Ecuador

We enterd Ecuador from the North Peruvian border and took the next bus to Machala. First contact to Ecuadorian people (asking in Spanish for the bus station) was strange - nobody wanted to speak with us. Through the night we travelled with the bus to Cuenca in only 3,5 hours, most of the road wasn’t paved or landslides had destroyed it.

Hotel Milan was a good bargain and from the balcony we had a good view on San Fransisco Market and church. At the riverside we saw the dead body of a white man (maybe a traveller) - felt very oppressed after that.

Again we took the bus, this time to Riobamba. I thought the Panamericana is a paved road (not in the least). On the whole way rally cars overtook us. Then down from Riobamba to Baños, great look at the snow capped volcano Chimborazo and a fantastic mountain panorama. Very good room in Hosteria Santa Cruz and a fiesta with live bands and dancing on the street.

Bad hangover after the fiesta. Against the bad circulation we made a long walk through the mountains around Baños over suspension bridges to wonderful waterfalls. We rented a mountain bike hoping to reach Puyo but the road was too bad, so we stopped in Rio Verde and watched the great waterfalls there. While loading the bikes on a pick-up back to Baños we forgot our helmets in Rio Verde, but for a few sucres the driver arranged everything.

We booked a jungle trip at Sebastian Moya, chief of Shuar indians, who has studied biology in London and Frankfurt and is married to a German near our home town. With our guide Sandro (Shuar Indian) and Andres a Colombian guy as a translator, we went on a pick-up down to Puyo and then in the Amazonian basin. In an Indian community we picked-up a man who carried the food. In the jungle we gain many explanations of the plants and animals. We stayed in a wonderful cabin on a hill with a fantastic sight over the rainforest and took a necessary shower in a waterfall. Sandro cooked the best meal we had in Ecuador. Hard night. on a bamboo floor.

After walking the whole day we had a bath. When we came back to the place where we left the backpacks everything including the guides was gone. We got a fright but finally we found them on the other riverside. With palm leaves we learned to build a shelter for the night and how to make fire with wet wood.

We walked the whole distance back which we had walked the first two days and with double speed. Dirty and ready for a hot shower and a following bath in the thermal springs we came back to Baños. Spent the evening with Sandro and Andres.

Back to Riobamba we stayed in El tren dorado next to the station. They had a procession with dancing couples on the street (sponsored by police). Because of el niño (bridges are destroyed) the train only goes to Huigra. Sitting on the roof of the train to Alausi and further on to Huigra is fantastic.

After the switchbacks of the devil’s nose our wagon jumped out of the track but no problem for an Ecuadorian engineer. There was only one overcrowded bus heading to Guayaquil though we were forced to ride on the roof. We had to watch our heads the whole time and once a table (part of the baggage) got caught in a hose which was running over the street. The bus stopped before we were wiped from the roof. After two hours we had to go inside and after another 4 hours we reached Guayaquil with over 60 persons in a bus with 24 seats. In a comfortable bus we were heading to La Libertad.

Along the coast to Alandaluz every bridge was washed away and the bus drove over tank bridges. Hosteria Alandaluz (ecological hotel) was booked out but they offered us a tent in a beautiful flower garden with sight to the sea. We had our first bath in the pacific. The Christmas menu was served in a bamboo constructed restaurant (great architecture).Got a lovely constructed wooden bungalow with compost toilet! One day in the shadow on the beach - too bushed to make the trip to the Isla de la Plata.

Odyssey to Quito: Per bus to Jipijapa, then to Puertoviejo on to Santo Domingo and finally Quito at 10:30pm (there are only night buses from Jipijapa to Quito). Hotel Vega in the old town has a nice atrium.

I didn’t feel well with the thought of the volcano Guagua Pinchincha still in yellow alert and ongoing seismic activity. Walked through Quito trying to fetch some souvenirs.

We used this stop-over in Bogota to buy some coffee (the first real coffee after three weeks Nescafe) in the transit area and were searched four times before we were allowed to re-enter the plane.