Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fui a la playa

On Wednesday I took an extremely long bus ride to Guayaquil. I left my house at 4:30 to catch a bus at 4:45am. When I got on the bus the overly-friendly bus driver gave me advice on where to sit for maximum pleasure. He also told me the whole time he was driving he would be thinking of me. Weird. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Quito and then an hour to get to the south terminal in Quito. Once there we waited for an hour and a half for more people. After that we headed on some crazy roads with sharp turns down the mountains toward Santo Domingo. It got sooooo hot on that bus ride. I was sweating so much and my window wouldn't open. Then we waited for 20 minutes and headed to Quevedo where we stopped for lunch for an hour. I decided to just get a beer and it might have been one of the best beers of my life because it was so hot outside! After that it was another few hours to Guayaquil where our bus was stopped and my passport and visa were scrutinized for about 5 minutes. After 13 hours of travel I was finally in Guayaquil and taking a much needed cold shower.

Once there I met up with my friends at the bay area. A whole bunch of us went through Guayaquil so it was great to see everyone. We had dinner at a cute restaurant on a cute little cobble-stone street. Then we walked along the bay and got ice cream from a McDonlad's (it was the only thing open). That part of Guayaquil is actually very pretty. Since I didn't get to see any more of the city besides the pretty part I have decided that it isn't a bad city like everyone says it is.

Then the next morning we all hopped on a bus to our resort on the beach. We were at a place called Alandaluz, which is an eco-lodge. It has its own beach and really nice rooms. The only downside is that there is nothing else for quite a while. The beaches in Ecuador have one road that goes past all of them and this beach is very secluded from the rest. While at the resort I got to hang out with my friends and catch up with all the World-Teach stuff. It was a really nice vacation! However, the ocean was super super strong. The undertow made it so you really couldn't go into the water past your knees. I've never felt water like that. There was also one dinner where they made the aji sauce so hot that we all had to send back our food. I put just a tiny bit on mine and my nose was running, my eyes were watering, and I started sweating. I have no idea what kind of pepper they put in there but it was insane!

After the conference I tried to catch a bus to Manta so I could fly back to Quito. I didn't want to take a long bus again because then I would have no time to plan for my classes on Monday. I waited for an hour and a half on the side of the road and only one bus came but it didn't stop for me. After that I was pretty sun-burned and exhausted from waiting so I caught a caminoeta to another city and took a bus from there. In Manta I went to the beach and got some really good seafood. I also met a nice necklace vender named Christian who talked to me for 20 minutes about some jail in the Galapagos. I ended up buying a necklace for $1 because he was super nice.

Then I made it to my plane and in about 30 minutes I was in Quito. Flying is so much better and easier! And it is only $50! (The bus is $10). I think I will take a plane from now on for any bus ride over 8 hours. Once in Quito I went to the terminal and got a bus to Ibarra. My family wasn't home so thank goodness I knew the alarm code and password and they didn't put an extra lock on my door. Wohoo!

Today we went and had lunch at Yahruacocha (I have no idea how to spell it) lake. It is a lake about 20 minutes from Ibarra. The restaurant was up a hill and in a plantation. It had a million flowers and fruit trees. I would definitely take visitors there to check it out.

Tomorrow I'm back at CECAMI for my final week!

1 comment:

  1. that sounds amazing! i can't wait to see photos. It's cool to read your blog now, know what it's like to ride a long bus ride (well, not 13 hours, but 6.5 hours!), and know what it looks like to wait on the side of the road for a bus. i'm glad you got to fly back. sounds like it's well worth it, and maybe now you'll venture to the beach a bit more and get to have really tasty encebollado.

    miss you, buddy! max is away tuesday to sunday (i'm in Boston friday to sunday), so let's talk this week sometime. let me know a good day to call you! i love you.

    PS - I took some photos, just for you! check out my blog :)

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