End of the road

So, we got up in time for our flight (at 11:30am - what a reasonable time it was too) and flew from Quito to Bogota and thence to Cartagena.

Bogota airport is quite the most surreal one I've been to. Amongst the many bizarre events, was the rather curious sight of people flying with plastic bags stuffed to the gunnels with Dunkin Donuts (sic).

Doughnuts - by the gross

We finally arrived in the sweltering heat of Cartagena (pronounced "cart-a-hen-yer") and checked into our lovely hotel with soft beds, air conditioning and a pool.

We cracked open a couple of beers and declared the travelling to be over and that we were now, officially on holiday.

So far, on holiday has been: have a nice meal; have a nice sleep; lie in bed reading books.

Quito

We awoke, stiff and tired and went for breakfast. We then decided to do some admin: laundry; book exchanges and lunch soon passed and we were at leisure to become tourists.

We took a taxi to the old part of town which, whilst interesting, was yet another old part of a South American city with lots of churches, squares and white buildings.

We took the walking tour recommended in the Lonely Planet as far as the (rather disappointing, if old) ice cream shop and then decided on a change of tack.

Church in square in Quito

T reluctantly agreed to come with me up the new Teleferico (cable car - T hates cable cars) to have a view over the city. It was OK.

Quito from above

After a slightly unpleasant return trip (the two lads in the car with us were restless and T had to resort to glowering at them to get them to stop moving about) we alighted in the amusement arcade where I beat T at driving games and she beat me at Dolphin Derby (and won herself a stuffed toy to boot). We got a cheap bus back down to town, which stopped outside the laundrette. Which was closed.

After waiting for an hour or so in the Cafe next door, the lass came out of the laundry and gave us our clothes. We retired to our rock (in a nicer room, but still a rock) for another restless night.

Journey to the centre of the earth

So, we arrived in Quito and spent our first night savouring the cheap rates at the Marriott. T had an early night and I went down to the bar for a burger and to read my book. We had a great night's sleep and were ready to face the day.

After discovering that the hotel's rates were going to increase dramatically for Sunday night, we decided to check out and look for somewhere else. We spotted Hotel Vieja Cuba on Trip advisor and so got in a taxi to it.

About 1 minute later our taxi driver pulled up outside the new hotel. We booked the last room for two nights and then got the driver to go back and pick up our bags.

Once we'd deposited our bags in our new (and significantly cheaper) accommodation, we asked our driver to take us to the Equator.

We drove for about 45 mins and were taken to a spectacular view over a volcanic crater (which was now green and fields and had people living on it). Then he took us to the Museum (Inti something) where they have some 'ethnic' displays (including a shrunken head)

Head, shrunken and rotating

There was the real equator (as defined by GPS - no less. Of course, after carting the thing around for the last 5 months, I forgot to take my GPS to prove it. Doh!)

World's apart

Finally, there were some 'experiments' that were supposed to demonstrate the power of the Equator. (Total and utter rubbish). However, I did balance an egg; and get a certificate for so doing.

Balanced

After the unofficial (but amusing) visitor centre, we went to the less amusing but much more touristy official centre. About 240m away from the real equator.

Offical (but wrong)

After all that middle of the road adventure, we decided to go for a Thai meal. At the most central, slowest (and possibly worst) Thai restaurant in the world.

We then retired to the igneous rock that they called a bed for a fitful night's sleep.

Next stop

We awoke to blessed silence; a comfortable bed and lashings of hot water. After getting up and breakfasted we went out in search of travel agents.

After finding one closed (for the weekend) and another closed (for good) we went down town; to find more closed. Deciding that we were not going to get anywhere in Guayaquil (at least until Monday) we then had to decide what to do. Staying in Guayaquil didn't seem too promising; going to Cuenca (our original plan) didn't seem to be easy (or, at least, the staff at the Sheraton couldn't work it out); going to Quito by bus was out of the question; going to the Galapagos on spec seemed to be unwise. We then decided that, as we were a free 3 minute drive from the airport, we would go to the airport and see what was on offer.

Looking at the departure boards, two options seemed in order.

Where to go

1. Quito
   
2. San Jose (Costa Rica)
   

Quito allowed us to pursue the Galapagos dream on Monday and then, perhaps, continue to Cartagena as planned. San Jose meant going back to parts of Central America that we had jumped over in our haste to escape Honduras (post passim).

We tossed for it - Heads, Quito; Tails, San Jose.

Heads it is

We got a 30 quid flight to Quito and that's where we are now. Not sure what we are going to do next.

Onwards to Ecuador

Our hotel room turned out to be the noisiest room in the world. Doorbells; shouting staff; cockerels and the A/C unit were silent whispers compared to the cacophony that started at about 6:00 am when the dolled-up cars in the car park right under our window all decided to rev their engines up to see if they worked.

Pit stop

Ears ringing, we decided to take a mini-van from Piura to Tumbes (in the far north of Peru - near Ecuador) and went at the speed of light. The lorry we passed, obviously had just gone a bit too fast.

Oops

We arrived in Tumbes about 5 mins before the next bus to Guayaquil (the biggest city in Ecuador). The bus was to take 5 hours, so we would arrive in town at about 7:00pm - not ideal, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

The border between Ecuador and Peru in Aguas Verdes (where we crossed) is, according to the book, the worst border crossing in South America. I can see why. Most borders are short, straight roads with a big flag at one end on a building and another big flagged building at the other. With helpful signs like "Peru - depart" and "Ecuador - arrival" on them. Not so this one. Both of the buildings (the Ecuador one in particular) are reasonably nondescript and are not exactly close to each other.

Allegedly, taxis agree to take you across, but then dump you in the middle of a market and hand you over to some 'guide' who then charges 5 bucks each to show you where the border post is. etc...

We avoided all this by using an International company - CIFA. So we were taken from Tumbes to the Peru border to the Ecuador border and then on - so far so good.

What then happened is that our bus turned into some local bus, stopping every 10 minutes to let people on and off. It ended up taking seven and a half hours.

Light relief was obtained by the people who get on and off these buses at random times who try to extract money from you in various ways. Small, barefooted kids look at you doe-eyed; vendors offer all sorts of food, drink and ice-cream; people with sob stories and, the creme de la creme - some bloke selling powders that rid you of worms ("PARASITO", according to his papers). Priceless.

Eventually we turned into some dark back-alley in Guayaquil and stumbled along to find a taxi. After a journey like that, we decided to splash out on a Sheraton, cheap if you just walk-in. Even the live band playing outside our room didn't keep us awake.