Carrie and I are in Quito, having finished our jungle and Galapagos tours. We've been watching the World Series here... let's just say that Red Sox Nation doesn't exactly extend into Ecuador, but the atmosphere is still fun. Many Ecuadorians cheer at any exciting play, regardless of which team is executing it. Needless to say, I'm quite happy with the results so far. As for our journeys, the last long blog post left off in Peru in Machu Picchu...
Upon arriving back in Cusco, we found that our hotel had evidently forgotten that we were due back, despite us telling 3 different people before we left. They only had a room with tiny single beds left, which we regrettably took because it was late and we were tired. The following morning, the hot water didn't work, which made us quite angry because we hadn't taken a good shower in many days. We decided to switch hotels, and from there things were better.
After taking a much needed hot shower, we tried to figure out the best way to get to Ecuador. We quickly found out that flights to Ecuador are very expensive. With that, we decided to arrange a flight from Cusco to Lima, followed by 2 days in Lima, followed by a flight to the Peru / Ecuador border. Once that was arranged, we decided to relax and enjoy our last few days in Cusco. Here are some photo highlights:
The Irish Pub in Cusco:
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| From Cusco, Peru |
A random parade going through the Plaza de Armas:
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| From Cusco, Peru |
The view of Cusco from the hills of Sacsayhuaman:
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| From Cusco, Peru |
Gradually, I became a bit worn down by Cusco, mostly because of the relentlessness of the people on the streets trying to sell things to tourists. Initially, Carrie and I enjoyed getting begged to dine at restaurants, but eventually I got sick of having someone follow me around when I was just trying to walk down the street. In the end, I felt that many people in tourst areas of Peru saw us more as walking dollar signs than as people. Unfortunately, this gave me a rather negative final impression of Cusco, which is really a decent city.
After Cusco, we took a 1 hour flight to Lima, the capital of Peru. It was warmer there, given the coastal location, but it was still not hot, and it was extremely cloudy, as apparently the sun doesn't shine there until December. We stayed in the Miraflores neighborhood, which was actually quite nice. Our hotel showed lots of promise to be one of our favorites, until we realized that there was loud construction taking place from 7am to 6pm every day. Here are some photo highlights from Lima:
Parque del Amor ("Lovers Park"): |
| From Lima, Peru |
The Plaza del Armas:
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| From Lima, Peru |
Guards marching in front of the palace:
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| From Lima, Peru |
One of the highlights of Lima was a seafood dinner we had. Here are some highlights from what we ate:
Carrie got Ceviche, which is raw fish that gets cured by the vinegar: |
| From Lima, Peru |
I ordered flounder, which apparently is the fish to get in Lima:
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| From Lima, Peru |
We then got 2 fancy desserts:
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| From Lima, Peru |
All this, plus a bottle of domestic white wine, $58!
After Lima, we boarded a flight to Tumbes, which is a town at the northern edge of Peru, near Ecuador. Unfortunately, Carrie had the privelage of sitting next to Peru's fattest man on the plane. Once we got to Tumbes, as expected, a travel agent type came and talked to us, and offered us a ride across the border. We took the offer, especially once a local said he wanted to do the same thing. The border crossing was very confusing, and we eventually ended up ditching our travel agent, but we eventually made it into Ecuador and boarded a bus to take us to Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and gateway to the coast.
Guayaquil was very hot and sunny, which Carrie and I were thrilled to experience again. We didn't spend much time there (we wanted to get to a beach town), but the highlight was the Iguana Park, in the middle of downtown! Iguanas were basically walking freely throughout the park, and people could get close to them and even touch them! Here is one picture of me attempting to bond with an iguana:
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| From Coastal Ecuador |
After Guayaquil, we boarded a bus for Montañita, a coastal town known for its great waves, surfers, and nightlife. The town itself is very small, with only a couple main streets. On the main streets are a bunch of businesses that are all about the same: On the ground level is an open air restaurant that blares mp3s all day, and becomes a bar / nightclub at night. Above the ground level is usually some sort of hostel, with most rooms or common areas containing many hammocks to lounge out on and relax. Carrie and I settled on a $20 per night room that contained ocean views and a private balcony.
While in Montañita, we spent time seeing the ocean again, and began to shift our diet to shrimp, squid, and whitefish. Here is one of my favorite dishes that I had there:
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| From Coastal Ecuador |
Here is a surfing shot:
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| From Coastal Ecuador |
Unfortunately, our Montañita experience did have some minor downsides. Like much of the Ecuador coast, it was very cloudy and not especially warm at the time of year we were there. Also, there was an election in Ecuador the weekend that we were there, and so by law, the bars were not supposed to serve alcohol. Most places did not follow this rule for us, but the town seemed to have a much calmer and quieter vibe than normal. Finally, our delicious culinary experiences were interrupted by an ant infested breakfast that Carrie received. When we told the waitress about the ants, she simply wiped off the top section which had the most visible ants, and gave the plate back to us, still containing insects! So after the weekend, we decided to head out of Montañita.
Our next stop was a beautiful ecological hotel called Hosteria Alandaluz. This came highly recommended to us, and it did not disappoint. Carrie and I had a choice of places to sleep, and we settled on a private cabin for $32 per night!
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| From Coastal Ecuador |
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| From Coastal Ecuador |
It even featured an "ecological" bathroom where you poured sawdust instead of flush!
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| From Coastal Ecuador |
From Alandaluz, we did multiple day trips. One was a canopy / zip line type place that wasn't expecially exciting, but the others were very memorable. We spent a day at the Playa Los Frailes, which was a beach located in a National Park. It's location was somehow set up such that it was actually sunny part of the time, and we could comfortably go swimming!
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| From Coastal Ecuador |
The other day trip was to Isla de la Plata, which is known in some guide books as "the poor man's Galapagos". Since it was very similar to Galapagos, I'm going to postpone writing about it until I write about Galapagos (hopefully soon). You can view pictures from it in the Coastal Ecuador album on the photo site.
The Alandaluz experience wouldn't be complete without food... They specialized in seafoods accompanied by vegetables from their gardens. It was delicious. Here is one photo:
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| From Coastal Ecuador |
After Alandaluz, we got ready to head to Quito. From there, we did the jungle and the Galapagos. Carrie and I will have more posts to come about those. The photos and some videos are now uploaded, so you can go to the full photo site and full video site (links in upper right corner of blog page) to get sneak previews! Until then, I wish everyone the best!
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