a couple of horses and headed out into some of the beautiful countryside around the town. My first time on a horse in many many years... and its way better than cycling!
Anyway, we're now in Bogota, which is a really great city. Rob's flight should be landing in half an hour or so, and then tomorrow, the three of us will hit the road... two weeks more and we'll be at the Carribbean. (I can swim in it but i cant spell it.)
After Cuenca, we headed down to the coast; a little surfing village on the Pacific called Montañita. We were joined by loads of the teachers from Cuenca when their holidays started so it was great fun. Real party town. we'd thought we'd only stay for a few days, but Rich and I really caught the surfing bug and ended up staying just over a week. Surfing's the source. Although very frustrating to start with (lots of shouts of ´you're dragging your foot, youre gonna be fish food´) by the end of the week, we were pretty much indistinguishable from the locals. Well, almost. The sunburn was the only giveaway. Next stop, Bells Beach Australia.
Over the last month or two, we'd met a fair few people who'd been through Colombia on their travels, and without exception, raved about it. when you asked them how they'd enjoyed it, they always seemed to get this far-away look in their eyes and look really happy to just be talking about it again... So we decided to take a little bit of our holiday time in Colombia before meeting our friend Robin in Bogotá.
So far, its been a great decision. the people have been unbelievably friendly, maybe cause there are so few tourists about, the countryside is stunning, the food's good... and well, everything really. The security situation has apparently been improving over the last few years, and the trouble seems to be fairly limited to specific areas nowadays. There's been quite a strong military presence everywhere we've been so far, which is sort of reassuring... In some ways...
ther's been a lot of sitting on buses over the last week or two though, and so we've developed a bitof sympathy with the hardships that bus travellers face. In particular, i dont recommend watching 4 Arnold Schwarzenegger films back to back. It took the best part of a week for my brain to recover from that.
We stopped off in Popayan on the road up to Bogotá, another really nice old colonial town in the south. From there, Rich went straight up to Bogotá and i went off for a few days to see the some relics around the little town of San Agustín. I splashed out and hired a guide (the brilliant Jerry Luis) for a day on my own, and we had a great, long day of sightseeing. the statues left by the San Agustinian civilisation were quite incredible, although some of Jerry's theories about alien assistance seemed a bit far fetched! In the afternoon, we rented a couple of horses and headed out into some of the beautiful countryside around the town. My first time on a horse in many many years... and its way better than cycling!
Anyway, we're now in Bogota, which is a really great city. Rob's flight should be landing in half an hour or so, and then tomorrow, the three of us will hit the road... two weeks more and we'll be at the Carribbean. (I can swim in it but i cant spell it.)
on August 6, 2007, 8:22 pm
Selena and I left ecuador a couple weeks after meeting you in montanita. She got right back to vancouver where she turned out splitting up with her boyfriend and leaving within a few days for the country side of BC. As for myself, I got back to Quebec to see the family and enjoy the confort of a house, a clean bed with sheets and no sleeping bag... a fridge .. a nice bathroom... hot showers... You guys must know just like me how you get to appreciate those things! Anyways the main point was the family and the return too real life hasn't been too hard, no post-trip depression that time
On your last entry you where about to hop back on your bikes. You must be happy about your trip. It's a quite big challenge and an awesome life experience.
I wish you a great trip continuation and I hope to meet you again sometimes somewhere on the globe
Take care of you both
Reply to this comment