5/1/23
A longggg day. My mum was kind enough to get up at 3am to drop me to the airport for my first of four flights I was due to take in the coming two days. First, Cardiff to Amsterdam, a short flights followed by a four hour stopover. When I arrived in Amsterdam, I was thrilled to see comfy leather loungers to nap in. I claimed one near the grand piano as a guy began to play. I napped intermittently for a solid 2.5 hours, in which the guy played classic tunes consistently well the entire time. What a perk. I grabbed a coffee and boarded my next flight, Amsterdam to Lima in Peru, a ‘short’ 12.5 hour flight. Ewww. I watched five films which only took up 8/12 hours. It was a long longgg flight, even with pretty decent food and snacks, and eventually I had to commit to the ‘give me strength’ bottle of wine.
I arrived in Lima Airport approximately 21 hours after I had left Cardiff and was absolutely, utterly knackered. I downloaded an Uber type app, linked it to my bank and ordered a cab so the fee would be regulated and the cab tracked. Sadly the cabs kept cancelling and eventually the roar of the taxi drivers/hawkers overrode my previous decision. I agreed the same price as the Uber style taxi, which was 25 S and we left. We spoke broken English/Spanish until we arrived at the hostel, with the taxi man telling me that everywhere was very dangerous for me, filled with drugs and alcohol. I asked if the protests had made it worse and he said it had always been bad. We stopped by a petrol station along the way which seemed the same as any other petrol station. There were pretty much as many women as men around and about so who knows how ‘dangerous’ it was. At the hostel, I got out my 100 Sol that the ATM had given me and the taxi driver was outraged. He told me it was $25 and 200 Sol, an incorrect exchange rate but he didn’t care about that. I was exhausted and frustrated at being massively ripped off by the first (and one of the only) Peruvian people I would meet. He threatened me with the tourist police so I paid him the 100 Sol, which was all I had and left. The ten minute ride had cost me £30 with the ATM fee as well. Better luck next time!!
I was greeted in an empty hostel by a friendly old man, who showed me to an empty room. I went to shower to discover the water was turned off. Of course then, the man was nowhere to be found so I knocked on another apartment in the block and a lady kindly helped me after I explained in bad Spanish that there was no water. Turns out the mains water tap is on the street so anyone can turn it off any time. I showered (in pretty icy water), changed and slept. Bed was glorious!
6/1/23
Another day, another two more flights! I got up earlyish, having slept a solid ten hours, due to the time difference and went in search of another ATM so I could pay up for my hostel. I walked along a main road which the taxi driver had told me was ‘dangerous’, but the hostel man seemed chilled about and hoped for the best. I was the only tourist about for sure. I got my USD, and stopped at a street food stall on the way back for a bowl of noodle soup, which looked good when I saw another man eating it. I ordered one bowl and a tea and paid $1, which was all I had (as I had no local currency), but I figured since it was overpaying the lady wouldn’t mind. The lady wore traditional clothes with a colourful stripey scarf/blanket tied around her shoulders and neck, which attached her young baby to her back. The meat was pretty tough, but the broth was really tasty with the noodles and the tea, which was chamomile and honey was super good. I thanked her, left, paid the hostel and got a taxi with the assistance of the hostel man to the airport for the extortionate sum of just under $2. Not a bad morning.
Flight one of the day was from Lima to Guayaquil, Ecuador where I stopped, recollected my bag, rechecked in and then had some food. I had Tigrillo, which is apparently a traditional Ecuadorian food consisting of mashed green plantains with cheese mixed in, with a side of fried eggs and in this case, anaemic, over processed sausages. It wasn’t bad!
Flight two was Guayaquil to Quito, my final destination – thank god! It was less than an hour flight and then I was freeeee! Hallelujah! I got my bags and headed to find the bus. I waited for the bus with some German backpackers before chatting to an American-Chinese woman the whole way to the in town bus station. She had travelled loads and had some great tips for Colombia. At the central station, I haggled for a taxi and got one for the price that the hostel told me to ask for – nailed it. I arrived at the hostel around 7pm,chatted to a few folk, before heading to bed early. Another exhausting day!
7/1/23
My first real day of travelling (basically a day filled with things other than physically travelling by plane/bus/taxi) – ayyyy! 🥳🥳🥳
I had planned to go up a nearby church spire with a few hostel folk I had been talking to the day before, with a tentative plan to then go to an art gallery and then maybe climb up a supposedly sketchy hill to a huge statue on top. When I got up for breakfast, only one of the two people I had agreed to go with were there.
After breakfast, we, Kai and I, headed out. First we went to the Basilica, climbed up some super steep and very anti health and safety stairs to reach the top of one of the church spires. It had some great views of much of Quito city, the capital of Ecuador. After making it down the thin metal stairs in one piece, we went to a different tower where we discovered a bar selling large glass skulls filled with alcohol as well as liquor shots. Kai suggested we should get some, and why not?! We had shots overlooking the statue on the hill, with some laundry drying and brunches being enjoyed amidst the burnt orange tin roofs of the city. We passed by a huge, beautiful stained glass window before heading to the contemporary art museum.
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect since I was going with Kai, who had got a scholarship to become a master of fine arts, but we went and it was pretty good! A few pieces I particularly liked for various reasons!
We headed back towards the hostel, stopping by the Mercado Central to have a market mooch and grab some early lunch. Then we had a brief hostel chill before pushing ourselves up to do the ‘sketchy’ walk up the hill to the statue. To be fair, the other guy we were meant to meet in the morning Evan had been and come back from the route and said it was no drama. I left all my belongings besides a $20 note in the hostel and we set off.
We walked down a bustling street, through a beautiful square and onwards through a wash of churches and street vendors, through a park and out until the streets quietened. Then we began a steep climb up 1000 steps. We past signs warning off tourists, and carried on. We past an elderly Ecuadorian lady walking down the steps slowly. We continued on, up past a derelict hut with chickens in the dirt yard and past a silent playground. Then the steps started to crumble. We carried up, up through a narrow stepped alley between two lots of houses. We passed a couple of sleeping dogs before turning a corner to find a dog sat bolt upright, at the top of a set of steps, at eye level, on guard. No bark, he was just watching. We assessed the situation and Kai tried to pass. He stared down Kai and didn’t make a sound. We turned back, unnerved at this behaviour, the same behaviour as the dogs in Nepal.
We took a different lane, which eventually met the road and followed the road for the rest of the way up passing a few rural looking houses and a lady, her sheep and her sheepdogs. We made it to the top and tried some sweet orange, cinnamon and clove tea, which was super sweet but super good. Then we wandered around the top, looked at the view before heading down again. We headed back to the hostel, picked up my belongings and headed in search of a sim card. I got one eventually and we got hike snacks ready for a walk the following day.
We went back to the hostel, chilled a little before recruiting Evan to come for pizza with us. Absolutely shameless – day two of Ecuador and I’m already ordering pizza! YOLO! 🤣🤣🤣 The pizza was glorious and we had wine/mojito before heading back to the hostel. We chilled and chatted with other hostellers awhile and then Kai and Evan went to bed and I was persuaded to go to the roof for salsa and a fire – how could I resist. Salsa turned more into merengue and bachata (my fave 🙄🤣) and we all danced around the fire in pairs. then a guitar, uke and drums came out and people sang, mainly in Spanish, but a few in English too. The statue on the hill was lit and the view was beautiful.
wanderingwelshie2 travels 